It’s evening and me and my officemates (those who was also sent to Cebu for an office errand) are looking for something to eat. We didn’t want the usual burgers and fried chickens in the town’s SM Shopping Mall. We are in Cebu and we wanted to eat local.
Good thing that a tricycle driver pointed us in the right direction. He brought us here:
The trike driver promised that this is the place to taste the best talaba in town. We believed him and so we entered the lowly hut…
...which is watched over by the omnipresent videoke machine. Thankfully, no one is belting Sinatra’s My Way or those ghastly Tagalog juke box songs.
The town of Consolacion is jutted by an estuary. This body of brackish water is quite big that it almost reached the national highway where SM is located. The presence of estuary means that Consolacion is the perfect place for growing oyster.
Our group ordered 1 kilo of baked talaba.
It seems like 90% of 1 kilogram talaba went to the heavy shells :-(
It seems like 90% of 1 kilogram talaba went to the heavy shells :-(
We also ordered other seafood dishes to make the most of our visit to Mang Ruben. We ordered a pot of tolang mamsa…
…which the waitress served in a kaldero.
I didn’t know what mamsa is. A little Google search revealed that mamsa is talakitok in Tagalog and trevally in English. This is the fish that is featured in the 50-Philippine peso bill.
Our group also ordered kilaw na tanigue or mackerel cooked in vinegar.
And since kilawin is a certified pulutan, we also ordered some bottles of beer.
Our total bill is 695 pesos, which I think is not bad considering the number of dishes that we ordered.
However, I felt "lugi" with the talaba. I just ate two or three pieces of it. I should have eaten the shells para hindi naman ako lugi.
It was a good night. The bahay kubo style of the restaurant gave us a cool sea breeze. The talaba is fresh, although I cannot say that it is the best talaba in town. Our group enjoyed a fun conversation and I guess the beer helped us with that.
It was a good night. The bahay kubo style of the restaurant gave us a cool sea breeze. The talaba is fresh, although I cannot say that it is the best talaba in town. Our group enjoyed a fun conversation and I guess the beer helped us with that.
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Read more about my latest adventure in Cebu:
Laag-Laag sa Cebu (Part 17): A Great View of Cebu City from Tops Busay
Laag-Laag sa Cebu (Part 16): A Taste of Mandarin in Cebu City
Laag-Laag sa Cebu (Part 15): Taboan the Pasalubong Center of Cebu City
Laag-Laag sa Cebu (Part 14): My Accidental Visit to Mt. Carmel Church
Laag-Laag sa Cebu (Part 13): Another Visit to the Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral
Laag-Laag sa Cebu (Part 12): Why Cebuanos Call Mama Mary as Birhen sa Regla?
Laag-Laag sa Cebu (Part 11): Sto. Niño Basilica - Mother and Head of All Churches of the Philippine Islands
Laag-Laag sa Cebu (Part 10): A Visit to the Fake(?) Magellan’s Cross
Laag-Laag sa Cebu (Part 9): The Story of Rajah Humabon - King of Cebu
Laag-Laag sa Cebu (Part 8): Calle Colon, the Oldest Street in the Philippines
Laag-Laag sa Cebu (Part 7): The Worst Cebu Hotel
Laag-Laag sa Cebu (Part 6): The Colorful Lighthouse of Lilo-an
Laag-Laag sa Cebu (Part 5): The Mysterious Church of Lilo-an
Laag-Laag sa Cebu (Part 4): Bagacay Point Lighthouse
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I'm not a big fan of talaba but this sure looks tempting.
ReplyDeleteYou don't like talaba? Why naman?
Deletekilaw na tanigue is what we call umai here but we use lime juice though there are those who use vinegar. Not a fan of raw oysters, don't mind if they are cooked. Videoke? Ooooo...good thing you did not bring me along, I would be singing away...I did it...my......way!!!! Muahahahahaha!!!
ReplyDeleteHaha...I would love to hear you sing. Let's hit the videoke if I ever visit your town.
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