After a long absence due to work deadlines (and a lot
more to go) and creative stagnation, I'm back again for Part Three of my Mandaue
City blog series which is all about food (oh yes, my favourite)!
Let's begin then!
Introduction
Each place has several dishes that every local can be
proud of and Mandaue City as part of Metro Cebu has lots of it—from the heart-stopping
to the all-time "pasalubong" favourite. I'm saying it again but I was
lucky enough to sample some of their pride and joy dishes during my short stay at
Mandaue City!
The
Authentic Cebu Lechon
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| Oh dear, here comes the Lechon! |
Yeah yeah there are some establishments here in the
Metro who serve the infamous Cebu Lechon (roasted whole pig) but for me, it's
better to taste the real thing in its "real" origin. We tried Cebu
Lechon at CnT Lechon located along Gov. M. Cuenco Avenue, Cebu City. It was a
late lunch so were pretty hungry but luckily it was near our previous
destination. We were that lucky since there were some Lechon left for us to munch!
It turns out that the restaurant is full of hungry people and regulars during
lunch break and if the Lechon will be cleared clean, the next batch will arrive
much (much) later in the afternoon (lucky indeed). There were three of us; one
of us is younger (sad to say I'm not that one) so were hesitant on how many
kilos of succulent yet "deadly” Lechon to order. We later decided to order
half-a-kilo of Lechon, Chicharon Bulaklak (which is somewhat deadly with high
consumption) and some of their dishes.
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| Local vinegar with Chili as dipping sauce. |
For not-so scientific purposes, I will compare Cebu
Lechon to La Loma's which is the popular spot for Lechon in the Metro. I both
tried at the same conditions; normal cuts and already cooled down. To be
honest, the taste of both Lechon fares the same to me. There were some subtle
differences though that I observed which may be almost negligible to some taste
buds. Cebu Lechon's skin is consistently crunchy and tasty and the meat was
also less "malansa" (the taste you experience with cooked but "unflavoured"
meat cuts—sort of). One more difference is that Cebu Lechon is complemented by
local vinegar as dipping sauce with small Chili on the sides as an option. In
the Metro, "Sarsa" is the most common dip for Lechon and other grilled
or roasted dishes. If you're fond of "Sarsa" dip, you'd better bring
a bottle or two of Mang Tomas (Lechon or All-Around Sarsa—you decide)! Good
thing that we didn't experience some odd pain either at the backs of our neck
or at the chest after our meal (so we were all young after all)!
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| From Left to Right: Lemon Chicken (Php 95.00), Chicharon Bulaklak (Php 50.00), Chopsuey (Php 80.00), Half-kilo Lechon (Php 260.00) |
Remaining dishes were ok; the flavour was not that
astounding but it was delicious. One thing that I observed ever since is that
rice served outside the Metro is oh so plentiful. The rice served to us is
equivalent to almost two-and-a-half rice here in the Metro! For hungry people
like us (not to mention we ate lunch pretty late) made big smiles to our faces!
If you want to taste the real deal and some thrill
seeking (for those health conscious people out there), include CnT Lechon in
your list (don't forget the pills and the doctor's appointment later)!
Affordable
Grilled Foods
Later that day, the whole team met up to talk and discuss
about their work accomplishments. They told us that it wasn't fair that we ate
already at CnT Lechon without them as it was set early in our arrival that we
will take it down together. As the afternoon turns to night, we went out for
dinner and oh boy we were hungry for some great and tasty food! Grilled food is
next on the menu and there are two restaurants nearby our hotel; Matias BBQ and AA
BBQ and Grill—we chose the latter.
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| Welcome to AA BBQ and Grill! |
AA BBQ and Grill is one of the popular, no fuss grilled
restaurant that has stood the test of time besides Matias BBQ of course! We
were told that there was once a time where a street close to both Matias and AA
exists which was lined-up of restaurant joints that only serve grilled foods!
It was only a matter of time before stiff completion led to the closure of
almost all of the restaurants, leaving Matias and AA to the top.
Storytelling aside, AA BBQ and Grill offers a variety
of dishes from grilled foods to Filipino favourites such as “Sinigang”, “Kilawin”
and “Sisig”. Grilled foods come in a variety of choices ranging from meat,
poultry and seafood! We were fifty percent old—and fifty percent young so we
ordered several grilled and seafood dishes to cater both taste and health
preferences (we don't want a doctor's appointment the next day).
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| Choose your dish (uncooked) at the counter and eagerly wait while they cook it! |
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| Meat and poultry section (marinated of course). |
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| Seafood section. Mostly cooked as soup or Kilawin-style (I believe). |
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| We have the two of these served as Buttered Oyster and Clam Soup! |
The food was not that special but it was all
flavoursome! I love the all the grilled foods in particular the Pork Liempo
which was marinated to perfection; no need for a dip to enhance its taste. The
Clam Soup was also not that bad; it was cooked in a simple manner to retain its
flavour (I think). Seafood Kilawin is also delicious and safe to eat—I never
experienced stomach-aches afterwards since the fish meat was only technically "cooked"
by the vinegar.
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| Pork Sisig with chopped Green hot Chili (lots of them)! |
To top off the flavoursome experience, it was dead
cheap! All of the foods that we ordered only cost about Php 1,300.00 for the eight
of us; now that’s affordable! No wonder people flock the place for good food. After
a small chitchat with the taxi driver on the way back to the hotel, we discovered
that Matias BBQ is way cheaper—almost half the price of what we've ordered! The
steep price drop was due to the fact (as the taxi driver knew) that Matias owns the place while AA rents their space. However my comrades who tried Matias after
I left said that AA fares better in terms of taste.
So for grilled foods, where should one eat then? I
guess it's still a matter of personal preference dear reader. If price is an
issue go for Matias BBQ; if its taste, go straight to AA BBQ and Grill!
Both Matias BBQ and AA BBQ and Grill are located
along A.S. Fortuna Street, Mandaue City, almost 900 meters apart.
Dried
Mangoes Anyone?
Last but truly not the least in the list is the
all-time or should I say typical "pasalubong" favourite, Dried Mangoes!
When you say that magic word, Filipinos usually associate it with the widely-known
7D Mangoes brand which is proudly Cebu in origin. It's usually sold in big malls and
supermarkets at almost everywhere and exported to several countries. If Dried
Mangoes is so common here and out of the Metro, why did we bother buying some
for presents? That's because we stumbled upon their food processing plant at
the heart of Mandaue City's industrial area!
It was my second and last day at Mandaue City. Before
they send me off to the airport, we first dropped off some of our comrades at
the industrial area for some site investigation. Along the way, we saw a big
gate with the "7D" sign; I guess we were just lucky—again. Since I
have no spare time left to buy some presents back home, we decided to purchase
some of their products at their outlet store just outside the plant itself.
Since it was an outlet store, we were able to buy
items at a much lower price. The store attendant told us that it's cheaper by
Php 20.00 when bought at Cebu malls or supermarkets while my later research
here at the Metro will set you back almost three times the original price!
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| Dried Mangoes 100g (Php 52.00), Dried Mangorind Candy 175g (Php 45.00) |
In terms of taste, well it's very familiar—nothing
new. Filipinos are so fond of these presents that eventually it's now ignored
and replaced by other "pasalubong" treats. Even so for our dear
foreign readers out there, I would definitely recommend Dried Mangoes as a
present idea or a pastime snack during your stay here in our country. It's a
great alternative to the typical sweets that you may be fond of as well as
another way to eat Mangoes. As a present idea, it’s practical since it lasts
longer and doesn't rot quickly in comparison to a real Mango fruit!
7D Outlet
Store: Sacris Road, Casuntingan,
Mandaue City
Official
Website: 7D Mangoes
Well guys, there you have it! This is only a glimpse
of the food and restaurant spots that you can try and absolutely enjoy! If
you're at Mandaue City or anywhere in Cebu, do visit these establishments so
you may be able to experience a part of our wonderful culinary culture!
In Part Four of my Mandaue City blog series, we will
discover whose Cebu's king of the road and what does "1A" mean! Next stop: all about transportation!
Please look
forward for my next blog entry! Ikimashou!
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