Gayuma (a small resto along Esteban Abada St.) was a cult favorite among Ateneans before it closed shop. Now, the daughter of Gayuma’s owner is resurrecting the same “aphrodisiac” restaurant concept near the Maginhawa foodie street in Sikatuna Village. Since Cucina Gayuma along Gilmore closed down already, it is time for Gayuma ni Maria to take the baton and run with this concept.
The restaurant attempts to be homey but falls short since it’s still unfinished (understandable, since it is still on soft opening). It also tries to project a casual but romantic ambiance where you can hang out with friends and loved ones.
Here is the Gayuma Love Story Menu Front and Menu Back . The menu is already updated and they just retained the best sellers from the original menu.
Itsie-Bitsie Fetish (P60). Straight from the home of the 8th World Wonder, these Banaue taro fries are best paired with sweet strawberry yoghurt or rich cheese dip.
The taro fries were very good — not oily and perfectly crisp. They went well with the smooth cheese dip. Thing is, the little bowl is so shallow that you can only dip the top portion of the fries. The cheese you get is not always enough, so you go back and dip the fries some more.
Tuliro (P135). A bed of nachos and lettuce topped with slivers of meat and fresh fruits, with succulently sinful sour cream and cheese sauce.
I like this Nacho Salad with grapes. A good starter that’s big enough to share. I would rather order this as an appetizer over the taro fries since the fries would go better with the other main dishes.
There is a mini-aphrodisiac store where you can browse their “interesting stuff”.
Lemongrass & Coconut Extract Massage Oil or Glow-in-the-Dark Love Dice, anyone? 🙂
You can also learn a thing or two from this Top Ten Aphrodisiacs article I found on the wall:
Top Ten Aphrodisiacs:
1. Green Tea – is now said to be a cure for many ills but of old it was an ingredient to strengthen and excite the humours of the body. Make a pot and sip throughout the day.
2. Lavender Excites! Use it sparingly as a culinary tease of taste buds and senses: “Pasta Lavandula” is included in the last chapter, but lavender can alo be added to a number of sauces with interesting effects. My own favourite is to make a Lavend Hollandaise, incorporating a few drops of lavender oil, or some fresh flower bud into the yolks as you began to beat them. You may never need pudding.
3. Another Dynamite Concoction is Parsley and Coriander Pesto, made by blending a large handful of flat-leafed parsley, the same coriander (in both cases the fresher the better) and 2 cloves of garlic with 2 tbsps olive oil in a food processor. This is strong stuff: Gabriel and Patricia, who use it regularly can’t dismiss their Sunday lunch guests quickly enough once the effect cuts in.
4. I have a friend who is every inch the courtesan: what secrets of love does she not know? Â She is convinced that the best cure for frigidity is a warm bath — what I might now call “Eike’s antifreeze”. Â Her secret ingredient is melissa (lemon balm) oil, which should be added to a bath as it is running with a small amount of salt and some almond oil. This simple solution cures, soothes and delights the female body; if lemon balm tea is sipped simultaneously, the result is an insatiable appetite for pleasure!
5. Â Men have a secret recipe too: rosemary is an excellent tonic for those suffering nervous disorders, anxiety or stress; so a bath with rosemary oil added could go a long way to heal his “headache” the next time he claims he has one, and you have other ideas.
6. Oysters are so famous in this connection that it would be churlish not to include them. What they do have going for them is a sensational texture, and they also give the consumer lots of strength.
7. If the obstacle to physical love is one of nerves on both sides, champagne must be recommended, even without the potions added to it in these pages. It enters the bloodstream faster than any ordinary wines and has a cheering effect for most people. Taken as an aperitif with oysters, the double-whammy effect could send you both into the stratosphere.
8. A sensual massage with aphrodisiac oils will put anyone in the mood for love: but the best for passion are undoubtedly lemon grass, jasmine, ylang-ylang and best of all tuberose, exotic and erotic beyond belief (so long as budget is not a problem).
9. Honey was renowned for its aphrodisiac properties that it gave its name — Honeymoon — to the month of newlywed passion. It can be used in a variety of delicious ways as an aphrodisiac — perhaps taking a tip from the Polynesians, who anoint their vital parts with it for a stimulant, lubricant effect.
10. Poppy seeds are especially good for adding zing to sexual performance. Athletes who have eaten poppy seed rolls apparently give positive results for drug testing so sprinkle them liberally.
Once you go black, you never go back (P225). Cocoa-Crusted cream dory with chocolate sauce — you’ll never want to eat fish any other way.
The chocolate was bitter and the entire crust was very salty. We will definitely not try this again.
Secret Lovers (P185). Rich braised beef pot pie with potatoes.
We enjoyed this braised beef because it was flavorful and soft, but it was too oily. I did like the sweet fruity sauce that came with it.
I heard from people who have been to the old Gayuma that it was always packed and parking was very difficult. It was a good date place or barkada hangout. 🙂
Chinoy in Seventh Heaven (P240). Fried chicken obra gently simmered in a concoction of Chinese herbs with heavenly rice mix.
This reminded us of Savory Chicken that you can eat in the original branch in Chinatown. We liked the brown rice mix and the fries that went with it. We could taste the herbs in the chicken but could not pinpoint the exact flavors.
Please be careful with my heart (P240). This twice-baked chicken in olive oil and garlic is the perfect cure for the heart that needs a little TLC.
The chicken was very easy to debone and the meat got too soft from the baking. We did not really like the flavor because it was a bit mild and the chicken was dry. We are not a fan of this dish.
An adjacent Japanese room with banig and pillow seats is in the works. It will have a small fashion closet-type store.
Aidan and Joshua had fun running around the spacious restaurant. I do hope that the restaurant survives until my boys are old enough to understand what “aphrodisiac” means. 🙂
Overall, the concept is very promising, but I think the food has to be improved for the sake of foodies looking for unique and good flavors. It is very nostalgic for people from Katipunan; but to introduce it to a totally new market, it would need more than nostalgia to sell itself.
Gayuma ni Maria
The ORIGINAL bewitchingly gastronomic restaurant
123 V. Luna Extension (Maginhawa st.) Sikatuna Village, Quezon City, Philippines
Phone:Â +639216818989
Email: gayuma.gourmet@gmail.com
Facebook Page: Gayuma ni Maria
Operating Hours:
Mon – Sat:Â 10:00 am – 11:00 pm
Sun:Â 10:00 am – 10:00 pm
Live an Awesome Life,
Founder, www.OurAwesomePlanet.com
Call or Text Me: +63917 5683-627 (LOVE-OAP)
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Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.
P.S.
We did not order dessert because the dessert descriptions and display were not very appetizing. We will probably go back to try the often out-of-stock Beats Sex Any Day Chocolate cake that people are raving about.
glad to know that gayuma is back! i used to hang there a lot. pero naku, their BTS isnt that good naman, steady lang. pasta dishes nila ang gusto ko.
i spy the low tables with the love spells on them! theirs was the only BTS i got to try so i can’t say much about it except that i enjoyed it. i also used to order their pavlova.
i missed this place! i think bagay sa mga college kids and young couples talaga.
I’m a La Sallian but my Atenean kabarkada brought us to the old Gayuma when it was still behind Ateneo. And I loved the food and the drinking session! I think the current owner is trying to bring back the sit-on-the-floor-while-eating style, which made that college hang out unique. Wala kasing ganon sa La Salle hahaha!
Can’t wait to come back to Gayuma! I also plan on taking a trip to Maginhawa St. to try out the restaurants! 🙂
when i started reading your blog, you only had Joshua now he’s so grown up and you have 2 more boys. bilis ng panahon and you never ran out of restaurants to blog. =)
we were supposed to have desserts in gayuma after lunch at kiss the cook (where we ran into you) but we couldn’t find it!
wow!! i love Gayuma’s BTS cake!!!
oh my high school memories! i remember gayuma for the bts cake but thinking about it now its nothing special nga pero at that time (8 yrs ago) baka wala kasi masyadong cake options behind katipunan. I wonder if there’s a fortune teller also in this re-opened branch? My first pahula was in old gayuma!
i miss BTS!
Wow!Thanks Anton for the heads up…finally Gayuma is back…
I’m happy to know that Gayuma is back:) I sooo love this place. I was able to eat in Gayuma’s 2 locations before in Abada (the first one was walking distance from MC but a certain fire incident happened which resulted to a new location). I love Gayuma’s desserts – I forgot the name of the cake (it’s not BTS) that I used to eat with my girlfriends back then. Thanks for this post Anton!:)
Hi Angel,
Yeah it was all the way at the end of Maginhawa where it turned into V. Luna Extension. From there malapit na.
Nice meeting you and thanks for adding me in FB. Will ask about Bacolod soon 🙂
Anton
Thanks Dyna! We have 3 boys na haha… Aidan, Joshua and Raphael 🙂 Sobrang bilis ng panahon talaga…
Anton
Nice name “Gayuma” but quite inconvenient to explain to my inquisitive son what that means 🙂 Anyhow, this place is not far from where I live. I’ll keep the address in mind, if only for the dory fish with cocoa crust. Yum Yum!
Thanks for sharing that Gayuma is back. Ever since I’ve been wanting to go to the original Gayuma resto, too bad I wasn’t able to. Hopefully now I can go there and try their interesting list of menu.
And, I took notes of the top 10 aphrodisiacs. Just wondering where to buy those oils. *blush* Haha!
i used to go to the old Gayuma with friends..and i loved it:) ive been looking for a place similar to it and im happy to hear about this gayuma ni maria..can’t wait to be back in Manila to try it:)
Thanks anton for these fab blogs:)
Hi Sir I just graduated from and am glad that Gayuma is back 🙂 with a more accessible place. Am sir am just wondering if where can i find the best manila bay cruises? Mag-4 years na po kasi kami ng gf ko. hehe. Thanks in advance
Is the BTS cake available na?
thanks for the directions! i’m so happy gayuma’s back… i love their desserts! when you’re in bacolod, try calea–really really good cakes… =)
BTS! nothing special with the taste of the cake but we keep coming back for it. Glad that Gayuma reopened. 🙂
I have a love of life around my husband, with two lovely naughty little every day, and live together.
Been to this new Gayuma just last night but I was kind of disappointed that the menu had available only 4 from the main course, and 3 from the desserts. The place is packed dinnertime onwards so it’s best to reserve or swing by early. It was a sad thought though ’cause we didn’t get to hang at the Japanese room since it didn’t have aircon yet (but we understood that they’re still on soft opening). But it was a nice experience, good food (generous servings but novelty and serving time needs improvement), courteous & attentive servers, great concept (free use of board games tells you that they won’t rush you to vacate your table until you’re satisfied). Thanks for spreading the news on Gayuma’s rebirth, Sir Anton! 🙂
You're most welcome, Giselle… I know Gayuma ni Maria will grow still and I agree that the Japanese place would really be a nice place to hangout.Â
Anton
I liked Gayuma when I was in UP for the vibe. The food is typical college food, although I loved their desserts. I think once one gets used to “better” food one will taste the difference.
I happened to pass by the new location 2 weeks ago and had to slow down my car in surprise as it was in Sikatuna with better parking! Didn’t even know it closed haha. Let’s hope it does get better soon:)
I ate there today and I find it difficult to wanna go back. For one, the service REALLY sucks! Slow and inattentive waiters and even the manager or cashier or whatever she was. My girlfriend was bitching out already cos it took almost an hour before our orders arrived.
I had the Chinoy in Seventh Heaven and it was too oily and still raw on some parts and the rice was too salty. There was nothing exciting or unique about the taste of the chicken too. My girlfriend had the Rock Me Baby and though the pork was tender, it lacked flavor. The sauce on it seemed something out of a bottle too. Again, nothing special. Itsie Bitsie was also too salty.
We also weren’t raving about the Beats Sex Any Day cake. It was just some glorified moist brownie. The butterscotch on top was good but it could’ve been better in so many ways.
I’d try eating there again but I’ll wait after a few months.
it was my second time in gayuma yesterday and their service sucked. i find their food pricy but it was very good. with their pricy food, customers deserve good service.
Yeah thanks for sharing your feedback. Hopefully they are reading this blogpost.
Anton
I bet nothing beats the original Gayuma. I still wonder why it burned down in the middle of the night. I could still remember everything about it. That restaurant was really one of its kind.. with free tarot readings, whimsical decors and gypsy style ambiance… It was so cool! I remembered their BTS (Better than Sex) and their Pavlova cakes… the food and service was great. And for me, the most memorable was their cheesecake… it was so rich and thick… I tried going back there when it reopened the first time… but it was never like before. Sigh.
Hi Anton! Great blog! I love dining out and consult your blog for any new places to try. Just want to say a couple of things about this new Gayuma restaurant. I was a fan when it first opened near Varsity Hills, I remember ordering Through The Fire a lot of times and having a slice of their delicious BTS cake. I’d also visit the place for tarot card readings (which were pretty darn accurate!)
When the first branch burned down and they moved to the second Gayuma, I loved the interiors and it was a great hang out after school. Still was a fan of their BTS cake and I got sad when it closed down.
Now, for the third Gayuma restaurant, I have to say I was very disappointed and I wouldn’t come back. Ambiance was great though the second floor seemed a little empty, I was shocked that their menu wasn’t complete considering it was a Friday payday dinner night and at the time, all they had was CHICKEN! Almost everything on their menu was unavailable. The staff was very unprofessional and the serviced sucked.
My boyfriend ordered HHWWPSSP (Holding Hands While Walking Pa Swing-Swing Pa) which was really bad. The serving was pretty big but the “crispy fried chicken tenders” was mostly made up of flour. It came with a dipping sauce of TOMATO KETCHUP.
As for me, I got the Please Be Careful With My Heart dish. It was okay but it wasn’t my favorite. The chicken was tender but I found it a little bit too dry. for the price of P240, I’d rather head over to Cucina Juan where they have almost the exact same thing with better dipping sauces!
To be honest, I’m never coming back to eat at Gayuma when there are better, yummier and cheaper restaurants along Maginhawa Street. The service was really bad, the tables weren’t clean, food wasn’t that good and what’s shocking is that they were crazy enough to open on a Friday night and NOT HAVE A COMPLETE MENU. Definitely not recommending this to any of my friends.
me too, gayuma is back, naku masarap na masarap talaga ang mga niluluto ni maria
I love maria’s gayuma
welcome, maria is coming back……….
It’s not what I’ve read here:
Once you go black, you never go back (P225) – The chocolate was bitter and the entire crust was very salty. We will definitely not try this again.
Secret Lovers (P185).- it was too oily. I did like the sweet fruity sauce that came with it.
Please be careful with my heart (P240).- We did not really like the flavor because it was a bit mild and the chicken was dry. We are not a fan of this dish.
Comments:
food has to be improved for the sake of foodies looking for unique and good flavors.
BTS! nothing special with the taste of the cake
I had the Chinoy in Seventh Heaven and it was too oily and still raw on some parts and the rice was too salty. There was nothing exciting or unique about the taste of the chicken too.
My girlfriend had the Rock Me Baby and though the pork was tender, it lacked flavor. The sauce on it seemed something out of a bottle too. Again, nothing special. Itsie Bitsie was also too salty.
it was my second time in gayuma yesterday and their service sucked.
My boyfriend ordered HHWWPSSP (Holding Hands While Walking Pa Swing-Swing Pa) which was really bad. The serving was pretty big but the “crispy fried chicken tenders” was mostly made up of flour. It came with a dipping sauce of TOMATO KETCHUP.
As for me, I got the Please Be Careful With My Heart dish. It was okay but it wasn’t my favorite. The chicken was tender but I found it a little bit too dry. for the price of P240,
To be honest, I’m never coming back to eat at Gayuma when there are better, yummier and cheaper restaurants along Maginhawa Street. The service was really bad, the tables weren’t clean, food wasn’t that good and what’s shocking is that they were crazy enough to open on a Friday night and NOT HAVE A COMPLETE MENU. Definitely not recommending this to any of my friends.
Ate here with my boyfriend a few months ago. I was excited to try as I recount the good experience I had in Gayuma – Katipunan. I wanted to cry out of frustration & disappointment. It saddens me how far this new Gayuma is to the old one. I don’t even remember what we ate. Or maybe I chose to forget. I feel robbed of my money. They BADLY need to improve their food and not to mention the sanitation of the place. Tama ka, the concept is promising pa naman. It just needs A LOT of improvement. Hay. It’s been months and I still can feel the disappointment. Kasi I was really looking forward to dining there, being nostalgic and all. Sigh.
I agree with Gia, this is a terrible place to dine in…the food was obviously heated using a microwave oven, the place is dirty and the price is steep, the perfect recipe for a restaurant soon to close.
I agree with Gia, this is a terrible place to dine in…the food was obviously heated using a microwave oven, the place is dirty and the price is steep, the perfect recipe for a restaurant soon to close.
I agree with Gia, this is a terrible place to dine in…the food was obviously heated using a microwave oven, the place is dirty and the price is steep, the perfect recipe for a restaurant soon to close.
I agree with Gia, this is a terrible place to dine in…the food was obviously heated using a microwave oven, the place is dirty and the price is steep, the perfect recipe for a restaurant soon to close.
I agree with Gia, this is a terrible place to dine in…the food was obviously heated using a microwave oven, the place is dirty and the price is steep, the perfect recipe for a restaurant soon to close.
I agree with Gia, this is a terrible place to dine in…the food was obviously heated using a microwave oven, the place is dirty and the price is steep, the perfect recipe for a restaurant soon to close.
I agree with Gia, this is a terrible place to dine in…the food was obviously heated using a microwave oven, the place is dirty and the price is steep, the perfect recipe for a restaurant soon to close.
I agree with Gia, this is a terrible place to dine in…the food was obviously heated using a microwave oven, the place is dirty and the price is steep, the perfect recipe for a restaurant soon to close.
I agree with Gia, this is a terrible place to dine in…the food was obviously heated using a microwave oven, the place is dirty and the price is steep, the perfect recipe for a restaurant soon to close.
I agree with Gia, this is a terrible place to dine in…the food was obviously heated using a microwave oven, the place is dirty and the price is steep, the perfect recipe for a restaurant soon to close.
I agree with Gia, this is a terrible place to dine in…the food was obviously heated using a microwave oven, the place is dirty and the price is steep, the perfect recipe for a restaurant soon to close.
I agree with Gia, this is a terrible place to dine in…the food was obviously heated using a microwave oven, the place is dirty and the price is steep, the perfect recipe for a restaurant soon to close.
I agree with Gia, this is a terrible place to dine in…the food was obviously heated using a microwave oven, the place is dirty and the price is steep, the perfect recipe for a restaurant soon to close.
I agree with Gia, this is a terrible place to dine in…the food was obviously heated using a microwave oven, the place is dirty and the price is steep, the perfect recipe for a restaurant soon to close.
I agree with Gia, this is a terrible place to dine in…the food was obviously heated using a microwave oven, the place is dirty and the price is steep, the perfect recipe for a restaurant soon to close.
I agree with Gia, this is a terrible place to dine in…the food was obviously heated using a microwave oven, the place is dirty and the price is steep, the perfect recipe for a restaurant soon to close.
I agree with Gia, this is a terrible place to dine in…the food was obviously heated using a microwave oven, the place is dirty and the price is steep, the perfect recipe for a restaurant soon to close.
I agree with Gia, this is a terrible place to dine in…the food was obviously heated using a microwave oven, the place is dirty and the price is steep, the perfect recipe for a restaurant soon to close.
I agree with Gia, this is a terrible place to dine in…the food was obviously heated using a microwave oven, the place is dirty and the price is steep, the perfect recipe for a restaurant soon to close.
I agree with Gia, this is a terrible place to dine in…the food was obviously heated using a microwave oven, the place is dirty and the price is steep, the perfect recipe for a restaurant soon to close.