There's a lot of quaint and interesting places to eat popping up in Cebu these days. And Cafe Saree was one of the original ones to open last year.
When the Escario Commercial Center opened there was a lot of home-grown food newbies to try. There was the sizzling/steak place Porto -- nothing special, not going back. There was the second branch Michelangelo Pizza, which was quite good. There's Brioche -- again, one of those okay places but nothing out of the ordinary. Then, there's Cafe Saree.
When I first tried the Cafe, there were a lot of diners even for lunch. The crowd is yuppie and mostly of the B and C market. Think of them as two notches below those who eat at Cafe George in Banilad. And that makes it kinda swanky by Cebu standards. Needless to say, this place has a good number of patrons.
The food was good. I had a angus tapa breakfast. And the beef was flavorful and soft. When I ate there again with some friends, I had an artichoke dip that was really sensational. I had a brazo de mercedes slice that was too sweet. And a lasagna that was just okay. My friends really liked the lasagna, but my mom makes the best so it paled in comparison.
I guess in summary, it's fair to say Cafe Saree offers a interesting menu compared to other restaurants in town. That you can eat artichoke in this joint is interesting enough since not many places offer artichoke starters in Cebu. That's their main competitive advantage really. The ambiance is quaint, cute and moderately comfortable.
If you're fussy, watch out for the service. Some servers are surly. And turn a blind eye away from the chilled dessert section. The plastic wrapped, compressed and haphazardly arranged sweets look sad, old and prepared two weeks ago. It'll make you question the freshness of everything else they put on your plate.