With the rise of the Game of Thrones series fandom due to its great story and of course production, more and more business owners are taking advantage of it. One of the first in Cebu and perhaps in the Philippines is The Thray. It's a restaurant offering medieval feels to their guests and diners.
Video credits: Jean Beltran via bitLanders.com
I found it out when one of my friends in a social media platform posted a photo of him with the Khaleesi (insert “Daenerys of the House Targaryen, the First of Her Name, The Unburnt, Queen of the Andals, the Rhoynar and the First Men, Queen of Meereen, Khaleesi of the Great Grass Sea, Protector of the Realm, Lady Regnant of the Seven Kingdoms, Breaker of Chains and Mother of Dragons”) figure and of course because I am a fan of Game of Thrones, I have to also visit it. Thus, I ask James if we could do so and you know he's the most supportive husband ever so last Friday, just a day after I found out this place, we went for dinner! Yup, it was that same day after coming from the Happy World Museum in Cordova, Cebu. I know, we had a long day that day but it was a holiday so we didn't really mind except that we were a bit of disappointed with the previous place.
Anyways, let me share how our dinner went at The Thray.
THE THRAY
Image credits: Jean Beltran via bitLanders.com
Social media is indeed the best place to venture on marketing strategies for all businesses out there. Just create a page, add great photos and poof! You'll get lots of visitors coming. That I totally believe was the strategy of this new sought out restaurant in town.
And because of the word of social media, I also found my way into this medieval place in Cebu City. I wonder if there's any other restaurant that offers the same kind of theme in the country. If not, then this will be the pioneering one.
About
A hidden keep in Cebu City that serves dishes you can feast upon in medieval style setting.
Information reference: The Thray Facebook page
This medieval setting had opened its doors to the public on the 25th of June just this year and after two months of sharing their dishes which they refer as the dishes for regeneration strength booster, they have reached six thousand fans on their social media account.
Image credits: Jean Beltran via bitLanders.com
Located at a very accessible area in the city of Cebu, everyone is welcome to visit it. The location however offers limited number of vehicles for parking. And the inside also caters few heads for their tables. They have three long tables which can accommodate around six to seven persons and another wall attached table which can accommodate around eight.
Here are the specific information about the restaurant:
The Thray, Grove Building, V Rama Avenue
Guadalupe, Cebu City, Philippines 6000
e: thethray@gmail.comTuesday – Sunday (Lunch) 11:00 am – 2pm
Tuesday – Sunday (Dinner) 5:00 pm – 9:30pm
THE MENU
I did mention earlier that they refer their dishes as food for regeneration and strength booster. They do have a short list of food menu. Here are what they can offer:
Image credits: Jean Beltran via bitLanders.com
Main Dishes:
The Thrayul Boodle which includes crabs, mussels, shrimps and clams drenched with mid spicy herbed lemon butter sauce. There's also grilled beef steak, grilled corn and plain rice.
The Banshee Boodle is also availabel which has crabs, mussles, and clams drenched with mild spicy herbed lemon butter sauce, grilled pork belly, grilled corn and plain rice. I love butter and so I convinced James to get this. How about you? Do you like butter or olive oil? Take the survey below, a Querlo chatbot:
The two boodle options have a guild good for two and for four persons.
Aside from that, they also have their Berserker's steak, the Squire's dish and the Keep's Steak which is their most expensive dish good for Php 899. All of these meals include grilled corn and plain rice. No drinks are included in it.
Desserts:
They got Elven Brownie which is a brownie topped with vanilla ice cream and chocolate syrup. There's also this Hobgoblin Delight which is a vanilla ice cream topped with chocolate syrup in a cone.
Beverages:
Image credits: Jean Beltran via bitLanders.com
Their drinks include another short list as well which are mineral water, sprite, royal and coke in can, mango shake elixir and anti-mage iced tea.
What we ordered was the Banshee Boodle good for two and their anti-mage iced tea because its name is quite interesting. Then when I was trying to figure what anti-mage is, I considered seeking help from my good friend, Google and it was Dota 2 gamepedia which showed up with the definition:
Anti-Mage is a fast melee Agility Carry with an emphasis on disrupting and killing high-mana enemies. He has notably high agility and low base attack time, giving him high damage and scaling with his basic attacks.
Information reference: dota2.gamepedia.com
THE SQUIRE
"I toil and serve for greatness. Call upon my name and I shall obey with great haste as your words sends me strength." - The Squire.
Image credits: Jean Beltran via bitLanders.com
One of the surprising element of this restaurant is their waiter but he prefers being referred as the squire. He has the following description from their social media account:
His history is still a mystery to humankind. He can hold his own due to his decent health, fast movement and good serving resistances. He was trained well by his master which won't acquire him any battle gears.
Total serving time: 15-20 minutes
Strength: God speed
Weakness: Unknown
Passive: Automatically serves his allies
We were greeted by the Squire immediately as soon as we entered the restaurant. He welcomed us with the greetings, "Welcome to the Thray" with this husky and horror type of voice. He wears this maroon colored whole body hooded cape covering his head also almost covering his face.
He took our order too and serves as the entertainer at the same time as he answers the questions and concerns of the guests. And most specially, he serves as camera man as well for the customers. I personally took a photo of the Squire, check the photo above.
THE THRAY REVIEW
Ho th're! Whilst James and I were both compelled by the candles that ne'er burn and those silver weapons hangeth on their golden walls, behold are our personal review.
Image credits: Jean Beltran via bitLanders.com
Place
We both commend the mind behind this restaurant. He or she had definitely made use of his or her fandom of the series and put it into good use, most specially into good money. Of course a restaurant would be a great point with props that show the medieval times.
And of course they stayed true to their concept and the attention to the details because when the Squire served big wooden mugs, wooden criss-cross windows, lamps and lights, the concept of their rooms such as the Throne Room for the restroom which I really found cool. There's also a "You Shall Not Pass" signage for their restricted kitchen area but I had glimpsed a bit and found it a very narrow room.
Image credits: Jean Beltran via bitLanders.com
Image credits: Jean Beltran via bitLanders.com
Image credits: Jean Beltran via bitLanders.com
I personally think that the location is too small for the demand but I totally understand that the place is still new, perhaps in the future as it grows, they'll get more spaces and will get to accommodate more customers in the near future.
The theme was also complimented with a cool music which also included the introduction music from Game of Thrones. Then there were figures of some main characters of the series such as Jon Snow, Khaleesi, a Wight and Joffrey.
Food
Image credits: Jean Beltran via bitLanders.com
I was part of the first customers for the 5:00PM opening schedule and it took just a few minutes before our food was served. Indeed they stayed true to their word that it would take only a few minutes however, I was surprised that the food served to us were a bit cold. I don't know if it was because I was taking food selfies that it became cold while we were taking photos or it was really cold.
The grilled pork was good with the sauce included in it and I guess that was James' favorite. I actually like crabs and shrimp but the crabs were too obviously scarce. The butter sauce though was good as well then there's the shells. I don't normally eat these shells but then I tried but I felt like I had eaten same sand from it so I didn't get to finish it.
Unlimited rice as well for the boodle is good! I believe that the portions were okay except for the crabs. I don't know though if there's an option to exchange specific parts of the boodle to another.
The anti-mage iced tea was good with a bit of mystery for it turns blue when being stirred. I totally love the wooden mug, the plate and their platter which were all wooden. Check out the timelapse video we took while feasting on the served food.
Video credits: Jean Beltran via bitLanders.com
Overall, James and I were both satisfied although I can't forget that the crabs were very little. I can get over that soon but I am glad there's a place such as this in Cebu. Perhaps before the next season of the Game of Thrones series, we would be able to come back and try their steak! It's costly though but I guess it would be worth it!
More images taken at The Thray in this gallery: Feast with Jon Snow and Khaleesi at The Thray
xoxo,
Jean
