Category Restaurant Reviews

Internationally acclaimed food expert, Anthony Bourdain, called it the “best pig, ever!” I couldn’t agree more.

We just had a short vacation in Cebu City a week after my Rap’s school ended. We were all first-timers and all I knew about Cebu were the things I read from the Internet. Thankfully, Cebu Pacific’s Smile Magazine for March featured top dining spots in Cebu. That’s how we got to read about Kuya J Restaurant.

Very homey!

Kuya J Restaurant is one of the many small restaurants that sits among the residential units along Orchid St. near the city’s capitol. It’s only a block away from Gran Tierra Suites where we were billeted so we just walked to reach the place. It’s also directly in front of STK Ta Bay, another popular seafood grill resto in the area (we also had dinner there but that would be for a separate post).

When we say “Dampa,” what comes to mind are the seafood restaurants in Baclaran where customers can buy fresh seafood at the wet market and have the restaurants cook it for a fee. To date, there are a number of Dampa-style restaurants in Metro Manila and nearby provinces. The latest we have discovered is Sophia’s Villa in Pasig City.

We came to discover Sophia’s Villa back in December last year since this is where my department held its Christmas get together. I was impressed with the food and most especially how inexpensive the meals were even with the cooking fee. So I promised Mami and Rap that we’d come back.

We heard mass at St. Pio Chapel in Libis, Quezon City last Sunday. We made plans to catch a movie in Cubao that afternoon where he intended to have late lunch. However, instead of going straight to Cubao from C-5, we made a left turn to Katipunan Avenue and ate at Mushroomburger Katipunan instead!