CEBU, Philippines – Three of the most popular Cebuano restaurants have come together at SM Hypermarket Cebu. The sumptuous meals tourists and locals have fallen in love with can now be enjoyed at their favorite hypermarket at the spur of their craving. With just a visit at SM Hypermarket, shoppers can now indulge in the traditional styles of Conching's Native Chicken, the mouth-watering barbecue of A-One Tinola ug Sinugba, and the innovative "super lechon" of Cebu Lechon Belly. These scrumptious names are the "who's who" when it comes to good yet affordable Cebuano dining. And just like their best-sellers, their stories are just as tasty.
Native flavors at Conching's.
If the locals are to be asked which one is the best chicken barbeque in Cebu, the ready answer would be - Conching's Native Chicken. Conching's has been in the chicken barbeque business since 1968. It started as just a small ihaw-ihaw stall selling pork and chicken barbeque. Due to its unique taste, Conching's native chicken barbeque has always been a hot favorite.
The menu has since expanded to include crabmeat, pochero, and balbacua. Its frequent customers include big-time politicians and top celebrities, aside of course from local residents and tourists.
"We only use native chicken," says Pia Layam, owner of Conching's Native Chicken. "But that's just half of [our appeal], the rest is our family's trade secret."
A-One's famous Tinola ug Sinugba.
What started as a simple streetside stall selling grilled items and tinola at the city's Pier 3 is now one of the most popular restaurants in Cebu. The business derives its name from a lumber store of the same name, near which the old food stall was located. Customers back then simply referred to the stall as A-One. From such simple beginnings, A-One Tinola ug Sinugba grew to become Cebu's number one destination for flavorful fish tinola and grilled dishes.
The restaurant promises to serve only the freshest catch from the sea. People simply crave for A-One's freshly grilled tuna, squid, marlin, and others. They still have the original favorite grilled pork belly.
The Revolutionary Cebu Lechon Belly.
The business started in 2012, from an idea that changed the traditional definition of lechon. Cebu Lechon Belly touts their version of the popular favorite as the "super lechon." The lechon is only the belly part which is very tender. And it's boneless! All the flavor of the lemon grass and other spices go straight to the meat. Every bite of Cebu Lechon Belly is guaranteed to be pure delight.
It was not easy breaking into the market, though. Cebu being a lechon territory, people had their traditional concept of what lechon should be - whole pig roasted, all the bones included. And yet customers would always ask for the belly part of a whole lechon. That's where the Cebu Lechon Belly concept came from. And in due time people began to discover and love the pure lechon belly. Today the business has over 30 branches nationwide and was the first Cebu-based lechon to ever reach Metro Manila.
SM Hypermarket Cebu has made it more convenient for people to avail of the delicious fares by these three Cebu popular restaurants - by having them in one place. All it takes is just one trip to shop for groceries, clothes, and home essentials… and have a great meal. Of course, without the long lines and full parking lots.