Here’s Part 2 of Glenn Nigel Bermejo’s recommendations on the hottest food places to visit in Cebu if you’re a balikbayan…
Clichés can be good as gold, so here I am saying, “So nice, I’m doing it twice.” My recommendations as a balikbayan on social media and in this magazine have gotten me encouragement from my friends abroad. They tell me to continue so they can be guided on where to bring their family and friends when they visit Cebu. My foodie posts have made me an accidental journalist.
Alejandro’s Crispy Pata
Century Plaza Complex Cebu, Juana Osmeña St., Cebu City
Hours: Monday-Thursday, 10:30AM-2:30PM; Friday-Saturday. 10:30AM-2:00AM; Sunday-Closed
When you hear crispy pata, a feast to mark a special occasion comes to mind. After the much-desired lechon, it is next on the list; just don’t do it together so as not to cause your cholesterol to shoot up. Crispy pata is meant to be shared because of its huge size – a whole shank of pork boiled until tender and deep fried to golden crispy goodness. With Christmas and Sinulog on the horizon, Filipino families and friends from abroad seek the customary nostalgic food: Lechon for large gatherings and crispy pata for smaller dinners.
Alejandro’s Crispy Pata opened in 1991 as Alejandro’s Steak and Seafood House and eventually gained the reputation of serving excellent crispy pata. I first tried this dish as a delivery and liked it so much that I wanted to experience a freshly cooked version straight from the kitchen. Alejandro’s crispy pata is not greasy and does not leave that greasy aftertaste, from flaky skin to tender and moist meat to collagenous knuckles, which I like to nibble on. The meaty portion has no hard, dry, or burnt parts. In addition, I particularly liked their ginataang mongo, meat-loaded tortang talong, pinakbet, and baked scallops to go with the crispy pata order. Their turon of sweet ripe bananas and jackfruit is a good end to this indulgent dinner.
Café Laguna NuStar
Level 2 The Mall | Nustar, Kawit Island, Cebu City | Hours: Monday-Thursday, 11:00AM-10:00PM; Friday-Sunday 11:00AM-11:00PM
The acclaimed Filipino restaurant is now at NuStar Casino and Resort, at The Mall’s 2nd level, serving heritage dishes for those who seek old-fashioned mom’s or Lola’s recipes, with innovative dishes for the new generation. The restaurant’s interior has an upscale Filipino vibe accentuated with Filipino-themed furnishings and murals on the walls.
Favorites such as crispy pata, sisig, paksiw na lechon, kare-kare, bistek Filipino, different kinds of sinigang, kinilaw na tangigue, calamares negra and so much more will take you to gastronomic memory lane. It continues to be family-run, thanks to a third-generation chef, Chef Kelly Juno Viado, who maintains high quality and consistency set by his grandmother and his late uncle, Chef Raki Urbina. To make the new location unique, some dishes at Café Laguna Nustar are unavailable at other branches. The good news is that Café Laguna Nustar has kept its prices reasonable even if they are at an upscale resort.
From its humble beginnings as a small eatery in the 70s, the Laguna Group has grown to a multi-faceted food service leader with several brands and branches. Cathay Pacific named Café Laguna one of the top eight restaurants in Cebu, and the restaurant chain has received awards and merits since 1999.
Kusina Clasica
GND Building, F. Cabahug St, Cebu City | Hours: Monday-Sunday 7:00AM-11:00PM
If you’re like me, embarking on a never-ending quest for a nostalgic gastronomic journey, this place can be a eureka moment. Kusina Classica, as their name implies, serves classic Cebuano favorites. Their signature offering is the humongous, meaty, and flavorful pochero, perfect for cold rainy weather and hangovers. The owner, Chris Sagrado, said it takes almost the whole night to cook, and the kitchen staff have been instructed to keep the meat quality consistent from an undisclosed source. Equally popular are the sizzling pochero and chicharon bulaklak. Both were tender and crispy and not rubbery at all. Their menu has all the Cebuano favorites: pork, beef, chicken, and shrimp. Like most business owners I had the pleasure to talk to, Chris said he has an entrepreneurial family, and he is the first to venture into the restaurant business, with no restaurant experience, but he saw an opportunity when the place became vacant three years ago.
The main dining area is al fresco on the second level, which makes sense because the grease in the soup collects and hardens if not at room temperature. A small room downstairs can fit 20 guests. This is a dining experience I would recommend to my family and friends, even personally bringing them here. They live up to the hype, “It’s the home of Cebu’s best pochero!”
House of Lechon
Acacia St, Cebu City | Hours: Monday-Sunday, 10:00AM-9:00PM
If you ask any Cebuano, the best lechon in Cebu is cooked in Talisay, but you don’t have to go that far to try it.
The spacious House of Lechon opened in 2016 and brought the famous taste of the Talisay Lechon to the heart of the city. I got to talk to Chef Marco Benuya, who gave us a brief restaurant history and explained they only use native pigs weighing no more than 30 pounds to retain quality. House of Lechon is known for having the best-tasting lechon in Cebu. They are also famous for their lechon sauce, which is unlike the usual dips since this mouth-watering juice comes from the lechon drippings while being roasted.
There’s more to House of Lechon than just their delicious crispy skin lechon. They have a wide selection of other Filipino dishes like cheesy scallops, Bikol Express, and gambas, traditionally prepared kinilaw (ceviche), and they even have their own house Sinamak vinegar.
The open-air restaurant is furnished with natural materials like bamboo, native wood, and abaca, giving it a rustic design with an island resort vibe. Most of the diners at the time of my early dinner were foreigners. It’s no surprise that they have 19K followers on Facebook and 10.3K followers on Instagram.
Tin Gow at Waterfront
Waterfront Cebu City Hotel & Casino, Lahug, Cebu City
Hours: Monday-Sunday, 12PM-2:30PM; 6:00PM-10:00PM
This elegant Chinese restaurant is a culinary institution located at the gourmet walk of Waterfront Hotel and Casino in Lahug. It is where authentic Cantonese and Szechuan cuisine are craftfully prepared by Chef Low Yuan Kong, from Malaysia, who has been with Tin Gow since it opened 25 years ago.
The ambiance is unmistakably Chinese, with the entire place adorned with elaborate Chinese fittings and fixtures. I have been to this restaurant several times, and I cannot help but feel transported to Hong Kong or China. Regarding food, I usually avoid group meals mainly because I am unfamiliar with what might be served, but this time, I threw caution to the wind. Sometimes, you just want to tell the server, Impress me! I did not regret it. Their group meals feature the chef’s unique dishes, which consist of an appetizer platter of fried eggrolls and pot stickers, beef brisket with bamboo shoot and radish in hot pot, deep-fried fish fillet with sambal sauce, homemade seafood bean curd, crispy fried pork, crispy fried squid (a specialty), and fresh fruit for dessert.
Tin Gow has an army of loyal customers who come in groups: Families, friends, and corporate executives, and the group meals are very popular with these diners. They are all accustomed to the chef’s cooking expertise. They have private rooms for groups of up to 100 people.
Vikings Luxury buffet
2nd leverl, Northwring, SM City Cebu
Hours: Monday-Sunday, 11AM-2:30PM; 5:00PM-9:00PM
In the U.S., buffets are usually considered bargain eateries, primarily Chinese. With that notion, Balikbayans and their families would want to experience buffets in Cebu. Buffets are affordable, offer many quality food choices, and are fast; there is no need to wait for orders to come. And unlike U.S. buffets, in Cebu, there are servers to take care of you, and buffets here are considered a treat, and some are expensive.
Vikings Luxury Buffet at SM City opened on May 10, 2016, offering an experience like no other. It features a classy ambiance in its massive and lavish elegantly themed interior. Viking can easily compete with buffet restaurants at major hotels in the city due to a wide selection of dishes to cater to every type of diner, serving Filipino, American, Japanese, Chinese, Italian, Taiwanese, and even dim sum. Queues could be long, so reservations are suggested.
For me, the main attraction here is the Japanese station filled with painstakingly crafted displays of maki, sushi, and sashimi. Thanks to the artistry of Chef Xavier Franz Charryl O. Chico, who began his career at Viking as a Steward in 2017 and eventually became a chef two years later. The Japanese station is a photographer’s dream if you’re a food enthusiast. Be merry, eat hearty, and eat like a Viking today!
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@AlejandrosCrispyPata @CaféLagunaNUSTAR @ChefKellyJunoViado @KusinaClasica @ChrisSagrado @HouseofLechon @ChefMarcoBenuya @TinGowatWaterfront @ChefLowYuanKong @VikingsLuxurybuffet @ChefXavierFranzCharrylChico @NigelGlennBermejo