Cabalen's Cebuffet
MANILA, Philippines - The best of Pampanga’s legendary cooking combined with Cebu’s hot specialties? Surely, it’s a marriage made in culinary heaven! The doors to food heaven opened only last year at Cabalen SM City Cebu, with Maritel Nievera — the heart and soul behind the Cabalen, Ebun, and Mangan resto chains — bringing in her much-raved-about Kapampangan dishes and the Cebuanos bringing only their insatiable appetite for good food. Needless to say, there were no leftovers on Cabalen’s humongous buffet spread.
“We’re bringing the specialties of Manila to Cebu, or what Cabalen is best known for,” says Maritel with a smile as bright as the sun-kissed shores of Cebu.
When Cabalen Cebu opened in August last year, Cebu’s assorted foodies sighed and said, “At last, there’s a place where we can enjoy real good food.”
If you’re a Cabalen habitué (like I am), you know that Maritel’s talking about Pampanga’s good old homecooking that she grew up with. Like the priceless kare-kare (beef/oxtail stew in peanut sauce) recipe that traces its roots to the kitchen of Maritel’s grandmother. “It’s a 24-year-old recipe my lola handed down to me when I was small and would help her in the kitchen,” Maritel fondly recalls. “It’s made from scratch, using only the freshest ingredients. No shortcuts, no instant mixes, no artificial flavoring.”
Through the years, Cabalen’s staggering mouthwatering buffet continues to regale assorted diners with its time-cherished, all-time favorites like kalderetang baka, dinuguan, tokwa’t baboy, bopis, sisig, lechong paksiw, embutido, morcon, relyenong bangus, bistig tyan ng bangus, crispy crablets, crispy kangkong, beringhe (Pampanga’s paella), steamed vegetables with burong hipon. And if you’re a sweet, er, sweets person (like me), certified Kapampangan favorites tibok-tibok (Kapampangan pudding made with carabao’s milk), tibok mais, bico, leche flan, palitaw, sampelot (warm fruit and root crop stew or ginatan), and make-your-own halo-halo are the sweetest temptations on earth.
Cebuanos got a taste and feel of home when Cabalen opened its doors in Cebu, the first branch outside Luzon. Actually, this new member of the growing family of Cabalen restos doesn’t have a door. Architect Joji Salonga, who did the new design, sought to achieve a more inviting look for this Cabalen branch. With its wide-open entrance, the eyes are at once riveted to the enticing bright interiors and the sumptuous buffet offerings.
Of course, there’s something endearingly familiar for the food-loving Cebuanos, too. “For Cabalen Cebu, we have included some Cebuano dishes to cater to the taste buds of Cebuanos,” says Maritel. Like Cebu’s famous tasty, slow-roasted lechon, which celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain swears is the best pig in the world he’s ever tasted, as well as the Cebu chicharon, Cebu longganisa, utan Visaya (Visayan vegetable with chicken soup), paksiw na molmol (boiled vinegar-pickled parrot fish), kinilaw na molmol (pickled raw fish and vegetable in vinegar), tinolang isda, humba (braised pork belly) Visaya, punaw with black beans (clam in black beans), escabecheng tanigue, fish binacol (fish in young coconut soup), ensaladang okra, gatang monggo at kalabasa, tinolang katambak (katambak fish broth in ginger and lemongrass), ensaladang talong sa gata.
Guests who flew all the way from Manila for the opening of Cabalen Cebu voraciously sampled the Cebuano dishes. On the other hand, the Cebuanos who flocked to Cabalen on opening day couldn’t wait to try the famous Kapampangan cooking. Nobody went home disappointed. Everybody left with a hearty burp!
Since then, Cabalen has become the place to dine, to see, and be seen in. For instance, frequently seen at Cabalen Cebu is Senator John Osmeña who swears that its kare-kare is “the best I’ve tasted.” On the other hand, sizzling-hot young star Aljur Abrenica just loves Cabalen Cebu’s sisig and pork barbeque while his reel (and real?) leading lady Kris Bernal cares deeply for the kare-kare and dinuguan. The all-girl ballad group La Diva sings praises for Cabalen Cebu’s crispy crablets, chicharon, and adobong manok. For their part, Starstruck winners Sarah and Steven think that the dinuguan and sisig are the undisputed winners.
Here’s more delicious news: The buffet spread, with over 50 dishes to choose from, goes for an all-inclusive price of only P298 (including the freshly roasted Cebu lechon). Now, who can top that real delicious deal that appeals to both the budget and the taste buds?
As in all the other Cabalen branches, this Cebu branch has a Pinoy Deli corner which sells the following goodies: Cabalen bagoong, Cabalen taba ng talangka, Cabalen burong hipon, butong pakwan, turones de casoy, and assorted polvoron.
Yes, sheboom Cebu! Oui, Cebuffet!
* * *
Cabalen SM City Cebu is located on the ground level, north wing, SM City Cebu. The 12th Cabalen branch outside Luzon, it has a main dining area good for 110 persons and a 45-seat function room. For reservations, call (032)5050821.
