CEBU | Hole-in-the-Wall Restaurants in Cebu Capitol Area

Armed with our cameras and growling tummies, we decided to meet in Tagala Butterfly Chicken for our Cebu Capitol food trip. It seems that a food trip is one of the unplanned activities we usually do. Since Pillows Hotel decided to host us for a 2-night stay, we decided to survey the place for some treats.

Eight food places served as meal-stops on our goal to try the must-try food places in this part of Cebu. Yes, eight stops for varied offerings from fried chicken, bulalo, ginabot, milkshakes, and a lot more! Cebu City, like other major cities of the country, has tons to offer when it comes to food. Cebuanos love to eat and the presence of these limitless options recognizes the need of such to cater hungry tummies.

Tagala Butterfly Chicken

Locally acclaimed as one of the best places to grab some fried chicken is Tagala Butterfly Chicken. The restaurant is a stone’s throw away from a hospital and a hit during lunch time for med students. The kitchen is located outside the cafeteria where the juicy chicken parts are fried in oozing oil.

Fried chicken comes at different parts and prices. You can pick whatever you want to add to your puso, rice pouches. Having no lunch before the event, I had a great time consuming every bit of meat on the bones while momentarily getting a bite from the puso.

Ryan’s Pizzerelli House

Amidala Cafe was our second prospect but we were too early for their business hours. Our walk around the neighborhood made way to the discovery of Ryan’s Pizzerelli. The brand is known in the city and even engaged in deliveries. It’s a pizza parlor in Bukidnon but started offering its luscious baked goodies few years back in Cebu. The place only utilizes the ground floor of a home, probably that of the owners.

Ryan’s Pizzerelli serves pizza, pasta, calzone, and Stromboli. Fried chicken from Tagala still resides on our tummies so we just decided to get a calzone. Since the pizza is too mainstream, its oven-baked folded version was a great option. It was served fresh from the oven and we needed to wait for few minutes to cool it down.

Isidra Comfort Cantina

Sweltering heat on Cebu road hindered us to go out. But that was just a reason because we had taken naps on the comforts of our beds in Pillows Hotel. Dinner time came and we decided to get a table at Isidra, a name in Cebu when it comes to Filipino cuisines. Not just the usual items but food items are varied and inspired by diverse cuisines all over the country. Isidra Comfort Cantina offers buffet lunch but we visited the restaurant during dinner time.

Seared tuna, grilled tuna, gising-gising, poki-poki, crispy chicken wings, bagnet, pancit habhab, grilled pork belly, braised beef noodles and a lot more! Take your pick from their menu where we scavenged plateful of Asian chicken salad (Php140), grilled pork belly (Php175), a Tausug favorite blackened chicken (Php170), squid with ata (Php175), and kinilaw na tuna. Definitely a great place to try legit Filipino cuisines.

Amidala Cafe

Famed for its Stars Wars concept, Amidala Café is a great hang-out and chill-out place for coffee and milkshake lovers. Freaky shakes trended recently and millennial flock the café to try some. Of course, we should also sip on those sweet freaking shakes.

Pungko-pungko sa Fuente

Cebuano’s love to eat. And this is the main reason why there are Larsian and Sugbo Mercado. But these food hubs are transformations of the pungko-pungko way of dining. There are several pungko-pungko spots in the city but the famous one is Pungko-Pungko sa Fuente.

The moment you arrive at the entrance of the food center, lots of local vendors will lure you to sit and avail their food. If you found your group surrounding a plastic box, then you better ready for a blood pressure shoot up. Why? Because the assortment of food inside the box are mostly deep-fried, oily, and fatty goodies. Fried lumpia, pork chop, ginabot, chicken innards, chicken meat, and a lot more! Take some puso (rice in pouch) and a bottle of soda to complete your putok batok experience.

Camden Cafe

Tucked in a semi-deserted alley at the back of a hospital, Camden is a hipster place in the city. The industrial interior makes the mood light and cool. A long table is the masterpiece of the dining hall but guest shouldn’t miss the table by the window for a need of natural light. The unimposing counter has few condiments and some chocolate bars being transformed into a magnificent creation like Romeo and Juliet.

Apart from desserts and beverages, Camden Café is an all-day dining place. They serve omelets, benedicts, meat and egg platters, pasta, bagel sandwiches, pancakes, and fresh bowls. If you love coffee but at the same time avoids crowded coffee shops in Cebu, Camden Cafe is a perfect option.

Muvanz Pocherohan and Seafood

If you’re a frequent Sinulog attendee, there’s a greater chance you’ve already encountered Muvanz Pocherohan and Seafood on your previous visits. Muvanz serves grilled meats paired with beers but the place is famous for its pochero, a soup with beef shanks, corn, bamboo shoots, and some leafy vegetables.

This soup dish is a perfect hangover food. That’s why a lot of partygoers in Baseline during Sinulog consider Muvanz as there last stop after a long evening of partying. For us, a nice dinner was our main goal. We had no plans of drinking but we had the desire to slurp hot broth paired with hefty rice and other sizzling plates.

Hausbrandt

Hausbrandt Caffe is an Italian coffee brand known internationally and their Cebu location is the first in the entire country. The café is quite cozy with all the decorative fixtures that Instagram-worthy people are looking for. Coffee dominates the menu, of course, but we scanned some breakfast and sandwiches.

Frozen Coffee satisfied our need for caffeine during our visit. Thanks to their variants like Cremoso Jelly, Tiramisu Cremoso, and Hazelnut Moka at Php155 each. Counter chiller has cakes and pastries and an irresistible Truffle Cake made to our table.

Our group loves eating and we had several food trips in the city in the past. Most of our food trips in the past uncovered restaurants and cafes but this list has few hole-in-the-wall restaurants. This is an addition to the Banilad food guide and SM Seaside Cebu food tour I previously posted. If you’re tired of getting your food fix at Larsian sa Fuente, then these restaurants will surely accessible from you especially if you’re staying in Cebu’s Capitol area.