I had dinner two weeks ago with the high school girlfriend at the new Tierra Cafe. It's this new  restaurant that serves theTierra Alta clubhouse, the new residential resort located 15 minutes from where I live. I made a short post about their now famous lighthouse here. The developers have been busy lately, adding more improvements such as the swimming pool, the clubhouse and the restaurant. All are done with a Greek theme in mind, hence the white buildings. During the day, the entire place easily reminds me of Mariduque's Bella Roca. We were scheduled for a 7pm dinner, however, so there wasn't that much to see except the pavilion awash in lights, and the entrance to the restaurant to the left when we arrived. The restaurant is quite small, but it is cleverly divided into a booth area on the left and the tables on the right. A door at the opposite side of the entrance leads outside to a pathway that leads to the lighthouse. There's a sport's bar outside, where guests can play pool. 

The night was spent catching up. It was a windy Saturday and a three-day cold almost persuaded me not to come. But I'm glad I did. The food was delicious, and it felt good eating somewhere a little bit far from the center of the city. 

Food

I loved my yellow fin papillote. It made a grand entrance, since the waitress first served me with the orange chicken. The quick trip to the kitchen solved the problem. My papillote came in two plates, one with the fish wrapped in tin foil, still piping hot, and my cup of rice with its side of colorful fresh vegetable garnish. The others  had baked chicken l'orange, while some had the baby back ribs, which according to Darwiza was pretty popular. The back ribs were exceptionally soft and buttery, so soft that you could cut through the meat with a spoon. Serlyn had the honey glazed chicken pork  belly. All looked sumptious, and the presentation was professionally done. Everything is affordable by Dumaguete standards. If you are used to eating at any of the restaurants that line the Boulevard, you will feel right at home with the prices here. 

They had a pretty good team of kitchen staff, since our food came just minutes after we arrived. Of course, I think it helped that Darwiza made reservations for us ahead of time, so for those who want to go in and sit down to your meals a few minutes after arriving, phoning in ahead of time would be the way to go.