Manggahan restobar opens in Cebu

CEBU, Philippines - Just in time for the Sinulog fever, a Pinoy-style yakiniku restaurant featuring Filipino native and exotic cuisines will open its doors to the Cebu market today.

The hippy concept of the Manggahan Restobar was initiated by businessman Jim Anthony Uy who heads a corporation of entrepreneurs that is named Opportunists, Inc..

Manggahan is the 15th venture of Uy in the food and KTV business in the entire Philippines.

It is situated at Wilson Street, Barangay Apas, Lahug along with other growing restaurants in the area.

Manggahan is a Cebuano term for a place where mango trees are planted. The business was named after such word since there is a big, old mango tree at the back of restaurant.

Uy said in an interview that he thought of putting up his own restaurant which will become as a place where one can chill and relax with his family and friends without having to worry about especially with expenses.

He added that Lahug is an ideal place to start with such kind of concept since the community is active and is accessible to business process outsourcing companies in the locality.

With the theme of preparing your own food dishes on a smokeless charcoal grill, he claimed that the yakiniku style of Filipino dishes is the first in the Philippines.

Manggahan highlights its innovation of the conventional Pinoy barbecue cooking in which each table is installed with a tabletop grill along with a built-in exhaust for customers to cook their own barbecue according to their preferences.

With an investment of about P400,000 to P500,000, Uy put up the first Manggahan outlet in Cebu and plans to penetrate the city first before expanding to other areas in the country.

Its menu specializes in native cuisines and exotic dishes such as hito and fried bakasi.

Its signature food items include sizzling crocodile sisig that is priced at P168 and sizzling pochero at P148.

The cheapest grilled item cost from P6 per stick and P299 for the grilled lobster as the most expensive.

It has a bar that serves cocktails and beer “below zero”. 

Aside from the low-priced menu of food and beverages, Manggahan takes pride with its cozy ambience and live acoustic entertainment daily.

The 800-square meter diner has a seating capacity of 150 persons.

With the young professionals and students as the target market, he considered the food business in Cebu as a growing industry that could be attributed to the continuous BPO boom, increasing number of tourist arrivals and improved spending capacity of the people.

Uy will soon open his other business ventures in Cebu such as Wat Ever Family KTV and Big Flat Bread in Panagda-it Mabolo before the end of January.  (FREEMAN)