FOOD & CUISINE
Cebu’ s famous lechon, no sauce needed.
delivers what every dining enthusiast, local or foreign is craving for.
A haven of authentic Filipino cuisine, Family Farm’ s serving are extremely generous and genuinely affordable. A large serving plate is overflowing with calamari rings. Fresh squid cut into rings, coated in batter and deep-fried to a perfect golden brown. For PHP180, you get a Chicken in a Basket. Also coated in batter, the chicken is fried to a crisp but retains the juicy meat under the golden coating. With well-seasoned chicken meat as well as the breading, I found myself munching away without the need for gravy or ketchup. A large bowl of piping hot Kare-Kare is only PHP150. Their version is almost similar in ingredients to most Kare-Kare dishes I’ ve tasted in Manila, but this one was tastier and tender in every bite, just like how my Auntie Puring makes her Kare-Kare. Apart from the delicious, slightly thick sauce of grounded peanuts and rice, the huge serving is filled with meat slices of goto, a variety of vegetables and a mouth-watering blend of bagoong. Best paired with steaming white rice, this Kare-Kare is sure to keep you coming back to Family Farm. Now another highlight of this superb meal is the Lechon ng Baboy( roasted suckling pig). An entire pig roasted at the leftmost side of the establishment, just a few steps after you’ ve entered the restaurant. So
you are assured that every piece you take is freshly cooked right before your very eyes.
So what makes the dishes of Family Farm far more tasting than what you can eat in most restaurants here in the Metro? The meats are fresh coming from the restaurant’ s very own farm. Owned by a couple, Teddy and Josephine del Rosario, who were originally based in Manila until 1995 when the allure of the province of Cebu was too much to pass. Having established a farmland in the northern part of the province and built several meat shops in Lapu-Lapu City, Mandaue and other areas, the couple decided to open their first restaurant in June 28, 2008. Seeing the need to provide Cebu dwellers a taste of native Filipino cuisine, with a vision of a farm-style setting, Family Farm was born. 1,000 square meters and a capacity of 300 people, the restaurant is spanking with cozy brown hues, sturdy bamboo chairs, wooden tables and displays of farm animals around. For buffet lovers like myself, lunch buffets are available daily from 11am to 2pm and savor a variety of dishes from grilled meats of pork and beef, barbeque, Sinigang, Kare-Kare, Crispy Pata and Calamares. Sundays are usually open from 10am to 10pm, while the rest of the days, they would have a break between 2pm to 4pm.
Hukad sa Golden Cowrie
Of the many travels I have been to Cebu, I’ ve always wanted to go to Golden Cowrie but it was only in my recent leisure trip that I was able to do so. I’ ve heard so much about this
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For a lover Food like me, the easiest way to capture the region’ s art, history, and flair is to taste their food.”
The golden Cowrie and their delicious dinuguan served with puto. place whether from locals or other visiting groups who did not skip the opportunity to dine at one of Cebu’ s old familiars.
Dating back in 1982, Cebu’ s pioneer in the local Filipino cuisine established the Golden Cowrie Native Restaurant under the leadership of Tina Ebrada. Over the years, the primary restaurant at the Salinas Drive in Lahug, Cebu City has become a landmark on its own where families and friends gather, Filipinos from other regions get a taste of Cebu all in one sitting and foreign visitors sample the best of Filipino fare. As the restaurant’ s popularity increases, the branches thrive as well. Under its new management, the Cebu Golden Restaurant Incorporated which is owned by the Koksengs, Golden Cowrie can now be found in various areas such as the lower ground floor of SM City Cebu, Hukad sa Golden Cowrie in The Terraces at Ayala Center and the newest at the Marina Mall in Mactan. With about 100 percent of the original Golden Cowrie from the concept, the friendly staff, the recipes that the locals have come to love and enjoy, the restaurant structure itself and the new branches, Golden Cowrie has never before been more accessible to anyone who wish to delight in its various delectable dishes.
Having arrived around 4pm and still overwhelmed by my lunch at Family Farm, I decided to sample one of their bestsellers, Dinuguan with Puto and another order of Suman with Hot Tsokolate for me and my beau to share. Thick, rich and oozing with panache, this is how wonderful the Dinuguan was. I can still relish it in my mouth. It was like tasting my Auntie Puring’ s homemade Dinuguan. With all the love and care poured in every spoonful. Just one taste and you will forget that it’ s made with pork blood liquefied and simmered with vinegar. The Dinuguan is paired with two pieces of puto.
7107 ISLAND TRAVEL 27