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Saturday, April 05, 2003
Born to be a glutton
By Ritchie Landis Doner Quijano
Incidentally, Tsibogs is also the name of a sugbahan along Salinas drive in Lahug. The restaurant is managed by the husband and wife team of Jason and Mimi Ng. The managers confirm that there is stiff competition in their area of business. This is because the street has recently seen the mushrooming of grill restaurants dotting the stretch of Salinas from end to end. They chose the name Tsibogs because it’s catchy and can easily be recalled.” Mainly, the fare they serve is sinugba and Filipino dishes. Three grills (the two are back-ups for the weekend rush) are stationed facing the very busy thoroughfare, and customers, upon entry, are always greeted by the familiar and tasty smell of barbecue carried by the thick smoke that engulfs them on their way in. By that alone you know something good is being grilled.
But what they’re most known for, making people return again and again is their Bisayang manok. The couple though, are hesitant to divulge their marinating method. “It’s a well-guarded secret,” they only say.
This specialty of the house is priced at P165. Sweet, tasty and tender is the chicken, contrary to the common notion that native chicken meat is tough and hard to swallow. Fact is, the native chicken alone has built them a long line of loyal clients, one of them is Senator Tito Sotto, who never fails to order at least 20 whole chickens at once whenever he’s here in Cebu. Another is an anonymous suki who eats lunch there everyday. It’s not a surprise for a first-time diner to become a regular.
Tsibogs is basically a Filipino restaurant. Its interior is decorated with capiz shell lamps and has the character of an over-sized nipa hut where the feeling of a fiesta is the constant atmosphere. Customers also have the choice of outdoor dining under a canopy of trees. Next to the native chicken, their second most wanted dish is the seafood.
There’s plenty from their menu, not cheap, but affordably priced.
Freshness here is guaranteed. Premium talaba is supplied from a farm in Negros, a serving of seven pieces costs P60. Talaba can be ordered either grilled, boiled or kinilaw. Other succulent shell meats are the skewered saang and scallops priced at P30 per stick. For fish, there’s a selection to tsibog on, kitong (P120), anduhaw (P40) and boneless bangus (P75). To go with these are the kinilaws- lato, guso, lukot, tangigue, pickled mango, talong and nangka. There are dishes that come in hot and sizzling like sisig (P60), pochero (P180) and nokus (P100). And it’s never too late to celebrate the year of the goat by feasting on calderetang kanding at P40, a serving is good for one person.
The place can seat 250 people at once. It’s open early for lunch at 10 a.m.
and calls it a day when the clock strikes eleven in the evening. Accessible and within city limits, there’s a lot designated as a parking area than can accommodate up to 40 cars. So the next time you pass by Salinas, why not decide to check what they’re grilling and fill that hungry tummy in a place where gluttons must go.
(April 5, 2003 issue)
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