Eating out in Cebu has been a disappointing experience since I have been here. From the time I arrived I have tried everything from restaurant food to fast food to street food. As for restaurant food, well I remember in Mactan and Lapu-Lapu when first arrived that the food was not what I expected in general. In fact the only restaurants I enjoyed there and I must say were of top quality were the Thai restaurants. They served fresh, high quality and authentic Thai cuisine with just as good a service. I don’t remember the exact names of the restaurants but one that stood out was in the Mactan shopping area.

Restaurants in Cebu
One thing that you can always do when you don’t feel like eating Philippino food or you prefer to spend less than a restaurant is to go to a fast food outlet. Obviously this is not ideal for those of us who prefer healthy foods but occasionally its not a bad option. I have found the food in these outlets is often different to what I would expect back in Australia. For example at McDonald’s you have a totally different breakfast menu, you can get something that slightly resembles a bacon & egg McMuffin, I think it’s Ham & Egg roll or something. As for the burgers like a quarter pounder, well they still have the same ingredients but they taste pretty sloppy, are usually cold as are the french fries and the burger will be a lot greasier than usual with little love in the salad preparation. But I can’t say that it’s always much better back in Australia either.

JollieBee is one fast food outlet that one can get a fairly tasty meal of what is called B-B-Que Chicken for just over 100 pesos, you get 2 large chicken portions, rice and a tasty b-b-que sauce. Of course the sauce would not be anything too healthy but at least you know it will be similar each time you order. I think you even get a drink with it too. Besides that I would not bother with the other things at JollieBee like the Spaghetti Bolognaise, to be honest it looked awful but from an Italian food freak’s perspective then it could be expected I see it like that.

I have tried a couple of Pizza places in Cebu with various outcomes. Let’s start with the worst and that is a place in SM Mall and probably the same anywhere else in Cebu called Shakey’s. It is a Pizza outlet that I gather is popular with Filipinos who don’t care for the taste of a real pizza. Even my girlfriend who is from the Philippines also thought the pizza we got was horrible. It was the greasiest, sloppiest and most un-appetizing piece of crap pizza I have ever ordered in my life. Enough said, but put it this way, when they asked me to pay a service charge I bluntly refused as the waitress had not bothered to check our table to see if we needed anything. I even called out twice to her to get her attention but she was not looking around. I refused to pay the service charge as the service was lousy. I never complained about the food but I sure would never return to another Shakey’s outlet. We have gone to Pizza Hut on several occasions but our experience was not that great. The service and cleanliness where good but the Pizza’s were nothing special but I did find it depended on the restaurant . Even in the same mall where there could be two or three Pizza Hut’s the taste of the Pizza would vary quite a bit.

As for the Philippine restaurants I have visited, mainly in the early part of my visit. I often would not go much further than the front door as the visible cleanliness was quite appalling. I remember one of the first restaurants we visited in Lapu-Lapu. We walked in and found a table. The table and chairs were plastic, dirty and the table cloth was also grubby. The kitchen staff wore no hear nets, the waiters were and badly dressed. I just looked around and decided I was not going to pay this outfit to cook my dinner and we just got up and left. Unfortunately I found out later that there are many restaurants in Cebu at this standard or worse.The exception to Philippine food is to try something in the main malls as it’s quite cheap and cooked in a clean orderly environment.

We did find out that when we went to tourist type places like Panagsama Beach, MoalBoal where more tourists and Expats frequent then the level of food got better. There is a nice restaurant that we have had pasta there and the food was quite fine, the service was good too which is a refreshing change. Besides that we have not tried that much in Panagsama Beach but there is a number of other restaurants near these with reasonable prices. You could go further north, about 5 minutes walk past the large beach resort and then you come to another part of Panagsama Beach where there is a number of bars, restaurants and shops. We have been to the Chili bar which serves reasonably priced food. The only problem is we have found their waiting staff to have bad communication skills. A number of times we have ordered and the staff have screwed up the order and not understood what we wanted. But we worked it out and all is good. Nice views and quite a friendly atmosphere and good for a drink in the evening with several pool tables.

There is also an Italian restaurant along the north further that we would have loved to have tried but unfortunately never got a chance to get to. Many of the resorts also have their own restaurant or food available in Panagsama Beach.

MoalBoal itself has very little as far as eating out goes. There is a restaurant by the wharf and I once went in through the day to inquire about their menu. They could not find the menu and it took them about 10 minutes to find one for me. When I looked at it I was not that impressed, so never bothered to go there and would probably be more suited to Philippino families.

We have eaten at the local B-B-Que store in MoalBoal. The food is usually cooked fine and you get a good view of the street sitting there. The only problem is that it feels disgusting sometimes. Last time we were there, they had these stray cats that rub your legs and try to jump up on the table when you eat there. The flies can also be quite bad and then you also will have young children begging as you eat. There is a bakeshop next door so I usually run over there and buy a couple of things for the kids to eat so they leave us alone. It’s much better than giving them money while helping them a little.

The best way to eat in Cebu is to buy the ingredients yourself and take it back to your place and cook it up. We were lucky to always stay at a place where we had a fridge and kitchen. After my earlier dining experiences that was the only way I was going to eat in Cebu. Of course if you have plenty of money then just buying the best food, eating at the best restaurants would be fine if they are available in your vicinity. Other than that cooking at your place is the best idea. I certainly would never eat from those pots in the stores along the road or in the towns. I just don’t trust food that looks like it’s a family’s left overs from the night before. I’m sure some of these places are very clean and the food is fine, it’s just the ones that aren’t that worry me, not worth the risk. It’s great nearly anyone can start up their own food outlet on the side of the road without needing any license from what it seems but it’s not for me thanks.

At the markets you can find plenty of fresh fruits, vegetables and seafood to take home and cook. We often buy fresh Tuna for around 150 pesos or Lapu-Lapu fish. That would be a small tuna or a large side of fish, enough to feed two people for two nights. Lucky my Philippine girlfriend prefers to eat the parts I would normally throw out so it works out well. The same for fresh prawns (they call then shrimps in the Philippines), they are what would be called tiger prawns in Australia, shrimps are known in Australia as the tiny ones. We can buy about 7 – 8 large prawns for around 150 pesos. These are absolutely delicious, cooked quickly on a high heat with olive oil, garlic, butter, limes and ginger. Don’t forget you can usually haggle the price down at the markets.

With all the tropical fruits available in the Philippines then if you plan to stay for a month or more then invest in a milk shake machine that you can purchase at a department store in the malls from 800 pesos. This way you can always have fresh fruit juice available. The machine is also handy for grinding coconuts up so we can have fresh coconut milk for curry’s.

So to conclude, there is plenty of eating out in the city but out in the provinces it becomes quite difficult for the foreigner to find foods that are similar to the normal diet. You are much better to go natural, go with fruits, veggies and fish and cook it up or pay someone to cook it for you. Avoid the street food but by all means try some home cooked food from a Philippine family you meet and know as they will give you something tasty and comforting to remember.

As for meat out in the provinces, I would avoid too much pork, the beef is low quality, the chickens are ok in small doses and there is goat if you like that but make sure it’s clean.

In the city you have a lot more choices, you can go to Ayala mall Or SM Mall grocery shops and find a number of foods you are used to back home.

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