A few years ago, I started hanging out at this bar in Banilad Town Centre called Formo.

I had the pleasure of meeting two of the owners, two very beautiful and gracious ladies who took the liberty of ordering for me some of the choice items on Formo’s menu.

I was pleasantly surprised then to find out that Formo is not actually a bar; rather, it is a restaurant disguised as an upscale lounge. In keeping with the bar/lounge tradition, Formo serves really great cocktails and has a pretty extensive drinks menu, but the food is quite impressive too, having Mediterranean-inspired items along with regular bar food.

That was several years ago, and it’s already February 2010. Valentine’s Day at Formo was pretty awesome, having spent it there with my wife (who else was I going to spend it with?).

Our Valentine dinner started out with some soup: cream of pumpkin soup, to be exact. The pureed pumpkin was served with a dollop of cream floating on top, with finely-sliced basil for added flavor. It was very rich and creamy as a good pumpkin soup should be, but the addition of basil gave the soup a somewhat spicy character, turning an otherwise common dish into a more savory experience.

My wife chose the seared cream dory fish fillet, with a tomato-based sauce: the fish was perfectly cooked, and the sauce served to accent the fillet’s subtle flavor. It was served with sautéed mixed vegetables and mashed potatoes. My wife shared a few bites with me, and I found it to be quite good; in my opinion, it can give some of the “better” restaurants here in Cebu a pretty good run for the money.

I had the roast pork loin, which was served with a peppery gravy, a baked potato and again, sautéed mixed vegetables. It was cut along the grain, which shows that the cooking staff knew what they were doing. Roast pork loin is usually dry, but that’s what the gravy is for. The gravy deserves special mention because as pepper sauces go, it doesn’t have the grainy texture and strong pepper taste associated with other restaurants’ “pepper gravies”. It retains the meaty taste of gravy but exudes a subtle bite, reminding the eater that it is indeed, a pepper sauce.

We completed our repast with chocolate brownies a la mode, complemented by a generous dash of cherry syrup. My wife was delighted with it, while I, having no real craving for sweets, found it satisfactory to say the least.

We capped it off with a glass of Bailey’s for my wife and a bottle of Coors Light, Beer Below Zero-style.

It was a very pleasant Valentine dinner for me and my wife: it also served as our pre-celebration of our “monthly” anniversary, which we still celebrate, even now that we are already married.

I wasn't able to take pics of the food, but here's one I "stole" from their Facebook page. These are the Vietnamese Spring Rolls,and while they may not be "authentic" in every sense of the word (meaning it's a Pinoy cook who makes them), they are definitely very delicious.

Someone told me that Formo was once listed in the Philippine Tatler’s top 100 restaurants in the Philippines. I’d believe that, given that the food is really good: have a taste of Formo’s pork steak, calamares, Oriental pork ribs, or their famous Vietnamese-style spring rolls and you’ll see what I’m talking about. Overall, for food, ambience and very reasonable prices (a date will set you back less than eight hundred bucks), I’d give Formo nine points out of ten (who am I to disagree with the Tatler?), plus another point for the two beautiful ladies who always make chilling at Formo a great experience, making it ten.