Hey Africa, You're So Stylish!

Due to social media advertisers' "retargeting", most of my news feed results in ads for restaurants and cafes. I stumbled upon an advertisement for a specific restaurant which immediately caught my attention because the photos were all gram-worthy! I thought it was from a different country but then I found out it's just in Cebu province!

But it wasn't easy to get there as it is located in Mactan, we have no reason to go there so the restaurant's name was just jotted in my notes app, yes I take note of places that I want to visit for blogging purposes!

Fortunately, when the opportunity came, I made sure we could pass by and have lunch. My husband's company had a summer outing in May and it was held in JPark Resort on Mactan Island. It was perfect timing!

I made a quick search on the restaurant's social media page but was concerned if this is still a functioning restaurant because their last update was in 2019. Still, I went ahead with the plan and I was glad to find they are still open and we were the only customers around at that time! We came before noontime, I am not sure if we were the first customers but the place was empty and that meant freedom!

From the time that we stepped in, we could already feel the stylish and cozy vibe of the restaurant. It has so many things going on but I was first drawn to their tiles! I love stylish tiles and they got a different types of tiles for their outdoor flooring and the indoor, there's even a wall with tiles inside.

I like that there were no tables alike. I was having a hard time deciding where to sit. I love the round table chairs but my husband want a tabletop with texture so he picked the one next to the air conditioner, that was a good decision though because the room has no ceiling, it's in roofing right away but somehow, I was not disturbed by it, it has somehow added beauty to the room but it was also obviously hot inside.

The staff turned on the AC though as soon as we got inside so all was well. However, my baby was sleeping at that time and I am glad they have a couch! I placed my baby down while I order food.

I am out of words though of how cozy this place was. I really wonder why their Facebook page is not active anymore, perhaps they have a new page? I couldn't find any other page at that time but after a few more searches, I bumped into their new social media account, and that one's updated but with a different logo so it's quite confusing.

Anyway, let me show you more of the place. Here are some details, their lights were also aesthetic. They got dream catchers around and Bohemian Macrame wall hanging too.

And there's a corner next to the kitchen which has a very artistic design. The hanging light was my favorite but I also love the low table and the rattan floor cushions. The backdrop is a fabric zodiac wall art. I can't get enough as well of this huge mirror in front of a coffee table.

As you can see here, the rough finish of the wall is complimented by these hollow blocks on the floor. The owner sure is an artist! She made use of native items and also accentuate them with modern stuff like the lights, furniture, mirror, and plants altogether.

According to the staff, the majority of the furniture was imported from South Korea as the owner is a Korean lady. But a lot of the items inside the restaurant are locally sourced too. The restaurant eyes Korean customers too.

Aside from this artistic furniture, they also display arts made by their customers and I took photos of some of them, they were just pinned into this wooden partition divider.

I was glad to find out that they have a glass wall showing the kitchen! I saw the staff preparing our orders from here. I just did a quick snap as I didn't want to disturb them. Also, can you see how nice the kitchen looks from the glass wall?

Outside, the restaurant's name is written on its black-painted wall. Plants, hanging and potted were all over the place. This al fresco area extends to the parking area. They have many sitting arrangements too outside and I wished I could have explored that part more but it was scorching hot at that time.

I took photos of the outside from the glass wall inside the restaurant though, I was not in the mood to be going out but later on, I had to because their comfort room was located outside. They had designed it with a transparent roof once again, I thought that was really brilliant so to conserve energy during day time.

Nipa hut-inspired spaces here and I missed that there was a coffee nook there, perhaps it was covered by the car because we parked inside. I don't know if they have a separate parking space but when we went there, we just parked in the empty space.

I must tell you that these photos I have posted here are just 1/4 of the number of photos I had taken during our visit. I surely loved every inch of this restaurant. Indeed, cozy, gram-worthy, and stylish, you'd want your next date with your friends and partner to be spent here. I believe as well that the place looked nice during the evenings.

The food was served by the kitchen staff, I was expecting that the staff who welcomed us would serve it but it was the guys who cooked them. We ordered their chicken salad, sweety fried chicken, kimchi, Korean ramen, two rice servings, and a lemon cucumber juice.

I am glad that their service is huge! The salad was I guess good for 2-3 people and the same goes for the sweety fried chicken, I requested that they separate the sauce so I can feed some of the chicken to my baby as the staff said it is a bit spicy and they did! The kimchi was just a small order and I ate them all, my husband isn't fond of kimchi but he commented that the Korean ramen was good!

Overall, we had a great time at Africa Restaurant, there were many unavailable dishes on their menu but it's fine, they have a long list of options though from Italian, Spanish, Korean, and Filipino.

They offer burgers, sandwiches, meat dishes, salad, pasta, fruit shakes, tea, coffee, and alcohol. They got gelato too!

The restaurant is located in Marigondon, Lapu-Lapu City Cebu. Taking the 3rd bridge of CCLEX, it would take only around 20 minutes to get here from SM Seaside, but normally, it's around an hour away from Cebu City and 20-30 minutes away from Mactan International Airport.

They have some tiny fish by the way in this vase, my baby was enjoying it! Thanks for reading, if you are in Mactan, do stop by and take a lot of photos!