Do you know the feeling of enjoying your meal while your lola (grandmother) embraces you?

However weird or unfamiliar (or even cringey?) it may sound, I felt that way when I got the chance to dine in the recently-opened Golden Cowrie Restaurant in Ayala by the Bay. Yup, it felt like home of my Lola waaayyyy back I could hardly remember. And the reason is actually measured in seasons.

You see, this restaurant has been a favored dining hole in Cebu even in the ‘90s (or much earlier than my brain cells remember). Back then, it’s understandable that there were very few good restaurants you can visit in any place in the Philippines. That when you’re in Cebu City and ask for a good place to have lunch or dinner, the Golden Cowrie would be on top of the list. Alas! my measly government salary would mean that I can only dine in such a place when the meal is hosted. Don’t get me wrong, the foods in the provinces, including this one, would give you the real value for your money. Unfortunately, the government per diem of Php115 (in early ‘90s, ha) that already included finding the cheapest room and eating carinderia foods is the fashionable “hikahos” way of living while on field work. So the chance to dine in Golden Cowrie came only through one sponsored meal and it became a bittersweet memory for many decades.

Fast forward to today and enough of the throwback drama. I found myself in Ayala by the Bay a few days ago and was surprised to find the Golden Cowrie restaurant! I asked a waitstaff if it was the same owners of the OG in Cebu and the answer was in affirmative.

So I sat down with my family, and was so surprised that the food prices was more comparative to Cebu. Meaning, they were not the usual Manila mall prices (you get what I mean). Then another amazing thing happened when the foodstuff were put on our table. The servings were huge! well, not that huge, huge, but could be enough to feed two people. It really threw me back to the feeling of dining in the ‘90s - great food, good value for money, and the happiness of getting pleasantly sated.

Enough of the adjectives as if I’m trying to get the attention of Golden Cowrie Restaurant in hopes of getting a hosted meal, haha! Basta! babalik kami to taste the other foods we missed.