I've always wanted to try a vegan restaurant and on one particular day, I was asked to look for a restaurant where my colleagues and I would go to lunch. One of my colleagues was on a no-meat diet and I immediately suggested to go to a vegan restaurant. I picked Lunhaw Vegan Cafe located in Escario St, Cebu City (Philippines) because it had good reviews and it was one of the few vegan restaurants that was still open. Some had unfortunately closed because of the pandemic.
Lunhaw in the Cebuano language means green. Inside the restaurant, one wall was covered in green velvet. There were wooden furniture and on the tables were some small flowers.
There were decorations showing the cafe's support for the vegan lifestyle and some uplifting words. The space was cute. There were only about 5 tables. It looked like it could be booked for a private event. I ask the waitress and she told me that the place was indeed available for private events.
Everything on their menu was vegan. There were, of course, salads and fruit juices. Mains typically made from meat were also in their menu. One particular food that interested us was their vegan black burger. In their walls, there was a certificate indicating that their burger was one of the best burgers in the country.
We ordered their pomelo grapefruit salad and I was apprehensive about it. I've never tried a salad made from pomelo and the menu said the dressing was pesto. When the salad arrived, it looked vibrant with its colorful ingredients. There were cashews, pecans, mangoes, celery, and the greens base. We poured the green dressing over it and mixed it a bit. We tasted the salad and it was so good! I never thought a pomelo salad with a pesto dressing would work so well. I told myself I would try doing this at home.
The black vegan burger was served and it was quite striking with its black color. The patty looked suspiciously dry. On the sides were some air fried fries. We tasted the burger and it was disappointing. The patty was indeed dry and lacked a bit of seasoning. Maybe we just had very high expectations after knowing that their burger was one of the best in the country.
As for me, I ordered their vegan bibimpap and when I saw it, I noticed how different it was to the original bibimpap I've had. There were mushrooms and on top, there was this weird looking egg. I mixed everything and it was not bad. I enjoyed it. I think the red sauce brought everything together.
We knew the food was healthy and maybe we expected too much from it. One of my colleagues said the vegan burgers are not for him. I'm just curious what the vegan burgers in other restaurants would taste like.
More than a week after eating at Lunhaw, my colleagues and I went on another food adventure. This was a celebration dinner as I officially started my Researcher role at the University. I told them I wanted to try COOEE, a restaurant in Cebu famous for their salads and smoothie bowls.
We went to their branch in Ramos St, Cebu City and upon entering, we were greeted with their tropical vibe interior. There were plants outside and inside. Some of their furniture and fixtures were wood. The lighting was soft. There were hanging plants and colorful table placements. On their counter, you could see the staff preparing the food by hand. The available fruits were displayed. I was happy to see some avocados.
Their menu had a lot to offer. There were all-day breakfast food, salads, smoothie bowls, fruit shakes, and desserts. We decided to order mango and avocado shakes, salad bowls, and a smoothie bowl. Their avocado shake were creamy and not too sweet. I'd rather had it on a sweeter side but it was still good.
We ordered their Ohana Bowl which was made from sashimi, avocado, carrots, mangoes, cucumber, white onions, shredded seaweed and cherry tomatoes. The bowl could be served with rice as base but I decided to order it with greens. I was satisfied with this salad bowl although I realized I should've ordered it with rice to make it more filling. The combination of the fruits, vegetables, and salmon was odd but it worked.
The second salad bowl was their Mahalo Bowl. It was a vegetarian poke bowl with tofu and shredded almonds as its protein source. The bowl also had pomelo, cucumber, carrots, white onions, mango, corn, and croutons. My colleague ordered it and I think he enjoyed it because he was able to finish the whole thing.
My other colleague order a smoothie bowl that was ocean-themed. I forgot what they named the dish. I think the smoothie was mango and banana-based with spirulina to make it look blue-green. It also had grated coconut for the waves, chia seeds for the fine sand, and corn flakes as the larger sand. There were stars made from mangoes and some blackberries that were supposed to be rocks. I'm not a fan of smoothie bowls but I though it was good. My colleague was not able to finish it though. It was too sweet for him.
I thought it was weird having those healthy foods for dinner but I was satisfied. Maybe I am way too used to eating meat and rice during mealtimes. Overall, the experience was good and I'd want to try the other food in their menu.
And that's it! I hope you like healthy colorful food. This post is #8 of my Food Memories Series. There are still so much more I could add to this series. if you're a foodie, make sure to look out for them.
See you in the next post. Cheers!
