Ultimate Sutukil Experience at Isla Sugbu Seafood City
It is almost summer and for me, summer means seafood. During summer, I always go to the beach and the best beach food for me is Sutukil. I do not have to wait for summer anymore to enjoy some delicious Sutukil because Isla Sugbu Seafood City is now offering a Sutukil package for 4 people for only 1,600 pesos. Fresh Sutukil cooked in a top notch kitchen is just a 15-minute drive from home.
What is Sutukil?
If you are not from Cebu or nearby islands, you might not understand what I am talking about. Sutukil is short for Sugba, Tuwa, and Kilaw. These are the 3 most popular ways to cook seafood in our part of the world.
SUgba
TUwa
KILaw
If you have a sugba, tuwa, and kilaw dish in one meal, we call it SUTUKIL.
The most popular SUTUKIL place in Cebu is located in Mactan Shrine in Lapu-Lapu City. It is around 20 kilometers away from the city and it could be an hour drive due to some heavy traffic in Mandaue City. There are many restaurants that offer SUTUKIL in Cebu, but nothing is as upscale as Isla Sugbu Seafood City.
SUTUKIL at ISLA Sugbu Seafood City
Isla Sugbu Seafood City has the reputation to be one of the most expensive seafood restaurants in the island of Cebu. Of all the restaurants at the New Grand Convention Center, this was the only restaurant that I have not been to. I love the All-You-Can-Eat buffet at the Grand Majestic. Tsay Cheng's classic Chinese dishes are also excellent. Isla Sugbu was just out of my league... 'til now.
I was impressed when I went inside Isla Sugbu and got overwhelmed with the fresh seafood section. The section can put to shame most, if not all supermarkets in Cebu. Supermarkets cannot rival the freshness of the seafood that they offer. They have live lobsters, prawns, Lapu-Lapu, crabs, and seashells.
It is a good thing that the restaurant management led by Winglip Chang has introduced their own brand of SuTuKil. Now, more people can eat and try the other specialties of the restaurant. Their Sutukil package is good for 4 people and it only costs 1,600 pesos. Each package has one sugba or grilled dish, 1 tinuwa dish, and 1 kinilaw dish. Aside from that, they include a FREE appetizer, dish of the day, and rice platter
Seafood City Sutukil Packages
Package A
Inclusions: Fish Sugba, Shrimp Tinuwa, Fish Kinilaw, appetizer, the dish of the day, and rice platter.
Package B
Inclusions: Squid Sugba, Shrimp Tinuwa, Fish Kinilaw, appetizer, the dish of the day, and rice platter.
Package C
Inclusions: Fish Sugba, Fish Tinuwa, Shrimp Kinilaw, appetizer, the dish of the day, and rice platter.
Package D
Inclusions: Squid Sugba, Fish Tinuwa, Shrimp Kinilaw, appetizer, the dish of the day, and rice platter.
Isla Sugbo Seafood City Grand Launching
The grand launching of the Sutukil packages was held last Friday (Feb. 12). Many of the guests had to fly in from Manila, including TV stars Jericho Rosales and Mylene Dizon. Jericho Rosales is the celebrity endorser of Seafood City's sister restaurant Kuya J. The two had a celebrity cook-off, which Mylene's team won.
The seafood restaurant also invited some of the famous lifestyle bloggers in the country, like Camille Co, Laureen Uy, David Guison, and Khryz Uy. Seafood City also invited food bloggers from Manila, W.Visayas, and Cebu to enjoy their Sutukil and other specialties.
Kalami Cebu's Experience at Isla Sugbu Seafood City Sutukil Launch
It was really my first time to eat at Seafood City. The launch was set at 5:30 PM and I was already there around 4:30. I was pretty much the earliest to register because I was really excited to finally eat at Cebu's premier seafood restaurant. The nicest thing about being the earliest is that I was able to take photos of the fresh seafood offerings without any competition. I got to talk to the staff and I took photos of them. It is actually fun to talk to the staff before everything gets so busy.
When the other bloggers started to arrive, I made sure to make friends with bloggers from other places. I spent around 30 minutes being a fanboy. I had photos with Winglip Chang and with lifestyle bloggers. Afterwards, it was back to food blogger mode as I settled in a table with fellow food bloggers. I was seated with Brennan Mercado of Baktin Corp., JP of Chubby pero Happy, Richard of Tales from the tummy, Sheila of Our Awesome Planet and Chichi of Happy Tummy Travels. I enjoyed talking with them and sharing notes about the different places to eat around the country, which brings me back to my sutukil experience at Seafood City.
3 Good things about Seafood City Sutukil
Ingredients
Ingredients really matter when it comes to sutukil since the preparation is pretty straightforward. My best sutukil experiences happened when I am on the beach with family and we made sugba, tuwa, and kilaw using the freshest catch available. Well, Seafood City gave me an experience similar to that. The fish that was iced were really fresh and the lapu-lapu, pompano, lobsters, and prawns were even swimming in their own fish tanks. You cannot go fresher than that. They have a great variety of seashells as well. Diners are definitely assured that the seafood that is served is one of the freshest that you can find in the whole island of Cebu. Another thing to note is that I never saw a fly when I went there. Not a single one.
Kitchen
The team behind the restaurant has been in the industry for decades and it is hard to beat experience when it comes to consistency of flavors. They have already established what is "lami" or delicious. The food coming out of their kitchen is always spot on. At Isla Sugbo Seafood City, you can actually see how your food is prepared. From the seafood section, you can see the kitchen and what the cooks are doing. I noticed that they have a very clean and organized kitchen.
When it comes to seafood, I will definitely recommend this restaurant. It is a bit expensive than your normal Cebu restaurant but it is worth it, as the quality here is way above average. To experience what I am writing about, you should try their 1600-peso Sutukil packages and taste the difference. Aside from Sutukil, Seafood City offers a dishes like crabs, lobsters, seashells, and even veggies. Check out Isla Sugbu Seafood City at the Grandcon, Archbishop Reyes Avenue, Cebu City. For inquiries and reservations, you may call 032-260-8000.
Ambiance
Seafood City is definitely the classiest place for Sutukil in Cebu. The restaurant is located in the heart of the city. Parking is never a problem as The Grand Convention has ample parking space, especially now that they added a new parking building. The place is cool, clean, and it has amazing ambiance for families to enjoy seafood dishes. I am not surprised why many are willing to pay extra to dine here. It is really a notch above your typical seafood restaurant.
Kalami Cebu Verdict
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