Shaun T. Dy's Business & Economics Perspective Blog

Tealive Asia I've tasted many milk tea brands. However, Tealive is the first one I've tasted that fits into the halal standards. Tealive Philippines has its more or less standard coffee shop food with a halal twist. During the time when the ube flavors came in-- I wrote that Tealive may want to invest in the Bangsamoro region . I checked the Tealive Asia Facebook page and found some items not yet served at Tealive Philippines. One of them is the Nasi Lemak Ayam Rendang (picture above). Historically, the Philippines has had its settlers from Malaysia and Indonesia. Taiwanese natives also descended from Malaysians and Indonesians. I even remember seeing how Malaysians and Indonesians are often mistaken as Filipinos. One might find similar delicacies between Mindanao Malaysia and Indonesia. For example, reading about  25 Malaysian desserts  made me think, "It's closer than expected!" The lokot-lokot of the Philippines is similar to the garajilu of Malaysia or Indones

  The last time I ate at a Hussam Middle Eastern Restaurant branch last year, I couldn't give a good assessment. I haven't been to Hussam's main branch at Il Corso, so I didn't formally meet its owner, Hussam Alfakeh Alkourdi. The branch I ate was in Ayala Center Cebu instead. This is the interior of the restaurant. Ayala Center Cebu has Persian Palate on the third floor, above Timezone. Hussam is near one of the entrances of Ayala Center Cebu--near a Chinese restaurant. Persian Palate was my entry point to Middle Eastern cuisine.  Hussam serves authentic Syrian food. There are dishes similar to those from the Persian Palate. They serve Syrian bread, different from my favorite Pita bread served at Shawarma Gourmet (read my review here ), a Lebanese restaurant. So far, I tried their mixed meat platter with Syrian bread. My second dish there was actually baked Arabic rice with grilled beef kebab. I love their tomato sauce (which I mistook for ginger sauce) and garlic sauc

When I eat at Shawarma Gourmet located in Escario Mall, Cebu City (read my first review here ), I usually go for the Shawarma. This time, I decided to try this new huge meal platter which is around PHP 549.00. As a beef eater, I went for the beef (mixed with mutton) kebab meal. The meal comes with some Arabic rice, some kind of salad with grilled cheese, falafel, hummus, garlic sauce, and some smaller versions of pita bread. The iced tea goes along with it as well. Maybe, I was expecting too much when I wanted cardamom iced tea instead of the usual iced tea.  It was kind of expensive due to the amount of delicious food on the platter. I can say it was worth it with four pieces of fresh pita bread, I got to taste some Middle Eastern salad, their own hummus, and some falafels. I get a lot of my favorites in one dis. It might be considered expensive based on its cost. However, I'd consider the price reasonable because of how many types of food I get to eat at once. It was delicious to

Cebu Live I could remember Shawarma Gourmet when it opened at Parkmall but I never got to eat there. Instead, I remembered eating there at the Escario Central Mall in Cebu City to taste the shawarma. I kept hearing it was the best shawarma in town so I wanted to try it. I wanted to give Lebanese food a shot after I was so used to the Persian Palate at Ayala Center-Cebu. I did get to meet Chef Mansour Houran a couple of times after my first meal. So far, it's what I call a lighter approach to Persian Palaate (which is probably still my favorite Middle Eastern restaurant) whcih serves bigger servings. Meanwhile, Shawarma Gourmet's meals can be mixed between lunch meals and snack meals depending on which time of the day. I could go there for a snack (my preferred thing to do) though I would also eat there for lunch. The location in itself is rather convenient though not so big. So far, the Parkmall Branch is no longer operational. Instead, we have the Escario Branch which right ac

I was thinking about how the world of Halal cooking managed to get into me. It all started with shawarma and eating food from the Persian Palate. Persian Palate was founded by an Iranian named Armand Vatandoost in 1989. However, I've also noticed some halal eateries owned by Filipino Muslims presumably from the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM). Granted, the ARMM is influenced by Arab and Malaysian culture so food items like satay and lokot-lokot (garajilu) are very prevalent in those areas. After all, Islam is from the Middle East, right? Survival by innovation  I remembered seeing a halal restaurant in Cebu City. Walking downtown, I noticed some of them come and go. I don't even bother to remember the names. I even heard some don't even have a permit like people in ARMM who are selling pirated DVDs. I definitely didn't want to taste their food and risk getting hepatitis or cholera. Then, I remembered walking alongside J. Climaco St. finding a halal restauran