Kalami Cebu! - A Gastronomic Guide to Cebu

When I have friends and relatives from out of town who come to Cebu, they usually ask me where to eat the best lechon.  I have my personal favorites but there are just so many good lechoneros in Cebu.  Dondi and Corinne Joseph of D+B Wines had a couple of visitors from Manila and instead of just taking them to their favorite lechon place, they decided to give them some choices.  Actually, a lot of choices.  They invited some other friends to a lechon and wine dinner and this is what happened.

It has been a while since the #Hibsters leads had a get-together .  We finally found a good reason to meet up when Jullian Sibi's family moved in to their new house in Guadalupe. I also wanted to celebrate  landing a new job.  Here is what we did in our latest Kalaminions #MeetEatRepeat session.

Kalami Cebu Food Wars #LechonWars debuted last week and the first match-up ended in a rout as Rico's Lechon handily beat Zubuchon, 10-3.  Many Cebuano foodies in social media said it was going to be a mismatch and they were right.   Most tasters preferred the saltier flavor of Rico's Lechon while Zubuchon got some points from their skin and the meat quality.  Check out our video for what transpired in this episode.

There was a social media firestorm yesterday when an article came out at the ABS-CBN website telling the public that Cebu Favorite Lechon Zubuchon is coming to Manila.  I know Cebuanos love lechon and as a Cebuano, I consider it as a heritage dish.  I did not expect, though, the extreme reactions that the article generated from my fellow Cebuanos. Are we going to destroy friendships over lechon?  Well, here is my take.

Christmas is synonymous to lechon in Cebu. During the Christmas season, you will probably eat lechon every day if you love going to Christmas parties here in the Queen City of the South.  I lived in Manila before and they do not eat as much lechon as an average Cebuano.  Since people living in Cebu eat so much lechon,  each one of us has a favorite part.  Here is my take on the most delicious parts of the lechon.

It has been weeks, but I am still raving about the awesome dinner that I had when I attended the "JPark at 6" party. The buffet was great and the selection was really awesome, but my attention was on the different delectable options at the carving stations. My #happytummy that night was filled roast beef, lechon, and Peking duck. It was just a good start of a very lucky night for me.

Last Sinulog, I had a couple of friends coming over from Manila and we had several food trips.  One of their favorites was the first place that I brought them to while they were here, Cebu's Original Lechon Belly at Parkmall. Cebu City is probably the roasted pork capital in the world and one of the recent trends when it comes to preparing a lechon is the lechon belly. The boneless lechon is made of purely the trunk of the pig. This version has no head, tails, and bones.  The lechon belly is perfect for people who do not like to see a pig's head while having lunch.  The lechon belly makers basically isolates all the best parts of a lechon for your enjoyment.

One time,  +Nezte Virtudazo  invited me to have a road trip to Simala.  We decided to have  a pit stop in Carcar to have lunch. Carcar is Cebu's pork hotspot in the south.  The city is known for its chicharon and lechon.  We went to the Carcar City Public Market and look for a lechon stall. At the market, you can find several lechon stalls bunched in one area. You will definitely get tempted to eat after seeing the glistening red skin of freshly cooked lechon. The stall owners would even let you sample their lechon. We decided to buy one kilo and eat it at a nearby carenderia.  Nezte,  +Juliet Margate  ,  +Stephanie Olano  , and I feasted on the juicy and flavorful Carcar Lechon. We ate at least a cup of rice each and drank some softdrinks.  I told Nezte that I will pay 500 and they just take care of the rest. I got the surprise of my life when our bill amounted to less than 500. I was puzzled at first then aft...

My wife and I usually eat out on weekends.  Since it has been a while that we last ate lechon, we decided to look for a yummy lechon place.  There used to be an eatery that serves very delicious boneless lechon near our house, but the eatery moved.  I used Google to search where Tatang's Extra Crispy Boneless Lechon relocated and found out that they have a branch in Wilson Street, Lahug. We went there and had an extra crispy and extra spicy dinner.