Sunday, February 13, 2011

Salo-Salo Sutukil restaurant, Mactan, Cebu City, Philippines

Salo-Salo Sutukil restaurant, Mactan, Cebu City, Philippines

My last night during my recent visit to the Philippines was spent in Cebu City ad I was taken to a local restaurant in Mactan, a small island in front of Cebu city and famous for the death of Fernando Magellan.

Next to the Magellan and Lapu Lapu shrines are a couple of so called sutukil restaurants, which stands for Sugba, Tuwa and Kilaw. Sugba means to grill, Tuwa means to make into Tinola or soup, and Kilaw means to make Kinilaw or raw style serving of the fish, the fish being 'cooked' in vinegar, as a result you get a kind of Sashimi!

The fish display of Salo-Salo Sutukil restaurant

The fish is all displayed at the entrance of the restaurants and you order and negotiate a price. My Philippine friend who took me here, was accompanied by his Mum and she warned him about being charged premium prices for the drinks, since the menu didn't list any prices for the drinks. It turned out the we weren't over charged for the drinks but there was an add on for 'cooking' the ordered dishes which was a bit heartily when the check came, so be aware of this when visiting this otherwise delicious restaurant.

The entrance to Salo-Salo

The restaurant we visited is one of the three remaining places in Mactan near the Magellan and Lapu Lapu shrine, and whilst Googling this place, it seems that it has been around 'forever'. Another restaurant nearby is 'No problem' but a fellow Cebuan blogger had a warning up for this place. He also warns about over pricing!

Cockle shell na Ginata

The food was excellent though and I enjoyed it a lot. The place reminded me of the Nai Aow restaurant in Kanchanadit, which is also located at a mangrove and serves sea food.

We had lovely company, my friend, his Mum and three Japanese friends invited by my Philippine friend. The company and food were excellent!

Kinilaw Tanigue

This was amongst my fave dishes, the raw tuna 'cooked' in vinegar and as a result you get Kinilaw. An excellent dish and well worth trying out!

Ginisang Alamango

Looks familiar, yes indeed, crab just like in Thailand! The main difference with Thai dishes is that there are no sauces let alone spicy sauces that come with the dishes!

Besides the pictured dishes we also had a seaweed or Lato salad, Inihaw na Isda or grilled fish, Rellenong Pusit or grilled and stuffed fish, pancit bihon or noodles and kanin or rice.

Definitely a place I can recommend when visiting Cebu city!

The sutukil restaurants are located near the Mactan Shrine. It is a 250-peso taxi ride from central Cebu City. Just tell the cab driver you want to go to Mactan Shrine in Punta Engano. It’s on the way to Shangri-la Mactan. If you want to take public transport, you can either ride on a jeepney that goes to Punta Engano (No. 23 jeepneys with Punta Engano signboards in the windshield) or you can choose one of the hundreds of tricycle in Lapu-Lapu City.

The sutukil eateries are to the left of the stage near the Mactan shrine, on the side of the area’s police precinct (now there’s an added security for you.) After you pass a couple of souvenir shops selling trinkets, shell craft and other native products, you then see several stalls with pails and buckets of fresh seafood-just choose one of the several eateries in the place.

Enjoy,
Camille

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