Sunday, April 15, 2012

Dumaguete's Sans Rival: Without Rival?

Even before we went to Dumaguete, I've been hearing a lot about the Sans Rival coffeeshop. The French term sans rival is literally translated into English as unrivalled or no rival. When I was small (really small), we used to buy a whole cake at Goldilock's and I just couldn't get enough of it.

So, when we visited Dumaguete last November 2011, we made sure that we check out this "famous" coffee shop there. It's easily accessible from where we stayed at the Bethel Guest House. In fact, its just a few blocks away from our accommodation and is near the corner of Rizal Avenue and San Jose Street. Rizal Avenue is similar to Roxas Boulevard in Manila as it is the road beside the sea and a favorite hang out especially during sunset.

If you are coming from Rizal Avenue, it is on the left side and just across a restobar named Zan Zibar. The Sans Rival closes early which I think is about 7 PM.

During our 4-day stay in Dumaguete/Siquijor, we visited the place at least 3 times. In fact, right after we checked in and had our lunch on our first day, Sans Rival was the first place we visited to have our afternoon snack.


We were not able to order the sans rival cake because they ran out of it, so instead we ordered a couple of silvanas, a cup cake and an iced coffee mocha which we shared among the three of us.


We loved the silvanas. It was crunchy, creamy and really yummy. However, the iced coffee mocha was a little bitter for our daughter's taste.

The problem with lots of choices is its hard to pick which to order. Oh well...
I was able to take photos of the menu and their prices as of November 2011. Some shots, however, were blurred.
We were not able to go to Sans Rival on our 2nd day becaise we went to Siquijor. However, after getting back the following day and having lunch and some rest, we went back to celebrate Angel's 10th birthday. She was so embarassed blowing a candle on her oreo cupcake.
We were finally able to try their sansrival as my wife bought 4 slices (@P26) of it. The slices were so thin but it was also creamy and crunchy. I personally liked their silvanas though.
Before we left, my wife ordered several boxes of silvanas, to be picked up the following day, as "pasalubong" back home and to our respective officemates. Since it was still too early and hot, we decided to check out Dumaguete's newest mall, Robinson's Place. We took a tricycle and I think paid P30 for the 3 of us.
We were to find out later that Sans Rival has a branch inside the mall.
Also inside the mall is Bongbong's Piyaya Store (which i call pinisang hopia). If you want to taste fresh and hot off the grill piyaya, this is the place to buy it.
On our last day, we asked our driver to stop by Sans Rival to pick up our order. I think the silvanas can still stay fresh within 2 hours after purchase and outside the refrigerator.

18 comments:

Ciela said...

Wow, sarap nyan! Their facade looks inviting!

Ganda nung magkapatid!! Ay, mom and daughter pala! hehe..

Unknown said...

i am not much of a sweets person (diabetic eh) but my wife and daughter are. what can i do but join them, ha ha ha

my wife thanks you for the complement :)

Mayet said...

I have visited Dumaguete with my husband a long time ago unfortunately we were not able to try that :(

Unknown said...

Hi Mayet! We would have probably missed it too hadn't it been recommended by online friends who've been to Dumaguete as well. There's always a next tome to try it out ;(

joan | the backpack chronicles said...

As I am a die-hard fan of Sans Rival, I will definitely try that out when I go to Dumaguete. I have a friend who lives there and hopefully mabisita ko sya one time. Everything looks delicious, nagutom tuloy ako bigla. =)

Unknown said...

thanks joan for dropping by. if you've got a sweet tooth, then Sans Rival is just right for you, ha ha ha. we've also posted the menu so you'd have an idea of how much the pastries and cakes cost :)

Unknown said...

I was gonna comment sana "wow! 26 pesos for a slice? Sulit yun a." Kaya lang I saw your accompanying pic after that and uhmm..well...medyo manipis yata yung slice. Or is it just me? =D

Unknown said...

ha ha ha... that's what i also thought. sabi ko nga lagyan ng bote sa ibabaw at baka liparin sa nipis.. i prefer the sylvanas though

Mitch said...

Sans Rival, naku sensitive ang teeth ko to too much sweet not to mention, I am not a fan of sweets. Loser noh. Pero may mga times na nagcre crave ako.. I hope this cake is not as sweeter of my Bf. or else. hehe lol...

Unknown said...

i am not much into sweets either coz of diabetes pero with my 2 companions having sweet teeth, natutukso na rin ako, he he he.

ingat ka sa bf mo baka sa sobrang sweet nyan magka diabetes ka rin, ha ha ha

T said...

sans rival in front of zan zibar - So "pun"ny! Parang ang sarap ng iced mocha coffee ha.

Unknown said...

oo nga ta. not sure if intentional or accidental lang ung name ng restobar sa tapat ng sans rival, he he he

Teng said...

I like sweets kaya naman super like ko ang silvanas at sans rival cake, hope i can try yung version nila :) followed you on gfc - keep in touch!

Unknown said...

don't forget to check it out when you visit dumaguete. i don't know why its popular among visitors its not even a native product of negros, he he he

ralph said...

i'll guess what their specialty is... hahaha. looks like a nice place to hangout to. i'll remember the place when we get to bump dumaguete. thanks for sharing... Yahweh bless

Unknown said...

galing ah. how did u guess? he he he... nice to hang out. the only problem is it closes too early, around 7 pm. there is one in robinson's place though :)

Unknown said...

Wow! I would love to try their sans rival. :) They should've paid you for endorsing their shop. :)

Unknown said...

katherine,

ha ha ha.. unfortunately not even a thin slice of their sans rival. anyway, i also found about it through other travellers' blog :)

noel