My Personal Favourite Foods in Cebu

My friend introduced me to this roadside restaurant in San Roque, at the corner of M J Cuenco Avenue and Legaspi Ext., called AA's BBQ. Here you get to choose what you want to eat and they will grill, bake or barbecue for you. There is quite a wide variety to choose from. I especially liked the baked Sinugba fish and the seaweed salad. The dalupapa (grilled cuttlefish) was good too. In fact, the food was tasty and grilled just right. And the Mango shake was very refreshing. I enjoyed the meal very much.

Another morning, we tried some local breakfast from a shophouse restaurant. It was very simply decorated but the food was inexpensive and not bad. Simple dishes like fried fish, sauteed vegetables, fried tanghoon and pork belly soup were both tasty and well cooked. Quite an appetizing meal in all.

Although I did not manage to find lechon baboy again on this trip, we still had lechon manok (bbq chicken) on the Camotes Island. It was a rainy day, and the aromatic fragrance of the roasting chicken on a skewer was just too tempting to ignore. So in the end we had a whole chicken with rice. Simply delicious.

So far, the best meal I have had in Cebu City, is at the restaurant Kuya J, located on Orchid Street at the Capitol Site. It is quite hidden within the Site, so you need to take some effort to find it.

To wash down the meal, of course we could not do without San Miguel Pale Pilsen beer. So inexpensive as compared to Singapore, you can drink it as a substitute for water. The Lechon Kawali was excellent. Crispy skin and tender juicy meat, and the dip went well with the dish.

The Chicharon Bulaklak was unusual. It was deep fried but the texture was chewy and abit tough. However, the dip was sourish and made the dish quite palatable.

Their specialty is the Tuna Chilli. A huge slab of meaty tuna was deep fried till crisp and topped with their homemade special chilli paste. Fragrant, tangy, not too spicy, just simply out of this world. I love this dish very much. A must try!

Another highly recommended dish is the Spicy Eggplant. Sauteed and fried with a spicy sauce, this dish is an excellent complement to steamed rice.

Finally, the Spicy Calamares, which is fried squid in batter. Once again it was the simple green chilli and citric gravy that brought out the tastiness of the succulent squid.

We ate so much that we did not even have room for dessert. But I will definitely be back for more the next time I am in Cebu City. Truly delightful meal and a most memorable one.