Double Date at Lantaw Floating Restaurant

In a secluded area somewhere in Lapulapu, a new native-inspired Filipino restaurant emerged, making its name and is now well-known so I didn't wonder seeing a long line of customers waiting at the welcome-area when we arrived there last September fifteenth. We were group guest number 46 and they were serving guest number 26 at seven in the evening.

I heard the place is good for couples because of the romantic ambiance so I suggested it to my cousin who recently got married to Bambie and boy, I couldn't agree more. The place was made of bamboo and native tall grass, wooden furniture such as tables, seats and lamps were add on to its native style. I love the bamboo made mini-bridge going to the restaurant from the main entrance and the lights were indeed romantic. The bamboos-inspired under the long table was an attractive as well as the half "jeepney" turned into a bar.

Lantaw is a floating native restaurant situated in Day-as Cordova, Mactan Cebu. Lantaw is a Cebuano term for “watch over” because one can view either the beautiful Cebu City skyline at daytime or the city lights at night.

Our friendly young waitress, Arlyn patiently waited for our orders, while Jesil and Bambie were checking on the menu, I was busy asking our waitress about the resto. So I learned from her that Mooon Cafe's owner is their boss as well, they had so many guests for the past months and that there were local artists who had also visited and dined the area such as Kim Chui. I was saddened when they were not serving Baked Scallops because they run out of scallops.

Dinner was served after 15-20 minutes of waiting, we had Spicy Scallops for our appetizer, Tinolang Halaan as our soup, Garlic Buttered Prawns and Sweet Chili Crablets then we ordered Cordova Cooler for our drinks. Surprisingly, the glasses reminded all of us of Jesil and Bambie's wedding. Bambie personally said she loves the place and its native theme. The serving plates were also native specially the coconut husk like platter for the spicy scallops. The food was indeed very good; I never thought that the crablets would be that tasteful! Despite the pressure because of the number of customer orders, they were able to maintain the quality of their food. Special Thanks to Arlyn, who was very accommodating and cheerful, she would check on once in awhile and would ask us if the food was ok. Such a good customer service!

Overall, with the food, ambiance and customer service, we were all satisfied with our double date! Thumbs up!

On our way out of the restaurant, we met James’ boss Roberto who was about to dine with his girl. James told me that his boss loved the restaurant that he went back the next day, he even mentioned that Lantaw was so far for him the best restaurant here in Cebu!

Tips:

- Call for reservations as the restaurant expects lots of visitors especially on weekends.

Contact Number: (032) 514 2959

- Arrive early, suggested time is at five in the afternoon so you'll get a beautiful view of the sunset. Their business hours are the following:

Sundays - Thursdays : 10:00 am to 10:00 pm

Fridays - Saturdays : 10:00 am to 11:45 pm

- Bring a camera, you will regret it if you won't be able to catch on that moment.

- Try their Halo-halo. We never tried it since we were all full; I just learned that their Halo-halo is good from my colleagues.