On the eve of my father’s birthday, I was supposed to surprise him at General Santos City, where he and my mother were spending the night at Microtel General Santos.
However, when I arrived at the hotel, they were not there. As part of the hotel’s policy, I am not allowed to enter the room without informing them. I could not also contact them due to network issues.
Since I arrived late in the afternoon and haven’t had a decent lunch yet, I was feeling really hungry. I suddenly decided to message a friend and former colleague, Let, hoping she was available, to take me somewhere nice to eat or a coffee shop where I can kill the time.
After going through our options, Let recommended we visit the Centro Food Yard, which is a food park. I have heard and read about the new dining destination on social media; so I was very excited to visit the place.
THE PLACE
Centro Food Yard features around 10 purveyors offering different dishes to its diners. The purveyors are located on the sides while the dining area is at the center and front of the covered food yard.
Despite being covered, there were enough fans to keep things cool. It was also a cooler night when we visited, so that helped a lot too.
I also love how there is enough space to move around in between tables.
I also like the casual atmosphere of the place. I think this is a great dining place to hangout with your friends or family.
THE FOOD
For our visit here, we ordered food from Fatboy Grill, Red Lemon Nook, El Cakes Amariah, and Bubbly Queen.
At the Fatboy Grill we ordered their Fatboy Bucket BBQ Ribs (P250).
The ribs we got were tender and I love how delicious the sauce was. It was good that they also provide their diners with plastic gloves so you can eat it with your hands.
At the Red Lemon Nook, Let really wanted me to try their Flying Squid and we ordered that. We were supposed to get the Flying Squid – Large (P160) but it was not available; so we settled with the Flying Squid Small (P13O) and opted for the spicy flavor. We also ordered the Pork BBQ Meal (P75) and glass of iced tea.
The Flying Squid was ok. I love how flavorful the batter was but I think the squid that was served to us was a bit chewy for my liking.
The Pork BBQ Meal was delicious. I would have wanted to order another round of the pork barbecue but we had too much meat for the night.
For desserts, I ordered the Red Velvet Cupcake (P25), Smores Cupcake (P30), Chocolate Chips Cupcake (P25), Blueberry Cheesecake (P75), and Chocolate Chip Cookie (P12) from El Cakes Amariah.
The Red Velvet Cupcake was pretty good while the Smores Cupcake and Chocolate Chips Cupcake were just ok.
The Blueberry Cheesecake was also pretty good.
My favorite was the Chocolate Chip Cookie, which was chewy and delicious.
We also ordered the Waffle Fried Oreos with Ice Cream (P79) and Creme Brulee (P55) from Bubbly Queen.
I love fried Oreos and the one served to us by Bubbly Queen was pretty good.
I was not happy with the Creme Brulee. I like my creme brulees to be thicker and creamier but the one we had was watery. In terms of taste, it was not too sweet that it was almost bland.
THE SERVICE
For each purveyor, you get a different kind of service. Overall, the service from the four we had was pretty good. I also like how the dining staff politely ask when they clear your table.
BOTTOM LINE
The Centro Food Yard offers its diners a range of pretty good food at affordable prices. I love the ambiance of the place as it is very casual and a great place for families and friends to hangout at. I think it also offers a fairly different dining experience in Gensan.
I think the Centro Food Yard is a refreshing addition to Gensan’s food scene, which I think is still on its infancy stage. I am also excited how it will spur the local food scene in the city.
If you are looking for somewhere to have dinner in Gensan, then I would recommend you visit the food yard.
LOCATION and OTHER DETAILS
Location: 4453 South Osmena Street, General Santos City
Business hours: 4:30 pm to 11:00pm
Facebook: Centro Food Yard