my "Ginabutan" meal ~~ Cebu City

Hi there!!

I'm here for another Cebu related post! I'm going home tomorrow so my cousin wanted me to try a certain food/restaurant that as she said can only be found in Cebu. She asked me if I have tried or have heard about "ginabutan". "Ginabutan" is a local term that comes from the  word "ginabut" which  means something that is pulled out. I  told her I have not heard of it nor tried it so she said that is where we are going to eat today. I am excited of course! It was a bit far from where we came from and when we got out of the  jeepeney ( public transportation in the Phil, Google ir!), we had to walk for about 5 minutes and we arrived in this sort of rustic place and it was not a five start restaurant. It is more of a "carinderia or canteen" type. There were lots of people there already and there were tables with a two boxes on top of them. One box, contain the "puso" which is rice wrapped inside coconut leaves and then the other box contains an assortment of fired stuff. (Don't know how to really explain it but look at the picture below.)

As you can see above, the box is full of "fried stuff". And if you live fried "anything" this is heaven!! So the man gave out plastic bags and he gave us two each. I was confused at first, but my cousin told me that one plastic will serve as our place mat. We basically lay it on the table and the other bag is where we put the things that we "pull out" from the box, hence" ginabutan". Now, I am not really into fried food but the smell and look of the food in front of me was so tempting! The "ginabot" is fried skin (I think), so I got two, the two ngohiong ( similar to lumpia, God knows what's inside it, but is delish!) and fried sausage. I gave the plastic bag to guy there and he chopped my order (how convenient!). Let me just say, that per table, there in one man that acts like your waiter/caretaker. I you want clean hands, just ask for an alcohol disinfectant and he will give it to (They have one!). He will then give you one plastic bag and you put your hand inside and it will act like a "glove" so that your hands will not smell like fried food after eating (yey!).

I ate around 4 "puso" and really wanted to eat more but my shorts and stomach was about to give out so I just stopped there. The sauce is really good!! I do not know what they put in it but it makes the fried "stuff" taste even better. The food itself is not oily at all and partnered with rice...ooohhh....heaven!!!

The place itself I think will turn off most "delicate" people but I saw a lot of men in business suits eating there and they seem not mind. There are cars outside the shop as well. My cousin said that there are lots of "Ginabutan" places all around Cebu City. The prices won't break your bank as well. I think the three of us, spent less than P200.00 (aprrox US$4.00) pesos all in all. The "puso" costs P3.00, porkchop: P15.00, ginabutan: P10.00, so not bad at all.

If you plan to visit Cebu, do try their "Ginabutan", its cheap and delicious!

How about you?Have you been there? Do you like fried food? Do let me know in the comments below!

Sorry for the low picture quality, I forgot to bring my camera :(

Thank you for reading my post or for looking at the pictures or for just dropping by. I really appreciate it!

Take care!

--maia