Cebu Food Diary

I never missed a deadline . . . . not until I became a Stay-at Home Mom, haha!

I meant to post this blog entry before 2013 ends but oh well. . . I missed my OWN deadline, haha!

We (with my travel buds: my sister and my little big girl) went for a short vacay and went to one of the popular tourist destinations in the Philippines, also called the Queen City of the South. . . Cebu!!!

The first time I went to this beautiful city was for a business trip.  I fell in love with the place and the people instantly! Cebuanos are one of the nicest people you'll ever meet.  I actually told myself that if I have to pick a place where I can live (next to my hometown), it will be Cebu!

For foodies like me, Cebu has a lot to offer.  One of Cebu's famous specialty is their Lechon, which we DIDN'T have by the way, haha!  Yes, you read that right.  I know, I know,  we're probably crazy not to have one, haha!  But we're actually not fond of lechon (for real!) So if you're hoping to read something about Cebu's famous lechon in this entry, I'm sorry if I don't have anything about it.  =)      

Here are some places that we've tried during our recent visit:
(Please click on the names to know more about the restaurant and their branches)

1) Harbour City - I've read about this place from food bloggers.  It is known for their dimsum and their famous Steamed Fried Rice.  The problem with reading food blogs is you have high expectations about the place, haha!

Personally, I would get dim sum somewhere else and I would go back for these two:

STEAMED FRIED RICE, Their Best Seller!

STEAMED RICE BEEF STEAK

2) HUKAD sa Golden Cowrie

Golden Cowrie Filipino Restaurant is a popular local restaurant in Cebu.  They also own Hukad sa Golden Cowrie.  They have an extensive menu, so many good looking and good sounding food names, haha!  The hard part of ordering for 2 is you can't order a lot!

We ordered one of their specialty, Baked Scallops.     

Left to Right (Clockwise) Squid Sisig, Lechon Kawali, Pinakbet

Our most favorite was the Squid Sisig!  The squid was tender and tasted fresh, with a subtle hint of spiciness!  Our kind of sisig =)

3) Handuraw - a friend of my sister suggested Handuraw.  It is a Cebu original which I believe has a franchise in Manila now.  What can I say?  It was Looove at first bite!  

Handuraw Special - 8 slices

A closer look =)

They make them thin!

We also ordered Cheese Sticks and Pasta Bolognese.  I wasn't able to take a picture because we were hungry already, haha!  The food looked simple but they were surprisingly good.  We liked the aioli dip (I think it's aioli, hehe)  that came with the cheese sticks and the Bolognese tasted homemade, something that you eat when you are at a house party =)

*I want this pizza right now!*  Crraavving!

4) TABLEA Chocolate Cafe - If you are a chocolate lover and would like to taste our local cacao served in a variety of drinks (hot and cold) and food, this place is for you!

I was still full from lunch so as much as I would like to order more drinks, pastries and other food, I couldn't, haha!  But a part of me couldn't resist, hehe.  So we ordered Churros and an ice blended drink.

So chocolatey. . . so thick and rich =)

I still have a lot in my "things to eat in Cebu" list actually.  But travelling with a toddler sometimes limits us to where we can eat.  (But it wasn't bad, my girl has been good.  At least we didn't have to go to any fast food chain, haha!  She found something she can eat wherever we go)

Looking at it. . . *sigh* . . .there's just so little time. . . and so many food places to try!

So I'm sharing with you the list, it might come in handy for you.

And I do hope you do a better job in crossing off items in the list, haha!

Happy Eating!

For pasalubong:
1. Mrs. U's Sylvannas - available in Souvenir Island Shop
2. Don Merto's Chocolateries Belgian Lace Cookies
3. Leona's - Choco-Chip Banana Loaf

For Dessert:
1. La Marea - for their brownie cup
2. Café Georg

For Meals

1. Casa Verde - Ribs

2. Cafe Laguna

3. La Tegola - Italian

4. Maya - for good Mexican Food

5. Bigby's Cafe and Restaurant - for some comfort food

For Local Food

1. Sunburst - for their fried chicken

2. Original AA BBQ

3. Larsian Barbecue Place - different bbq stalls all in one place!

3. Any Sutukil restaurant (stands for SUgba, TUwa and KILaw)

**Sugba means grill, Tuwa means stew and Kilaw means to marinate in vinegar

I've read that there is a good number of SUTUKIL restos near the Mactan Shrine

And for the Lechon lovers!

1. CNT

2. Zubuchon

3. Rico's