Where I ate during my Oslob, Cebu road trip

You’ve decided to spend a day doing excursions in Cebu. Whether you’re seeing the whale sharks, hiking gorgeous waterfalls, or diving the sardine run, you have to eat at some point, right? For anyone who booked a private driver and needs ideas of where to eat, or even if you want to tell your guided tour where you want to eat, let me share my experience where I ate. Skip the tour-lead stopovers and be deliberate about your Cebu food choices!

Oslob breakfast near the Whale Sharks

After an exhausting early morning wake up and swim with the whale sharks, you’ve surely worked up an appetite for breakfast. After finishing the whale sharks during peak-season in December, it was only 7 AM and we were already famished from being awake since 4 am.

The goal after the whale sharks was as much food as possible, and we were craving a Filipino breakfast. While other more traditional restaurant or eatery options were still not open this early in the morning, we gave our criteria to our private driver who took us to Bangcogon Resort and Restaurant.

After only a 5 minute drive from where our van was parked for the whale sharks, we arrived at a beach front hotel with a gorgeous, unobstructed view of the beach. Bonus points, we could see the boats headed towards Summon Island in the distance as well.

We were greeted by the sweetest Titas, or Filipino Aunties, who happily asked if we were guests at the hotel or just wanted breakfast. After scanning the menu for garlic rice and eggs, we knew we’d sit down.

I ultimately was craving lumpia, and decided to DIY a lumpia-silog because there were only more standard options like longsilog, bangsilog, etc. I ordered a side of garlic rice, a side of 3 eggs, and an order of lumpia (which was maybe the portion of 6 full sized lumpias). I also ordered longsilog because I couldn’t resist and I was famished.

Honestly, my expectations weren’t high. We were right next to the whale sharks in a spot frequented by tourists and a menu with minimal pictures. Also notably, there were no other people dining in the whole patio the entire time we ate there.

Fortunately, that was a good sign. When the food came, I was instantly impressed. The eggs were still runny and the sausage smelt impressively sweet. Perhaps what was most impressive were was how the lumpia looked: imperfectly rolled, with some of the rolls looking messed up slightly by what only could have been hands. They also didn’t seem uniform in length or cut, another good sign that auntie made them.

As I bit into them, it was instantly crispy. They steamed in my mouth. And, I got the oniony and porky taste that I have grown to love. What was a nice surprise was the sauce, which didn’t look uniform or store bought either. It tasted more like a a fruit jam, like a peach, pineapple with some kick to it, rather than just a straight up neon-red sweet and sour sauce.

However, what made this meal perhaps my favorite was beyond the food. The view of the empty beach and the empty restaurant, sipping my coconut water put me on cloud nine. I would’ve stayed for a few hours, under the shaded awning, if it weren’t for the hikes I planned for the rest of the day.

Lechon in Carcar City

Heading back to Mactan, led to a prime opportunity to stop over in Carcar City, which I’ve seen so many videos and heard from so many people here in Cebu is famous for their lechon. Our driver recommended we just go to the Carcar main road, and see which stall had the freshest looking lechon.

We arrived in the afternoon, which, unfortunately I knew was a little late for lechon standards (they roast the pigs early in the morning). Our driver let us out and told us to look for the stands where the most of the pig was left, which I only took as where most of the crispy lechon skin was left.

While the vloggers often take people to Paraz Native Lechon, our tour guide also told us his favorite was the one nearby, called Lita and Joel. I, somewhat embarrassingly compared both stands, nonchalantly looking from around the corner to see the back side of the pig (most stands leave the front of the pig untouched to look nice). That day, the back-side of the pig at Lita and Joel’s looked like they just cut into a new one so I decided to be different and eat there

I believe I ordered 2kg for 4 people, and they asked us if we wanted any other sides. I have seen lechon eaten with puso (hanging rice before), so I knew I was supposed to get 4 triangles of them. But honestly, I was too excited for the pork to get any grilled fish or vegetables.

We watched the lady chop the pork, pour a soup-like sauce on it (which I learned is a broth made out of pork drippings and some aromatics), and put some cuts of crispy skin on top.

We were then lead to the back where it was mostly empty (again, darn we were a little late after lunch). They promptly brought us a massive plate that was glistening and smelled to die for. For this type of lechon, I say it smelt less like a fryer (typical of more Pampangan style Lechon) and more akin to a Kalua pig with some soup. An added plus was the soup broth poured on top had vegetables, so it , at least visually, made the plate more green and somewhat healthy looking.

We unwrapped the puso and took some in between my fingers and picked up some of the pork (no skin this time). Taking a bite was everything I hoped for and more.

Texture: it was endlessly tender for what felt like a surprisingly lean cut of meat. I’m used to heavily fried and crispy all over lechon.

Taste: I retract the kalua pork comparisons immediately. The taste felt strangely familiar, it had all the savoriness as if all the pork was entirely deep fried, but without the oily taste. I say the soup definitely contributed to the taste, it felt like some onion-forward vegetable and the taste from what I assume was green onions. Also, it was shamelessly garlicky, which I loved.

However, the job wasn’t done, I came here for the crispy skin. After all, they teased us with the entire pig with a perfectly roasted skin out in front. After chipping off one square piece of skin and had it by itself. It was perfect. Somehow it was wet and savory from the broth, yet still managed to be crispy and entirely pork-forward. I would’ve ordered a plate of just the skin if I could.

Now, not to be dramatic, but this lowkey made my trip to Cebu worth it. I didn’t have any other Cebu during my trip to the Philippines to keep the Cebu experience special. When comparing it to other crispy pork I’ve had like chicharron in Mexico or siu yuk from Cantonese restaurants, I think this holds a special place at the top of the leaderboard. Maybe I’m biased, but the point still stands: I’d come back to Cebu just for this lechon.