Since my much-anticipated trip to Malaga had to be delayed to June 30, I went to mi ultimo destino ... Cebu. O si, Cebu, even if it has become more abarrotado than Manila, is still a favorite destination, at least para yo.
Yesterday, I had lunch at the Casino Espanol (en Cebu) and was very surprised (pero seguro no muy) to see that there were more "chinos" than there were "espanoles" in the club. Not that I have anything against this, as I have many, many Chinese friends and acquaintances; pero es solo que lo encuentro extrano that a spanish club be filled with chinos. Yo no se lo que es mejor: seeing all these chinos or bumping into the annoying Maribel (A) or the bird-brained Carmen (C). Hahaha!
I asked the waiter (and I promised not to name him):
Yo: Dong, vamos ya! Ngano man ni nga fuerteng daghanang insik diri karon? (Come here lad, Why is it that there are too many Chinese people here?)
Dong: Ambot ngano na' Ma'am! Nagka daghan ra man na sila diri. (I do not know Ma'am! They just became plentier and plentier here.)
Yo: Unsa may chismis lagi? Makahibaw gyud ka. (So what is the scoop? Surely you ould know.)
Dong: Ay di man ko maminaw anang istorya-an sa mga guest. Mo-silbi ra man ko. (Oh, I do not listen to guests' conversation. I just serve them.)
Dong: Aw tingali Ma'am na-lanag na sila og kina-on og machang. Tingali og Paella na pod moy ilang gusto! (Oh maybe they got tired of eating "machang". Maybe they want "paella" this time!)
Hahaha! Very well said!
Food was good. It was better. I forgot to ask if the luchado Gema Pido was still a "consultant". You see, when I was in Cebu a few months back, I saw her at the Marco Polo (where I stayed). She pretended not to see me so I, in turn, returned the favor. Later that evening, I bumped into Hans Hauri and asked about Gema. Lo and behold, it turns out that Gema was also a "consultant" in their hotel! Entonces?! I have to give it to the bichesa Gema ... she knows food and knows them well.
Back to the Casino talk, I had my usual canalones and natilla. I cannot help but remember Carmelino's wonder at how I can consider such fare as "comfort food". Oh well, to each her own, di ba Carmelino?
Notwithstanding the changes in the club (some of which I do not really find appealing), I will still go back. After all, why even be a member if one will not patronize, si? Maybe when I get back from my Spanish hiatus, I will find that it has been renamed ...
Ca-chino Espanol de Cebu.
Showing posts with label Cebu. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cebu. Show all posts
Monday, May 30, 2011
Monday, June 14, 2010
Ka-on ta ... Cebuano style!
When in Cebu, do not do as the Cebuanos do. Or did.
Many years back, Cebuanos rarely ate out for lunch. Office people would go home, eat their lunch and then go back to the office. This was when Cebu was more personal and convenient. Nowadays, with Cebu traffic being worse than that of Manila, and perhaps because of the many lami dining options available, restaurants, malls and even carinderias are fuller than usual.
However, try to get invited to a true-blue Cebuano home to get a really good taste of Cebuano home-cooked fare! Many old families have managed to make their family recipes commercially available and these can be readily bought or ordered but of course, everything seems better when it is served on their comedor.
One thing I miss is the chorizo made by Teresa Ugarte, the masa podrida from I do not know where and the lechon from Berta. I do not know if one can still buy them and where.
Cebu has always been a favorite culinary destination. High on the list is their legendary lechon ... and many Cebuanos have cashed in on the popularity of the Lechon Cebu. They have CNT and the Cang lechon but the really good lechons I have tried come from Barili and Dumanjug, not Talisay. Hey, this is a matter of personal preference, okay? Nothing personal.
Whenever I am in Cebu, I almost always get invited to Cafe Laguna. Cafe Laguna is good but their food choices are available in Manila. On the other hand, going to, say, Sunburst Chicken, is indeed most welcome. The chicken-skin chicharon and esol look unassuming but it is definitely unforgettable.
The buffet craze is also abuzz in Cebu, with the Cafe Marco Polo and Grand Majestic as popular gluttony destinations. In Mandaue, Tong's is a popular destination what with their version of a hole-in-the-wall buffet.
And then you also have Harbor City and Ding Qua Qua with their dimsum-on-a-cart, Abuhan with their pochero and sizzling pochero and Casa Verde for their ribs.
Of course, you have the old Cebuano dining insitutions like Beehive (fine Spanish restaurant cum mah-jong parlor), the Casino Español (for members and their invited friends only) and the "other" Majestic (above Belvic Cinema) that one should really try out.
For the more adventurous, you may want to sample "sidewalk" fare like balbakwa, paklay and sunlutan kinilaw. The sidewalk beside the Redemptorist Church offers a different assortment of Cebuano delicacies altogether, like bibingka, budbud, quesejo and majareal.
Whether it is the barbeque Larsian style, the bam-i ordered from the Chinese Temple or the popular sutokil in Mactan, Cebu is indeed a gastronomic wonderland!
Bahala na ang cholesterol oy! Mo ka-on gyud ko!
Many years back, Cebuanos rarely ate out for lunch. Office people would go home, eat their lunch and then go back to the office. This was when Cebu was more personal and convenient. Nowadays, with Cebu traffic being worse than that of Manila, and perhaps because of the many lami dining options available, restaurants, malls and even carinderias are fuller than usual.
However, try to get invited to a true-blue Cebuano home to get a really good taste of Cebuano home-cooked fare! Many old families have managed to make their family recipes commercially available and these can be readily bought or ordered but of course, everything seems better when it is served on their comedor.
One thing I miss is the chorizo made by Teresa Ugarte, the masa podrida from I do not know where and the lechon from Berta. I do not know if one can still buy them and where.
Cebu has always been a favorite culinary destination. High on the list is their legendary lechon ... and many Cebuanos have cashed in on the popularity of the Lechon Cebu. They have CNT and the Cang lechon but the really good lechons I have tried come from Barili and Dumanjug, not Talisay. Hey, this is a matter of personal preference, okay? Nothing personal.
Whenever I am in Cebu, I almost always get invited to Cafe Laguna. Cafe Laguna is good but their food choices are available in Manila. On the other hand, going to, say, Sunburst Chicken, is indeed most welcome. The chicken-skin chicharon and esol look unassuming but it is definitely unforgettable.
The buffet craze is also abuzz in Cebu, with the Cafe Marco Polo and Grand Majestic as popular gluttony destinations. In Mandaue, Tong's is a popular destination what with their version of a hole-in-the-wall buffet.
And then you also have Harbor City and Ding Qua Qua with their dimsum-on-a-cart, Abuhan with their pochero and sizzling pochero and Casa Verde for their ribs.
Of course, you have the old Cebuano dining insitutions like Beehive (fine Spanish restaurant cum mah-jong parlor), the Casino Español (for members and their invited friends only) and the "other" Majestic (above Belvic Cinema) that one should really try out.
For the more adventurous, you may want to sample "sidewalk" fare like balbakwa, paklay and sunlutan kinilaw. The sidewalk beside the Redemptorist Church offers a different assortment of Cebuano delicacies altogether, like bibingka, budbud, quesejo and majareal.
Whether it is the barbeque Larsian style, the bam-i ordered from the Chinese Temple or the popular sutokil in Mactan, Cebu is indeed a gastronomic wonderland!
Bahala na ang cholesterol oy! Mo ka-on gyud ko!
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