Getting Sweet at Abaseria

It all started with a pic... a pic of a square of chocolate cake topped with durian slices. Thanks to an officemate whose hobby is to tempt his fellow officemates' sweet teeth. The following day, the photo of the cake still haunted my officemates and I. And four employees with dangerously large sweet teeth decided to hunt down the cake during lunch break.


That square of chocolate cake topped with durian slices can be found in:

32 President Quirino St., Villa Aurora, Kasambagan, Cebu City

(032) 234 4160 / (032) 412 4196 / 0917 328 6219

abaseria@yahoo.com.ph

Daily 9AM to 9PM

Abaseria, I read somewhere, is Spanish for sari-sari (Filipino word for "variety"). Abaseria Deli & Café is not only a deli and café, but also a store that sells delicacies from different Philippine provinces, furniture, home decor, bags, hats, accessories. It's sari-sari alright.

I have been to Abaseria a few times, years ago. They have good food but too expensive for me (if I remember right, it's Php 180 above per dish) and I find their portions too small for the price. Good thing we ate a speedy lunch at the office before this hunt down.

Back to what we came here for: the choco durian special (ah, so that's the name of that square of chocolate cake topped with durian slices). Two of my officemates ordered this. I stuck with plain old homemade chocolate cake because durian isn't really my fruit of choice. Another officemate (remember we were four) got the brazo ala mode. The coffee addict of the four also had a cup of durian coffee.

According to the people who ordered:

Choco durian special — Oh, it's heaven in every bite. (As they say, durian smells like hell but tastes like heaven.)

Homemade chocolate cake — Yum! The cake doesn't crumble and the icing is perfect (not too thin and not too thick). My kind of chocolate cake.

Brazo ala mode — Mmm...mmm...mmm... (next thing you know it's all gone.)

Durian coffee — Wow. I can taste the durian and it's not too strong. Can I have another cup, please?

Because I am a curious eater, I took a bite of each cake. And a sip of the coffee, too. According to me:

Choco durian special — Looks like the homemade chocolate cake cut horizontally in half to make a choco-durian sandwich with durian as filling and topping. Interesting taste, but I think I will stick to my homemade chocolate cake.

Homemade chocolate cake — Yum! The cake doesn't crumble and the icing is perfect (not too thin and not too thick). My kind of chocolate cake.

Brazo ala mode — Surprise! There's ice cream tucked between the meringue and the yema! If only I had extra money and extra tummy space...

Durian coffee — The non–coffee drinker says, "Tastes like coffee to me." Please don't take my word for it.

I just noticed they have something called "Four Corners". I wonder what that is. Another reason for me to go back?