Light dinner @ Dong Juan

One of the downside of having meetings in the afternoon is the heavy snacks.  After eating a couple of oven-fresh pan de coco and baked macaroni for an afternoon snack, I was planning to skip dinner and spend a quiet night at the hotel.  But after the meeting, J insisted to take me to dinner.  I tried to refuse kindly but he's having none of it. This is the usual scenario when I am in Cebu--suppliers feed me until I'm bursting at the seams, literally.

I finally agreed to go to dinner with a condition that we're eating light.  We didn't drive too far because around the corner was Insular Square in Mandaue.  I guess it's fairly new because some of the spaces were still vacant.

There were a couple of restaurants here but I veered towards Dong Juan---it looked cozy and I like the word play, it makes the name of this restaurant more memorable.  "Dong" is what  "toto" to an Ilonggo or "totoy" in Tagalog, a term of endearment we often call a younger male sibling, cousin, nephew, a young boy or a young man.

Dong Juan's cozy, casual ambiance  creates a fun, lighthearted experience.  They don't have an extensive menu---just what I needed for this dinner!

J told me that Dong Juan started as a hole-in-wall in Guadalupe then it became popular because of its affordable prices and range of popular food.  We got a garlic-cheese pizza and fish & chips.  The fish & chips was nothing to rave about but the pizza was good.  I was also impressed with the iced tea glass---it reminds me of a cough syrup bottle and the bottle where my grandmother aged her coconut vinegar.

This was a simple but fun dinner.

Linking to Food Friday and Food Trip Friday