In-yo, Amo

The inviting facade of in-yo

Thursday nights are date nights for me and my hubz. We set a rule when we got married to always have a night just to ourselves. That way, we'll always have an "us" time. Last Thursday was no exception. We chose to finally try In-yo, an old house turned restaurant serving fusion cuisine. This place was recommended by Jocelle Pascual, good friend and business partner in PEP. Check out their blog that's managed by hubby Joel.

Since Joel and Jocelle work near In-yo, we invited them to join us. It was an instant double date. While I was busy taking pictures, Joel, Jocelle and Boydee were updating each other about the upcoming Wofex in Visayas focusing on Food Processing and Packaging Technology which will be held in Cebu, my hometown!, on April 18-21, 2007 in the Cebu International Convention Center.

A single water lily centerpiece for every table

There were a lot of things that kept me preoccupied while waiting for our orders to arrive. The green waterlily centerpiece reminded me of Mommy Nonie who loves waterlilies. The table utilized an old sewing machine as its body/legs giving the place a rustic feel.

Singer sewing machine-turned-dining table

Outside, the facade was decorated with what looked to me like the vines coming from an old rubber tree. A koi fish pond is right at the entrance making one feel more relaxed. I climbed the 2nd floor too where they had a table for 12. The small room was adorned with modern paintings while the stair case was accented with 'treasures' of our country's past. The mix of old and new made the place cozy and eclectic. I also read the newspaper write ups that hung on the wall going to their clean rest room. I especially loved the hanging capiz shells 'curtain'.

After roaming around, our orders came little by little. First up was the oyster rockefeller. This seemed like a popular order since the other table had that too. The oysters were kinda small so they added some more pieces into the shell. Flavors were just right. This was good!

Rock, rock, rock, rockefeller!

Next came the pasta alle vongole using linguini pasta and manila clams. On the first bite, it didn't quite register well to the palate. But on the 3rd and 4th slurp, it got better and better. The clams particularly tasted really flavorful without the 'sandy' smell that usually come with the bigger-sized clams.

I had my pumpkin soup brought in. Served in a white coffee cup with two large croutons as toppers, it looked good but wasn't what I expected. The ginger overpowered the taste of the pumpkin. You can hardly taste the pumpkin at all. I yearned for Zhar's pumpkin soup. Hmmm... Next dish please!

Our main courses starting arriving one by one. It was a feast for the eyes. The chef really gave careful attention to the food presentation. Each dish had its own style. They looked like works of art. So did they taste good as well as they looked? It varied per dish.

Chicken on a stick... of lemon grass, that is!

The broiled coconut lime chicken was a cross of Vietnamese (because of the lemongrass) and Singaporean/Malaysian cooking. This to me was the dish which you can eat and not be guilty about in terms of calories gained. It was broiled and used white meat. Not much oil and not much fat and the serving size is just right. The rice I didn't finish. I was too busy with the chicken. Besides for me, it stood well on its own without the rice since the flavors were not too strong. The rice would've just diluted it.

Doesn't the cute sunny side up look sooo appealing?

The beef salpicao I didn't get to taste. I was too embarrassed to ask Joel. Hehe... But I do love the quail egg (or was that just a really, really small egg?) they put on top of the rice! Judging from the clean plate after, I guess it must have been good, too.

Grilled US Top Blade

My husband got two dishes. The grilled US top blade and the duck leg confit. The steak was tender enough but not beefy enough, meaning the taste of beef wasn't too distinct. Maybe it was the cut, or the seasoning, I don't know. The black mushroom, and the cucumber-eggplant-tomato 'pile' was grilled and seasoned with what tasted like balsamic vinegar reduction. Again, on its own, the sidings were delish but mixed with the steak, didn't produce a very good combination since the sauce got sipped in to the steak. Perhaps a milder and simpler siding would have worked.

Top view of the duck confit

As for the duck confit, well, I prefer my duck confit more 'preserved', drier (including the fat), crispier and saltier. The duck confit here tasted more like roasted duck. Its fat was just oozing with oil. It should be okay as a duck dish; but as a duck confit dish, well, it doesn't quite hit the spot.

Trio of creme brulee

We capped the meal with trio of creme brulee and strawberry surprise. The latter I didn't get to taste since I was already reserving my taste buds for the creme brulee. The creme brulee came in three flavors-classic, coffee and chocolate. The first two I loved; the chocolate was so so. The texture of all three custards was wet and soggy, not jelly like. I wished they were slightly firmer.

In-yo is a cozy and a novel place to entertain friends and acquaintances. The food presentation is exceptional and even if there were some dishes that weren't quite what I expected (perhaps my expectations were high because they just looked too darn good!), it is still a place I'd bring my Mommy to when she comes to visit me from Cebu. For the ambience, the quality of the food, its serving size and for the whole dining experience, the prices are fairly reasonable.

Inyo is fine-dining fusion cuisine minus the snobbish and intimidating factor so identified with that genre. It is inviting and appealing. It is a restaurant that is inyo (yours in Cebuano) which we'd gladly call amo (ours in Cebuano).

in-yo fusion cuisine
66 Esteban Abada Street
Loyola Heights, QC
#s: 9286459; 0927-8742611
in_yo06@yahoo.com

Total bill: P3,330.60 with VAT and SC
Head Count: 4 adults