Ibabaw Gardens A Must Visit in Tagbilaran City!

On our seventh wedding anniversary, my husband and I together with our little one celebrated this milestone in Panglao, but before heading to the private villa which I booked, we had to stop by Tagbilaran City for the husband’s annual physical exam, required by his company.

It was 30 minutes before noon time and so he asked where should we go for lunch? I thought I saw one post on Facebook where a church friend had gone lunch in a place with a wine cellar, reminds me of Cebu’s La Vie Parisienne so I researched and found out this place is called Ibabaw Gardens. And so we hit the road following Google Maps.

The app said we will reach there in 18 minutes but it didn’t actually take long before we were already at the restaurant’s parking area. As we opened the door, we heard their music playing, it was relaxing and there were only two other cars parked so I guess there were customers ahead of us already.

This is not located in a high way so it is understandable that there will only be a few customers which we definitely liked. I was surprised to see their open-air dining area upon entry.

Filled with different leaf plants, those which are expensive ones in the market! The owner even made a label on the pots to distinguish what these plants are. They even have monsteras in the house! I have to also comment that the floor tiles look like mermaid skin but the flooring of where the tables and chairs were located was made of faux grass.

Open Air Dining Area

The restaurant is mostly made of wood from the foundations to the ceiling, their roof on the other hand was made in a way so light can be utilized and there’s free flow of air too, even their fence was designed for proper ventilation.

There were at least ten family tables, all made of pure wood as well as their chairs. These tables can accommodate six to eight members, they also have tables good for two, perhaps around two sets of those and that’s in the open air area, there were still other dining corners. So, you can imagine that this restaurant is indeed huge! But wait, there’s more! It can’t be named Ibabaw Gardens without a proper garden so later on this blog, I will show you their spacious garden and they are still constructing a bigger area!

TThey got a corner that look like a typical Filipino dining area with the last supper painting at the back and some plate collections in the nooks plus the ceiling fan looking all vintage. It has a homey feel indeed!

Airconditioned Dining Area

TStaff welcomed us at the entrance and asked if we prefer the open-air dining or inside the air-conditioned space. We love the open air but this time, we decided to go to the air-conditioned room because they got the wine cellar there too!

He opened the glass door for us, and what showed in front of us was a delight, shiny, wooden floors, orange-ambient light chandelier, limestone wall, wooden furniture, beautifully painted wall, and an attractive wine cellar!

First things first, we have to order food as it was already almost noontime and we have a toddler who is not very patient. So I ordered a few things, their menu has markings if this specific option is a seller. I got baby back ribs, beef estofado, and Bicol Express, we requested that the Bicol express not be that spicy and the staff noted. We also got some soft drinks in a can and a dessert which they call Pan De Saging.

Wine Cellar

Waiting time was around 15-20 minutes so we had to roam around and explore the place first! I was already a bit hungry by that time, while waiting, they served us with some peanuts which my niece munched on saying she’s already hungry and that’s the only thing that’s on our table.

The Wine Cellar was of course the easiest spot which we had to explore. This spot here was that which I found on Facebook which got me interested about this place.

And I am not a wine person, I mean I don't drink wine that much so I know nothing about what's a good wine or what's not so we just came here for the ambiance and I know I can also share this to my hive audience and perhaps others will be interested in visiting this restaurant too!

By the way, I really love the wooden ceiling and the circular entrance has wood carvings on its side, it also has nooks with hanging seats and hanging cute table for those who are going to be drinking wine. Aside from that, there's a center wood table with high chairs.

Now, let's check the lines of wines available in this cellar.

The corks really look nice! They got a bowl full of it and I believe all those corks were from the wines sold already!

Comfort Room

Taking a lot of photos of the place while watching over a toddler is not that easy, most of the time, I have to make ways to entertain him, and yes, I give the iPad too so he can watch Super Jojo, we don't have Cocomelon on the tablet. But this time, he won't watch and I wanted to go to the comfort room so I brought my niece and my baby with me to the restaurant's comfort room.

Oh well, this is a beautiful rest room, there were two cubicles, a huge vintage standing mirror, a wooden couch which was super inviting, the tiles are looking really pretty and can you see the wall behind the mirror? I love the textures!

The sink as well is very aesthetic. It's made of wood and there were real plant leaves on glass basins! They got cool tiles on the wall behind the mirror and the mirror looks really clean!

You'd easily distinguish a good restaurant by its comfort room and this was just the women's section. I wasn't able to check how the men's area looked, I forgot to ask the husband to take photos and I also forgot to tell him to check it out! They also got another comfort room for those who need assistance.

Videoke Area

Our orders were not yet ready and so we decided to go to another room which has a karaoke set! This has a vintage look as well with those artistic highlights and glass walls. There's a long family table that can accommodate 12 persons and some circular ones good for four.

There's access outside from this room, a sink as well is available and a comfort room and I love how they made a section here with some bamboos and plants, the ground covered with nice white stones, it looked very zen!

On the way out, there's a bar too and the kitchen at the opposite side. We could already smell good food which made us even hungrier!

So we just took a group photo before we headed back to the air-conditioned room and just wait for our orders. We were all hungry and don't want to waste any energy anymore!

Food

After a few more minutes of waiting and seeing the servers going in and out of the kitchen, we were all excited for the food! As soon as they got our orders on the table, we took quick photos and dug in right away!

The baby back ribs was really good! Matti loved the yellow rice which I forgot to note what really was it. I couldn't quite distinguish if that's curry or a different one but it didn't taste like curry. However, Matti surely had eaten a lot and my niece as well agrees it tasted really good!

As for the beef estofado and bicol express, they don't look very appetizing in photos but boy, they were also bombs! Also, let me say this, they look the same but they taste definitely different. The Bicol Express is the second photo below with the green serving plate, it had a red color which I am not used to seeing for a Bicol express, most of the time, I see just white colored ones but this was really good!

Just believe me when I say it was good! The serving was also generous although I understood the pricing is not your usual average restaurant price, they were averaging around Php 300-500 but the taste and the experience are all worth it.

Lastly, while the husband went away to continue with his physical exam, my niece and I enjoyed a dessert called pan de saging. It has a warm hard bread at the bottom and then topped with some sweetened banana slices and some ube icecream scoops at the top. They also sprinkled it with ground peanuts. It was good as well!

Ibabaw Gardens

While waiting for the husband to fetch us, we had to burn whatever we had eaten. I wish we could finish everything but there were too many servings that I just asked them to pack it for us. And so it was time to roam around and check their garden.

This is a garden where weddings can be held. It has chairs with old sewing machine stands were used as feet, they installed benches and the trimmed grasses looked really nice. There are coconut trees and bamboos too. Green plants and flowering shrubs all over the area.

And they also got their signature circular spot here where most visitors would take selfies and group photos. I asked my niece to sit there for me. My baby was already sleeping at this point, he got tired and sleepy after having lunch. So I had to just use my right hand to take these images while carrying the baby. I wish we had a stroller at that time though.

There are also gazebos being constructed during our visit, they are still expanding and I believe that this is a great place for some family gathering and events. They serve good food and have nice ambiance. Those who loves plants and flowers will appreciate what the management are doing and also, they have live bands too! During our visit, I forgot to ask about the schedule but I believe they have it during the evening.

I highly recommend visiting Ibabaw Gardens! This is located at Barangay Delpaz, Purok 8, Ibabaw, Tagbilaran City, Bohol, Philippines. And they are open from 11 AM to 2 PM and reopens from 4 PM to 9 PM from Tuesdays to Sundays.

J U N E B R I D E
_{Boholana | Cebu | Philippines | Travel | Photography Enthusiast | Calligraphy | Art

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