On our last day in Cebu City, our group ate lunch at Chika-an sa Cebu before heading to the airport and buying some pasalubong. You know the part about Filipino restaurants which overdo on rattan furniture just to look local? This one didn’t It had nice, contemporary interiors, just like Cafe Laguna. Diners also have a choice between staying indoors (for airconditioning) or outdoors (for smoking or just smelling the breeze).

The part that I liked best was the menu. Mostly, it was the thrill of seeing familiar dishes from my childhood. I really don’t get these in Manila. Food like buwad, utan bisaya, nangka salad etc. Correct me if am wrong, but I haven’t really seen a mainstream Visayan resto in Manila (unless you know one?), except for outlets of the much in-demand Cebu lechon and Bacolod chicken inasal. This is what made dining in Chika-an a bit exciting.

First up was the house bestseller, pochero with meat (P245). I don’t remember this dish from Southern Leyte, our province, so it must be Cebu’s own. Tagalogs would normally know of pochero as a meat dish with tomato sauce and garbanzos, among others. Chika-an’s was more like nilaga, at best. The only difference was the mouthwatering piece of beef shank or bulalo, with fall-off-to-the-bone goodness of the meat. There were also bits of sliced tomatoes and squash in this soup, but it was all good just the same.
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