Cebu

I eat out a lot. I mean, six times a week. So when I went to Cebu last week, I was amazed at how good their food was. Their dipping sauce concept is brilliant. It's all about the sauces for me. My girlfriend doesn't like sauce with her steak. So it was great for her. She didn't order the dipping sauces on the side. I had their salmon and found my favorite sauce. It was their soy sake tamarind?. You gotta try it!

Pros: the food!!
Cons: parking!

We were in Old City on a Friday night and passed by Cebu. It was really crowded and buzzing, so we stopped in. (Line was long, but it moved fast) It was a lot of fun. Great DJ. On the way out, I picked up a menu card for the restaurant. What a surprise! I was expecting something very different. We ended up going back to Cebu the following week for dinner. I wanted to try their tapas menu which isquite extensive and really reasonable. I don't think anything is over $7 or $8 on it. The surprise for me was the Dipping Grill. Although we shared a couple of tapas dishes that our server - Iris - (she was fantastic) recommended, we decided to see what the Dipping Grill was all about. I ordered the skirt steak (full size) and my date had the half portion. We each ordered different sauces so that we could end up trying 6 of their sauces. It was really great, and a fun way to share a meal. The ambiance was great: good background music, but we could still talk without having to shout over the din. We weren't rushed and were lingering over dessert and coffee and ended up hanging around for the late night again. Another DJ but just as good.

I went to CEBU last Friday with my girlfriends and we had a blast! I never write reviews but I had such a good time I felt like I had to share it with citycearch! Food was fabulous! Love their entrees as well as tapas menu. The DJ was awesome and the drinks were DELICIOUS. I recommend to anyone who is looking to have a great meal and night out!

Pros: Great Food, Great DJ!

Lately I have been feeling like a lot of restaurants and lounges never live up to the hype projected by professional reviews or their own websites. Well, I stopped in Cebu this past week after a young hostess greeted me while a friend and I reviewed the menu out front, I must say we got more than we had bargained for.

We stopped in to just grab something light, but ended up sampling a variety of unique and tasty "tapas" that we both enjoyed! They have a nice three item sampler, that is reasonable (3 apps of your choice for only 20$).....We chose Fried Calamari, Vegetable Fritters, and Seared Beef. I have ordered calamari plenty of times, but they were served with marinara sauce, and Cebu uses this sweet coconut dipping sauce that will make you ask for extras, I PROMISE! The vegetable fritters were really good too, so my buddy decided to spring for one more menu choice to share. This time we got the crispy chicken wings. This was a new take on something familiar. If your a good old fashioned beer and bar food kind of guy, you will get a nice surprise with these gems. I wish I could find a place over the bridge in Jersey to get wings like this. The place is a Filipino inspired restaurant, and this was my first experience with that style of cuisine.

Needless to say, I really liked what we ordered. Next time I am in Philly and have a full appetite, I am going in to try the entrees because they sounded great too!

Enjoy!

Pros: Different Menu Options, Really Great Looking Place
Cons: No Beers On Tap

We had good service (the place was empty at 6p.m. on a Saturday night), but the food was not good. "Paella" was recommended and we expected to get . . . well . . . at least something resembling paella. We received tomato sauced rice piled with mushy, inedible mussels, a few small clams, previously frozen shrimp, and yes. . . what resembled and tasted like KIELBASA!! My sirloin steak (accompanied by what tasted like dipping sauces assembled from bottled barbeque sauce) was fatty and gristle laden. The small asparagus spears were tasty, as was the sliced potato. My child's talapia was ok, but the 3 dipping sauces were not good, nor were they suited to the dish. We cut our losses and had ice cream from a local store for dessert. Not worth the time or money.

Pros: location, good service although place was empty
Cons: food, food, food - They also called 4 different times to confirm the reservation!!!