In 2011, I was only in a day trip again in Cebu for one of our projects. I flew in Cebu at 9am and flew out by 3pm. All I did is stay in SM Cebu's Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf while waiting for my flight back to Manila.
It was only this October 2012, that I have the chance to taste everything Cebu has to offer. With 7 days spent in city proper and Oslob, I didn't pass on the food trips. I got to eat on 3 restaurants - CNT Lechon, La Marea and Larsian.
First stop: CNT LECHON
Location: 1377 Rama Ave, Guadalupe, Cebu City
Landmarks: Near SM City Cebu
Being a fan of Anthony Bourdain, his quest in Cebu on tasting the Filipino food made me inspired to look for the same food he took. I first planned to taste Zubuchon, but near had the time to visit its store. I don't like to eat cold lechon sold at the airport. Good thing, during our visit, we had a office friend who became our tourist guide and introduced us to CNT lechon.
When we arrived at the restaurant, a little before lunchtime, the place was packed. Parking lot was full already and there were almost zero vacant tables. Luckily we found one seconds after the family who occupied it left. Our friend lined up to order, I noticed that it was like a line for free goodies. Long lines as family waits for their respective orders. I remembered we got no.72, waited for about 30 minutes and the place was slowly filling up.
As soon as we get our orders, I was fascinated that their rice is in suman leaves, locally known to be "puso". It was very appropriate to call as such, since it is really heart shaped.
My apologies for those who are in-love with CNT Lechon, but I am not a fan of its saltiness. I personally find it quite too salty for my palette. However, I love the taste of the skin with its vinegar dip. Its crispiness and balance of right flavor is to die for.
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| Puso Rice |
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| CNT Lechon |
Second stop: LA MAREA's WARM BROWNIE CUP
Location: Crossroads, Banilad, Cebu
Our officemate, who was based in Visayas (now he's in Manila) recommended that we try La Marea's Warm Brownie cup. It was our dessert place after we had lunch in CNT.
La Marea reminds me of the quaint cafes found in the metro. It resembles Banapple and one of my personal favorite, Parvati. The place was also packed when we got there, though it has its second floor (which you can reserve for private gatherings and meetings).
Upon entrance, you'll see the shelf of baked goodies, from brownie cups to mini cakes and cookies. They also offer coffee and milkshakes. As recommended, we tried the Classic Warm Brownie cup (though it has more flavors such as white chocolate and triple chocolate). What is so divine with this dessert? Well, talk about the warmth and moistness of the brownie in a cup, topped with vanilla ice cream and chocolate syrup.
I am a chocolate lover and I can definitely say that this is the brownie cup I will never get tired of eating everyday. The right sweetness of the chocolate in it gave us the best feeling ever - childhood memories and weekends. For Php 95.00 a cup, it was definitely a heaven.
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| a selection of cakes and pastries |
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| warm brownie cup |
Third stop: LARSIAN
Location: Fuente Osmena Circle, Cebu City
Landmarks: Chng Hua Hospital and Robinsons Capitol
To cap off the day (and to end our free day too), we had our dinner at Larsian - the largest outside grill house in downtown Cebu. I have been in Metro Manila's food market such as Banchetto and Mercato Centrale and I have never found such place as organized as Larsian.
Larsian is basically a barbeque place, with individual stalls selling various products on sticks - from isaw (chicken intestines) to longganisa (chorizos), including chicken, chicken skins, pork and fish. Stalls have their respective numbers (if name is not available) and located at the perimeters of the area. You can choose a stall and your choice of food, have them cooked, look for your table and wait for your food to arrive. Conveniently, tables are located in front of their respective stalls. Grills are located at the middle of the area, where stalls have their own grilling "station".
Upon sitting down at your chosen table, a plate of 10 puso or rice in suman leaves are placed on your table. You will just eat what you can and they would count what's remaining and charge you what you consumed. The barbeques arrived after 20 minutes and we dug in. You have the choice of having your hands inside plastic gloves or eat on your bare hands. No worries, you can wash your hands after since wash rooms are available in the area.
Barbeques are sweet, one thing that I liked about it. I love the barbeque sauce that instead of dipping the actual barbeque on a mix of soy sauce, vinegar and calamansi, I rolled it again to its own sauce before I eat it. I probably one of the best barbeques I have ever had. I am tempted to ask how do they do it, but I guess its top secret. Food is relatively cheap - we spent less than 200 bucks for 10 sticks of barbeque (of different sorts) and 6 puso rice.
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| tables and barbeque selection |
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| grilling stations and our food |
Cebu City is one of the best places I have ever been. With its food, night life and various tourist spots, it offers you a variety of choices to do and places to go. I am definitely inlove with Cebu City.
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