Maple's Salmon Catch, Burger, Blackened Chicken and Pizzadilla

One of Manila's favorite American restaurants, Maple, is now open in Cebu. The staff is pleasantly waiting for your arrival and the cooks are ready to grant your stomach's request at the kitchen.

Enjoy delicious fusions of western influences and familiar comfort food concocted using the best of local ingredients.

The Salmon Catch is a fresh Salmon fillet, lightly seasoned and then either grilled, pan-seared or blackened to your liking, served with Texas summer vegetables and orzo pasta. This dish tastes divine; you don't even need a knife for the fish- its tender like that. The pasta was perfect; it seems to be cooked piece by piece. Its blandness complements the flavorful slices of vegetables. This is incredibly good!

The Maple Burger houses a juicy grilled beef patty, American cheese, lettuce, pickles, tomatoes, fried onion rings, and Maple glazed bacon, all with a paper roll of fries served at the side. This burger is absolutely the burger to beat in all comfort food restaurants out there. The patty, though not imported elsewhere, is juicy enough to satiate your taste buds. The cheese makes the whole presentation, and not to mention the taste: sexy. The rest of the stuffed ingredients made each bite bursting with different flavors, and the bacon couldn't get anymore delicious with the cheese, vegetables and buns.

The fries weren't as tasty as I expected but with a sprinkle of salt available on every table, you can flavor it however you want.

Blackened Chicken is chicken breast with a spicy cajun rub, grilled and served with creamed spinach, bacon and dirty rice. This is my favorite dish among all that is mentioned in this post. The chicken breast was delightfully tender; I enjoyed every chew of it. The flavor was more concentrated on the top part, however, the spinach shared taste with the remaining parts on my plate. Overall, this dish had a strong taste.

Pizzadilla is chicken quesadilla topped with arugula and melted formagio, in pizza form. It's really good and it was served with a generous amount of cheese! The arugula came with its usual strong aroma and flavor that complemented the dough's bland taste. Every slice was good.

The place invokes a real magical vibe because of the lights, cushioned seats and ornamented walls. Everyone will surely enjoy the soothing ambiance and appreciate the good music as they dine.

Maple is open from 7:00 AM to 11:00 PM. It is located at Level 1, The Terraces, Ayala Center Cebu. For reservations (Monday-Thursday only), contact 231-0633.