Love. Love. Love. That’s all you need according to the Beatles. But man does not live on love alone or even just bread, as the bible confirms. That’s just a big no, no, and no. I don’t want love, I want food. I want good food. But at Tacloban’s cutely named restaurant, Chew Love, I’m pretty sure you can have both.

CHEW LOVE’S NEW WING HAS AN OUTDOOR PATIO

Situated near the city’s food center, Chew Love easily stands out from the neighborhood with its pastel-colored façade complete with striped awnings and a cute balustrade-lined patio. On its yard, the walls are painted to look as though the neighborhood is as dainty as restaurant itself. And right as you enter the door, hand-sewn colorful hearts would greet you from every inch of the frame.

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AN ECLECTIC MIX OF FURNITURE

It gets cuter as you go inside. The airy dining hall is set with mix-matched chairs over white tables laid with bright table mats. In the center of the room, two Victorian-style plush chairs are in place, and at its back, an ornate teal mirror with gold flourishes. A glass chandelier beset with hearts finishes everything off.

Thank goodness, the walls are painted in plain white, else the whole place would be just too overwhelming for me. I’m not into this kind of stuff, but I can see that people love this sort of over-the-top cute thing, all Barbie-ish and dollhouse-like.

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HANDPAINTED WOODEN POSTERS

Chew Love started off right as Tacloban City was just rebuilding after Typhoon Yolanda ran through the province. The restaurant, one of the many in the city, is a reaction to the calamity that struck. People wanted to be happy. People wanted more than relief food. People wanted normality in their lives.

And that’s where Chew Love’s cheery vibe came in.

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ORIGINAL WING WHERE THEY USED TO SERVE SILOGS

The restaurant has been flourishing. What started as a passion for young owner Coke Young-Go, is now turning into a full blown business. Proof? Chew Love just recently opened a second wing right across its original dining hall—which I found to be a little more toned down when it comes to decors.

BLUER THAN BLUE LEMONADE AND RED-DY TO MINGLE TEA ~ PHP 50.00 PER GLASS

As we scanned their menu for lunch—a balance of Filipino comfort food and Western dishes—we found it to be as quirky as the restaurant itself. Smiling, my companions ordered their Love at Pork Sight (pork liempo), Cheeky Feeling (boneless chicken barbecue) and Be Kare-ful with my Heart (kare-kare). As for me, I was craving for a burger steak, so Steak to One it was.

Serving time was pretty good, our orders were on our table even before we could finish uploading our Instagram photos, this place is indeed very Instagramable.

MY HOT BEATS FOR YE ~ PHP 110.00

KIM YAM PAO ~ PHP 70.00

For starters, we munched on their My Hot Beats For Ye, Chew Love’s take on KFC’s spicy Hot Shots (they said so themselves) and it was as good as Col. Sander’s chickens. Their Kim Yam Pao, a siopao variety that the owner’s grandfather concocted himself, uses monay instead of the usual fluffy white buns to sandwich its asado filling. It’s good, but I still prefer my traditional siopao.

STEAK TO ONE ~ PHP 145.00

What I’m looking forward to though was my burger steak. I was salivating just by its mere look; thick beef patty on top of a heart-shaped steamed rice swimming with mushroom gravy, KFC-style—never mind the corn and carrots side dish, lol.

And the taste? Totally rocks. It did not disappoint. I can’t recall how long I’ve gone without tasting a good burger steak. The tender, pan-fried patty’s flavor was accentuated by the thick gravy and made me ask for an extra helping, which is free of charge, by the way.

GOLD DIGGER ~ PHP 100.00

I would’ve wanted to have a taste of their Chickboy (fried chicken) too, which is a favorite among diners but my meal was quite filling. Too filling, in fact, that I didn’t even get a chance to try out my eatmates’ dishes nor their vaunted Gold Digger halo-halo. There would definitely be a next time.

Chew Love
Address: P. Gomez St, Brgy. 27, Tacloban, Leyte
Contact Number: (0917) 310-8286 | Facebook
Opening Hours: 11:00 AM to 10:30 PM, Mon-Sat
Chew Love Menu: Click Here
GPS Coordinates Map: 11.241678, 125.004750

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