CEBU, Philippines - Just when the municipality of Consolacion has started to welcome fast food chains left and right, its Filipino cuisine has remained.
Orosia Food Park, located next to SM Consolacion, is the restaurant that offers Filipino food, fun and leisure.
They serve homestyle meals - Pochero, Pancit Guisado, Barbecue, Tinola and the like. To add to the authentic native flavor of the dishes, they are served on bamboo plates, lined with banana leaf. Soup is in a classic clay pot.
The food is superb. Once you dig into one of their specialties, you discover that they are more than just the classic taste. Take their Pancit Guisado, it is not the ordinary pancit sprinkled with chopped vegetables. They use a different kind of noodle and add more spices to it.
When it comes to beverages, they offer imported beer such as Budweiser and Heineken, served ice-cold or you can even have them on the rocks. This is to cater to the tourists and expats who dine in the place.
Orosia is an open air restaurant giving you a feel of the life in the municipality, peaceful yet progressive.
The restaurant's interior takes you back to ancient Cebu with bamboo tables, as well as fixtures. It is roofed with nipa shingles and the walls are decorated with old paintings.
What makes this food park more special is their mini fishpond with huge a school of koi fish. They also have a large snake and a couple of monkeys at the back which they only take out upon request. These animals are seen during the Chinese New Year because they purportedly bring good luck.
They have a small playground where kids can run around, take turns on the slide or the seesaw.
For functions, they can transform the second floor according to client's preference. I recall, a couple of special events held there such as Redhorse's MuzikLaban.
The prices are affordable with dishes ranging from P25 to P300. There's also no need to worry about parking space. (FREEMAN)