Places to Eat in Cebu City

Cebu City offers a wide range of culinary options that will please even the pickiest of eaters. From resort restaurants to street food stalls, people of all backgrounds will be able to find something that appeals to them when they get hungry and mealtime rolls around.

Street Food

If you’re brave and have a stomach of steel, there are many street food options in the downtown area and along the water. Naturally, the food is much cheaper that in a traditional restaurant and the experience is arguably more authentic, but there’s also the possibility that indulging in street food will make you ill, so be sure to know what you’re getting yourself into before you start.

Traditional Filipino Food

One of the most popular restaurants in Cebu is called Cebu’s Original Lechon Belly. Lechon refers to one of the Philippines most famous foods, roasted suckling pig. People say that the best Lechon is found on Cebu. This particular restaurant is so successful that it has opened a number of branches throughout the city including at J Centre Mall, Savemore Marina Mactan, Elizabeth Mall and Pavilion Mall. You can find nearly a dozen of these establishments, so while they’re not exactly on every corner like Starbucks, they’re not hard to find if you know where to look either. Cebu’s Original Lechon Belly, which is boneless, opposed to some others, is served in two varieties: original and spicy.

If you fancy trying another restaurant for lechon, Ben’s Lechon is another popular option, especially among locals. They offer other Filipino delicacies like tuwa, kinilaw, sinugbang panga and caldertang kambing. Be sure you look all those things up before you order any of them so you don’t get any surprises! Ben’s Lechon also has multiple locations in the city, so it shouldn’t be too difficult to track down a branch in Mactan Marina Mall, Parkmail Mandaue and on Airport Road.

For the adventurous meat eaters out there, try Larsian Barbecue near Fuente. It’s considered by many to be the best the city has to offer and it’s incredibly cheap for the quality as well. In addition to the normal things you would find at a Filipino barbecue restaurants, you can also get more interesting cuts of meat like coagulated blood and innards!

Western and International Food

But, if you’re not interested in trying any of the local delicacies, you can also find a wide range of international foods. Especially at the Ayala Mall and IT Park, you’ll be able to find dozens of restaurants finding all types of food including but not limited to Chinese, Korean, Italian, Japanese, Continental and American food.

One of the better known international options in the city is Cielo, located on the second level of the Forum Mall in the Archbishop Reyes neighbourhood. The second you walk in you will feel like you’ve left Cebu, and in fact all of the Philippines behind and have stepped into New York. Cielo is an Italian restaurant similar to the best ones you will find in Manhattan. From the music to the decor to the food itself the place has quite a good deal of charm about it, and the specialties include Rosso buck, scallopini ala marsala and pizzas. The restaurant also serves desert like your Italian grandmother would make such as bread putting and tiramisu. This restaurant is a bit more fancy than others locate in the area, so be prepared to pay a bit of a premium for it. Even so, by Western standards, it’s very cheap.

Coffee Houses

Instead of normal coffee shops, be on the look out for bakeries and cake shops, a Filipino tradition if you’re looking for a place to stop to get a coffee.