Bring your fam, cam, and appetite to this spot in Bohol
There was going to be a 45-minute wait, we were told. Sounds doable for those who get giddy over falling in line for the newest food crazes, but Mist in Panglao Island, Bohol, has been around since 2020—and I get too hangry with queues. (Thankfully, we were given a table after 20 minutes.)
Still, it was understandable why diners flock to the Chinese-owned café-restaurant. The exterior looks like a tropical avian playground, flush with greenery and wood that continues indoors. There are couches and swings for seats, a suspended net where guests can hang out, and a short slide going down to the ground floor for those too fun-seeking or too lazy for the stairs.
Innovative dishes
Some spots in the upper dining areas of the three-story structure call for comfortable floor seating, and there’s an air-conditioned room covered in glass walls with a panoramic view for those who prefer to stay cool.
The menu is an adventure itself, with innovative dishes that not only look appetizing but sound quite intriguing as well. What we did not expect were the huge servings and the dramatic flair with which the courses are served. It’s best to visit the restaurant with the whole family or gang to be able to try more items and enjoy the fantastic presentation.
The Pyro dishes, we were told, need to be ordered earlier, and when they come, diners are in for an explosive fire show.
The Fiesta Tacos we ordered were superb, a quartet of exciting flavors in a bed of shredded lettuce wrapped in soft taco shells: Crab Jalapeño (generous servings of mildly spicy fresh crab salad topped with red caviar), Beef (beautifully seasoned ground beef mixed with onions, tomatoes, peppers), Pulled Pork (juicy slow-cooked-to-perfection pork served with onions, alfalfa, and a special spicy sauce), and Garlic Butter Shrimp (a tender piece of buttered shrimp on zest, garlic sauce).
The Tex-Mex Tango came in what looked like a small cauldron. The corn-flavored nacho chips sat on shredded lettuce, drizzled with cheddar cheese and served with a trip of dips: jalapeño beans and beef, cilantro salsa, and roasted garlic aioli.
The Shrimp Tempura Trio allows guests to experience succulent shrimps in crunchy batter with three different dipping sauces: wasabi mayo, cocktail dip, and ginger sauce.
Mild kick or full-on heat
The Tomato Beef Ravioli, a bowl of fresh stuffed pasta in beef stew, has a mildly peppery flavor. Mist, in fact, seems to like its spices, with a number of the dishes we ordered having either a mild kick or full-on heat.
The Ultimate Flavor Decker took a while to arrive for some reason (we suspect they had forgotten it, so it pays to follow up every now and then—especially when they’re fully booked), but it made up for the wait with its heft and flavor.
The sandwich, which comes with a handsome serving of thin crispy fries, coleslaw, and thousand island dressing on the side, is a double-decker heaped with crispy bacon, omelet, chicken fillet, mixed cheese, and turkey ham. The strawberry jam gave it a tantalizing twist.
Do not be fooled by the name or the photo on the menu, the Black Gold Siomai is not at all the bite-sized snack you might think it is. When the dish arrived, we were faced with three pieces of shiny, luxurious, gold-leaf-topped siopao-looking buns the size of a fist. Inside was a filling (pun intended) pork barbecue and seasoned black glutinous rice. Each dumpling was already a meal on its own.
By the time we finished, there really was no room left for dessert or drinks (the other table’s Gardens by the Bay and Mango Beergarita looked ostentatious, but enticing). But next time we find ourselves back on the island, Mist would definitely be worth another visit.
