Salo-Salo Sutukil restaurant, Mactan, Cebu City, Philippines
My last night during my recent visit to the Philippines was spent in Cebu City ad I was taken to a local restaurant in Mactan, a small island in front of Cebu city and famous for the death of Fernando Magellan.
Next to the Magellan and Lapu Lapu shrines are a couple of so called sutukil restaurants, which stands for Sugba, Tuwa and Kilaw. Sugba means to grill, Tuwa means to make into Tinola or soup, and Kilaw means to make Kinilaw or raw style serving of the fish, the fish being 'cooked' in vinegar, as a result you get a kind of Sashimi!
The fish display of Salo-Salo Sutukil restaurant
The fish is all displayed at the entrance of the restaurants and you order and negotiate a price. My Philippine friend who took me here, was accompanied by his Mum and she warned him about being charged premium prices for the drinks, since the menu didn't list any prices for the drinks. It turned out the we weren't over charged for the drinks but there was an add on for 'cooking' the ordered dishes which was a bit heartily when the check came, so be aware of this when visiting this otherwise delicious restaurant.
The entrance to Salo-Salo
The restaurant we visited is one of the three remaining places in Mactan near the Magellan and Lapu Lapu shrine, and whilst Googling this place, it seems that it has been around 'forever'. Another restaurant nearby is 'No problem' but a fellow Cebuan blogger had a warning up for this place. He also warns about over pricing!
Cockle shell na Ginata
The food was excellent though and I enjoyed it a lot. The place reminded me of the Nai Aow restaurant in Kanchanadit, which is also located at a mangrove and serves sea food.
We had lovely company, my friend, his Mum and three Japanese friends invited by my Philippine friend. The company and food were excellent!
This was amongst my fave dishes, the raw tuna 'cooked' in vinegar and as a result you get Kinilaw. An excellent dish and well worth trying out!
Ginisang Alamango
Looks familiar, yes indeed, crab just like in Thailand! The main difference with Thai dishes is that there are no sauces let alone spicy sauces that come with the dishes!
Besides the pictured dishes we also had a seaweed or Lato salad, Inihaw na Isda or grilled fish, Rellenong Pusit or grilled and stuffed fish, pancit bihon or noodles and kanin or rice.
Definitely a place I can recommend when visiting Cebu city!
The sutukil restaurants are located near the Mactan Shrine. It is a 250-peso taxi ride from central Cebu City. Just tell the cab driver you want to go to Mactan Shrine in Punta Engano. It’s on the way to Shangri-la Mactan. If you want to take public transport, you can either ride on a jeepney that goes to Punta Engano (No. 23 jeepneys with Punta Engano signboards in the windshield) or you can choose one of the hundreds of tricycle in Lapu-Lapu City.
The sutukil eateries are to the left of the stage near the Mactan shrine, on the side of the area’s police precinct (now there’s an added security for you.) After you pass a couple of souvenir shops selling trinkets, shell craft and other native products, you then see several stalls with pails and buckets of fresh seafood-just choose one of the several eateries in the place.
Enjoy,
Camille
6 comments:
WE ARE FILIPINO VACATIONERS FROM CHICAGO, USA.
IF EVER I GO FOR MY SUTUKIL EXPERIENCED AGAIN IN CEBU.. I WOULD NEVER WENT AGAIN IN THIS PLACED "SALO-SALO SUTUKIL" MY FAMILY & FRIENDS GOT THIS PLACE CO'Z OF LOCAL PEOPLE WHO ARE OUTSIDE TRYING TO GET SOME CUSTOMERS. SO, WE GO FOR THIS PLACE. AS WE WAIT FOR OUR FOOD. I NOTICED THAT THERE IS A GUY DOING "PAY-PAY" EACH TABLES WITH FOREIGNER CUSTOMERS, SO THOSE FLIES WON'T LAND ON THE FOOD. WHAT A NICE SERVICE I TOLD MY SELF.. WHEN OUR FOOD ARRIVED. WE EAT THEN A FEW MINUTES FLIES ARE THERE,FLYING ALL OVER OUR FOOD. I WAITED THAT MAYBE A GUY WILL COME TO "PAY-PAY" WHILE WE EAT. BUT NO ONE CAME TO OUR TABLE. SO WHAT WE DID,WE JUST EAT EVEN THE "GRILL FISH/SINUGBAH" IS UNCOOKED CO'Z WE ARE HUNGRY AND DO "PAY-PAY" OURSELVES. I NOTICED THERE IS NEW 3 TABLES FOREIGNER CUSTOMERS WHO CAME AND THEY DO "PAY-PAY" ON THEIR TABLES. IT IS SO EMBARRASSING ON OUR PART BECAUSE WE DON'T GET THE RIGHT SERVICE AS WE EXPECTED AND SEEN FROM OTHER CUSTOMERS..MAYBE BECAUSE WE ARE FILIPINOS AND SPEAK THE LOCAL LANGUAGE "BISAYA".
SO, MY CONCLUSION TO THIS SALO-SALO PLACE IS THAT:
IT'S NOT GOOD TO EAT AND IT'S NOT WORTH THE MONEY YOU SPEND SPECIALLY IF YOU ARE A FILIPINO.
KEEP OUT OF THIS PLACE...
Hi Bonil,
Too bad to hear about your experience. When I was there a bit more than a year ago, there was no such problem.
Maybe that was because I was with Filipino people as well and all in our group were aware of 'tricks' that may happen there!
I find it odd, to find someone claiming to be a vacationing Filipino from Chicago who is not well verse in English. Sorry to say that.
As the store product says it "there's something fishy around here."
Besides you cannot expect a 5 star treatment or a restaurant service from cheap 'inato grill'
Attack my english.. I don't care what ever you say about me claiming to be from Chicago.. What matter to me is to tell more people how racist is your INATO grill to his own kababayan. You should be ashame of yourselve and fix the problem that you just read.. I know Mam/ Sir ANONYMOUS that your the owner or what ever.. You can't stop me telling people of what i have experienced from your restaurant. It is a BIG mistake to be there.
It doesn't matter if i type it right or wrong. or i am well verse of my English. What matter to me is to tell people through this BLOG site that your restaurant is some kind of racist to his own kababayan. It does not take a 5 star or what ever just to give good service to anybody who want to have their SUTUKIL EXPERIENCED remembering. I rather fix the problem of your RESTAURANT than noticing my POST mam/sir ANONYMOUS.
YOU can't stop this BLOG letting people know what awaits them if they go to your SALO-SALO SUTUKIL.
@bonil antiola
just be honest on your whereabouts, i think anonymous would understand you if you were honest instead of pretending your from Chicago.
im not the owner nor from lapu lapu city but i was looking for the salo salo resto owner, unfortunately she's very busy doing errands so i think she doesn't have so much time to read your comment.
i understand your sentiments, you can tell the world if you want but you never lie to yourself
---princess chinita
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