One of recommended restaurants in Cebu City visited again by Tutubi to partake of the famous pochero, Cebu's version of the Tagalog's bulalo, a soup made of beef and one of Tutubi's favorite comfort food.

the homey ambiance of the Abuhan Dos on Ramos St. near Fuente Osmena downtown Cebu City.

The pochero (price: P350.00) came in one big bowl with one order good for 2 to 4 persons, still steaming hot, the way it should always be.

What makes Cebu's pochero distinct from Batangas Bulalo? It's the presence of white corn!

a close up view of pochero oozing with "utak," actually bone marrow, goodness. (Shot in dim light and hundgry stomach thus blurred output)

a motion-blurred picture of Tutubi's buddy from Batangas to add scale to the pochero bowl. He's about 5 feet 10 inches tall and 190 lbs and he wasn't able to slurp all the marrowy goodness of the pochero

Even with Tutubi's hefty companion, they weren't able to finish one order of Abuhan pochero, so they requested for the soup and bones be taken out and eaten at breakfast the next day...Abuhan pochero, ka-lami gyud!

Abuhan Restaurant Information:

Abuhan Uno
F. Ramos St., Cebu City
Telephone Number: +63.32.253.1881

Abuhan Dos (Restaurant branch is Open 24 Hours)
176 F. Ramos Street, Cebu City
Contact Number: +63.32.253.5774

Abuhan Tres
PIPC Tower, Asiatown IT Park
Lahug, Cebu City
Contact Number: +63.32.253.1151
Remarks: open 24 hours and near Waterfront Lahug Hotel

How to get to Abuhan Dos Restaurant:

it's just near Fuente Osmena, if you take a taxi just request the taxi driver to take you to Abuhan Ramos (it's on Ramos St, that's why)

Related Posts:

CnT Lechon Cebu
Golden Cowrie Native Restaurant
Port Seafood Restaurant

Labels: Cebu, Cebu City, Cebu Restaurants, Central Visayas, Metro Cebu

Just before leaving for the airport, Tutubi's officemates dropped by this famous restaurant offering a sampling of Cebuano's version of the lechon (roast suckling pig) at the branch in front of SM City Cebu.


preparing boxes of the famous delicacy. You can see boxes and boxes of these checked in at the airport so better mark your own boxes for them to be properly identified.

Now, what makes Cebu's version "to die for" is that you don't need sauce to dip it with like Tagalogs other people of Luzon do. The roast pig is actually "injected" with the salt and flavorings while being roasted making the sauce unnecessary. This is similar to the lechon Tutubi encountered in Butuan.

Note Tutubi wanted to take pictures of the lechon but found no time to do so as always. For as soon as he opened the box, all he got were hands all trying to get a piece of delicious pork delicacy Cebu is known for.

Should you be curious how Cebu's lechon tastes like, you may visit Salcedo Weekend Market in Makati every Saturday morning. There also used to be a Lechon Cebu on West Avenue in Quezon City but was no longer there when Tutubi last passed by. You may also find it in Market! Market (The Fort, Taguig City) and Tiendesitas in Pasig.

Labels: Cebu City, Cebu Restaurants, Pasalubong

While on the way to SM, Tutubi spotted this restaurant with a funny name along the way.

Binugoy Restaurant, as Tutubi understood it, name came from the root word bugoy, word to describe to man who can't seem to do anything right. "Kaon nga kinawboy" means you eat like a cowboy i.e. can be comfortable even in unusual situations and not be squeamish.



Binugoy, from the looks of it, looks like an upscale carinderia (eatery) from the outside. Never got to sample food but will try to do so next time.

Labels: Cebu City, Cebu Restaurants

After the disappointing first dinner at The Port, Tutubi and his officemates asked around for other places to eat near Waterfront and people pointed them to a branch of Neo-Neo which was really near the place.

Neo-Neo restaurant is similarly themed with the popular SUTUKIL restaurants, more like carinderia eateries, in Mactan Island particularly those near the Lapu-lapu Shrine. Customers can choose raw ingredients of isda (fish), tulya (clams), pusit (squid), talaba (oysters) and others while choosing the way they're cooked.

Neo-neo, looking at their menu, is also offering Japanese and Singaporean food to serve the number of tourists from Japan and Singapore frequenting the place.

fresh fish, squid, fish, oysters et al ready to be cooked in three basic ways.

part of the menu showing prices. Didn't order Manok Bisaya
for Manila rats like to order seafood whenever they can
The pop word sutukil or (SU-TU-KIL) is a humorous (sounds like "shoot to kill") portmanteau of three Cebuano words: sugba, tuwa, kilaw -- which refer to the three ways of preparing food, particularly seafood like fish. Sugba means to broil over hot charcoal; tuwa means to cook in boiling water together with some spices and seasoning; kilaw means to prepare raw but soaked in vinegar with spices e.g. onions, garlic and pepper quite similar to ceviche of South America using citrus-based marinate and Japan's sashimi (served totally raw but using dipping sauce of soy sauce and wasabi).

Similarly themed restaurants in Cebu are Goodah-Gud and Tsibogs. Neo-Neo has branches on Juan Luna Avenue in Cebu City, Fortuna Street in Mandaue City and Lapulapu City.

The only comment Tutubi has on this restaurant was the slow serving of his fresh buko juice order. Ambiance is typical al fresco but there's also an air-conditioned room but was reserved for the night by a certain group. Tutubi particularly loved the lato kinilaw. This is a recommended restaurant besides Golden Cowrie offering much better choices than the pretentious The Port Seafood Restaurant.

Neo-neo delivers, you may call telephone number +63.32.232.6688

Labels: Cebu, Cebu City, Cebu Restaurants, Restaurants

After finishing what needs to be done at SM City Cebu, Tutubi and his officemate asked around for a nice, yet budget-friendly restaurant nearby, their other officemate suggested Golden Cowrie near Waterfront Lahug and proceeded to order food for the group since they're already there. As usual, Tutubi requested local Cebuano cuisine be included.



After taking another cab ride from SM City Cebu to Golden Cowrie restaurant, Tutubi was dismayed at the food ordered by his officemate who seemed uninformed of his request for she ordered bulalo, a soupy dish of Batangas provenance, Bicol Express from the Bicol region so named after the railroad from Manila with its signature coconut milk and fiery hot cuisine, and pinakbet, an Ilocano vegetable dish.

Bulalo reminds Tutubi of Singaporean/Malaysian Bak Kut Teh (but made of pork)

The pinakbet, vegetable meat stew of the Ilocos in northern Luzon, in it's authentic form is composed of ampalaya (bitter gourd), talong (eggplant), and kamatis (tomatoes) stewed in bagoong (fish sauce or fermented shrimp paste). This is Golden Cowrie's take on the Ilocano viand.

Tutubi, with the last option to choose the last dish opted for Chicken Halang-halang, knowing fully well that halang-halang in Cebuano means spicy hot. (Tutubi can understand and speak Cebuano although "gamay lang." He was even called an honorary Cebuano by an officemate from his previous job when he noticed he can pass of as one unlike others frustrated with using Tagalog but getting replies in English from locals in Cebu and Dumaguete)

Chicken Halang-halang is a Cebuano/Visayan dish of chicken in coconut milk, spices and lots of chilies.

Golden Cowrie Review and Comments:

The Bulalo was ok, but not exceptional, there are better ones in Batangas and Cavite/Tagaytay but a steaming pot of hot soup is really welcome due to the rains still brought by typhoon Frank. The chicken halang-halang's good anre recommended with the right balance of spiciness and other spices.

Costs/Sample Menu Prices:

Bulalo with meat: P229
Bulalo soup: P69
Chicken Halang-halang P85
Bicol Express P69
Pinakbet P69

All these four dishes came with all you can eat rice.

Verdict: It's a recommended restaurant looking for Filipino dishes in Cebu, comes with a price that won't make a serious hole in your pocket. Ambiance is airy and very Filipino and ample parking space for those with own vehicles.

Address : Salinas Drive, Lahug
Tel No. : +63.32.233-4243, +63.32.233.4670
Open: 11:00 AM - 2:00 PM, 6:00 PM - 10 PM (Daily)

Golden Cowrie is just a short ride away from Waterfront Lahug. Taxi is just P50 and jeepneys won't cost more than minimum fare of PhP8.50. There also is a branch at SM City Cebu Lower Ground Floor

Labels: Cebu City, Cebu Restaurants, Filipino Cuisine, Filipino Food, Restaurants

Just outside Waterfront Cebu City Hotel and Casino (Waterfront Lahug) and the first thing you see when entering the hote's premises, is a so called seafood restaurant The Port.

Tutubi ate there with his officemates on their first night and boy, it's another frustrating experience. His friends made reservations at 8pm to eat there well aware that the place is really popular place for hotel guests and casino gamers, but when they arrived at 8pm, there were many other people queued waiting for their turn to find a vacant seat. Seems the place is really popular due to the P299 eat-all-you can with Chinese guests (probably Taiwanese) standing guard at the door even if it there's slight drizzle.

It took about 30 minutes of waiting time for Tutubi's group to be finally seated and the buffet is not what's really advertised- there are only a few seafood choices on the menu-- contrary to the name seafood restaurant. The menu includes lechon (roast pig suckling), dinuguan (pork blood stew), pancit (pinoy style noodle), dilis (anchovies), lumpia (spring rolls) amongst other usual choices but the taste of the dishes were rather bland and ordinary and can be shamed my most jollijeeps in Makati.


Tutubi's first plate inside the ambiance that feels like you're inside a ship.

Rating: deserves no second chance. There are better places to eat in Lahug unless you're trapped in the middle of a typhoon. They should consider removing the seafood word in their name for it's misleading. If you can, visit Sutukil in Mactan near the Lapu-lapu monument.

Coming Up: Golden Cowrie Native Restaurant, CnT Lenchon and Neo-neo :P

Labels: Cebu City, Cebu Restaurants