Bintana: Try Harder

It was a wonderful Thursday yesterday (or so I thought). It was also my day off from work, so to be productive, my friends and I decided to eat out. One of my friends recommended that we go visit Bintana. A lesser known cafe/resto in Cebu City. I am all for an adventure that day so I obliged.

Where do I start? How about, its as if this frigging cafe/resto does not wish to be found.

To get there, one must venture through Mango Ave. then take the narrow street going to Redemptorist Church. Turn right of Brown Cup and other establishments, to a very empty street and voila! Bintana is just around the corner. It sounded easy, but for someone who takes a cab to get to the next street, this is such a commute.

The restaurant is on the first floor of a two-story house. The facade is unassuming, worn. Its a if a family decided to open a cafe/resto after binge drinking (not that I know anything about binge drinking or its effects). Nevertheless, the building has this old charm you normally feel looking at old buildings (Duh).

Inside are 3 six tables plus 3 more in the mini garden. There's not much room to roam around. Theres a bookshelf where you can purchase whats in the shelf. Aside from a few Harry Potter's and Out of Africa, the books were unfamiliar, at least to me. The mini garden (I'm not sure its a garden as plants are little to none) is laid with gravel. We wanted to stay outside but its kinda hot and mosquitoes are around. So for a more dengue-proof choice, we stayed inside.

For starters, I ordered coffee cause I didn't see vodka on the menu.

They have 3 types of coffee: Local, Single Origin, and Civet. The three also comes in 3 flavors or strength (as the waitress explained) V60 which is mild, French Press is so-so, and Phin is the strongest. Being a coffee lover, I ordered Single Origin Phin and paired it with a classic Blueberry Cheesecake. My friends ordered Local V60 plus Brownie ala Mode and Seafood Palabok.

We were later joined by a Norwegian friend Erlend, who is just 22 but has more life than all of us 3 combined.

Anyway, the food is okay, so is the coffee. I expected more from the coffee. I mean, it sounded bookishly cool (Single Origin, hello) and Phin sounded exotic. I was majorly disappointed. The Cheesecake is too frozen, I almost thought Olaf would appear any minute singing a Disney song.

I also ordered Pork Bistek with Caramelized Onion because why not? Stop judging my appetite. It was tad too sweet. I asked my friend if its supposed to be that way as I remembered Bistek to be salty. She explained that its because of the caramelized onion. I tried to explain that just because there's 'caramel' in onion, it doesn't mean its supposed to be sweet. I gave up after 2 minutes. 

The highlight of the day was Erlend the Norwegian. 

He was tall, blond, well built and handsome and he's only 22. He's been in many countries and knows more than us when it comes to Cebu. He knows how to get to a place I haven't even heard off. After he left. We were left in utter shame. First, because he knows more than us about a place we call home, to think that he is, technically, a visitor. Second, he's freaking 22 and he's traveled a lot. And we were all older than him. 

We then concluded that its because he's a foreigner from a first world country so they get more travel opportunities than us. Either that or he did better in life.  

Verdict

Bintana can try harder.

The place was full (of Conyos and Macbooks), so it must be a good place for people with good taste. It didn't impress me that much. Maybe because I don't have a good taste, or that I am above them (the Conyos and Macbooks). The fact that I found Erlend more interesting (purely for research purposes) than the cafe itself, is probably a testament to how I feel towards Bintana. And they didn't even have that much Bintana.

Regardless, I might still go back and try some of their dishes. You might want to visit them as well for an afternoon of self realization that your generation was supposed to be great. Then comes a handsome Norwegian guy, who will make you realize that you not only lack the genes, but almost everything.