Traditonal Favorites with a Delicious Twist

CEBU, Philippines - Food trips with family and friends are one of the endeared events of the summer season. It's either the same old trip to the usual favorite restaurant or to somewhere else to try something new. Either way, it should not be hard to find a good place to eat, as Cebu is booming with delicious and classy restaurants.

Just last week, a restaurant further advanced its presence in the mall race to capture the taste of Cebuanos, with a menu of Filipino cuisine consisting of food cooked in style and interesting flavors that are not so common yet. From its first branch along the city's Escario St. and a branch at SM City Cebu that opened in March this year, Kuya J Restaurant opened its third branch in SM City Consolacion on May 3.

As the restaurant is expanding, it is also offering more dishes in the menu. The all-time favorite Crispy Pata is brought to the next level at Kuya J, where this traditional hot-seller is made more succulent. An order serves three to four persons, at a price that's quite affordable for the treat.

Seafood dishes are aplenty. The Baked Scallops, topped with cheesy-butter mixture, is a must-try, too. Its taste lingers a little longer in the mouth.

Even the rice gets better at Kuya J. A Thai original is re-invented to suit the Filipino taste, Humbagoong Rice. It is cooked with exotic spices from Thailand, shrimp bagoong, and topped with pork humba. The taste is a blend of sweet, salty and sour.

The Beef Pochero Tagalog and Beef Caldereta both go through slow cooking to bring out the best taste. The Lumpia Presko is sautéed crab meat and bamboo shoot shreds stuffed in special Malunggay wrapper with sweet garlic sauce. The rest of the menu lineup includes Chicken Tagudtod, Sinuglaw, Crispy Catfish, Guinataang Monggo, Kare-Kare, and the spicy Chorizo Dinamita.

For the drinks, the Dalandan Beer is interesting. It pairs well with the fried dishes, and is good for the beer drinkers and non-beer drinkers alike. The traditional cooler Halu-halo comes with a unique twist - the Fried Halu-halo Ala Mode. It has ube, white beans, young corn, nata de coco, lanka and butter beans stuffed in pastry wrapper and deep fried to give the halu-halo a warm take. Then it is topped with whip cream and Mantecado Ice Cream.

The dessert named Tablea Flan with Coffee Syrup is both unique and yummy. It is a Batangas tablea-flavored flan with coffee caramel, topped with desiccated coconut and coconut cream.

In the end, it is said: "The taste of the pudding is in the eating." The only way to know good food is to try it. (FREEMAN)