Manila foodies can finally get a taste of Cebu’s Finest: Hukad sa Golden Cowrie.
My mom, who lived in Cebu for quite a while knows about Hukad sa Golden Cowrie in Cebu. That tells a lot, especially so that my mother isn’t really particular about restaurants, she does have favorite dishes. But as for restaurants, if it’s not fine dining, then every other one might as well be forgettable.
Made my own #beeswax #candle #seabreeze scent at the #HukadSaGoldenCowrie launch #AlwaysAFeast #SarapNgBuhayBai pic.twitter.com/H1uwCGivFj
— jenaspacio (@jenaspacio) July 2, 2016
I just love DIY projects. So I was totally in when I saw that there was a candle-making activity during the launch. 🙂
Hukad sa Golden Cowrie’s first branch in Manila recently opened its doors at Trinoma Mall in Quezon City. “Hukad,” a Cebuano word, that literally means “to serve food on plate.” Living up to its name, Hukad translates limitless serving of food with their serving staff lugging around ready to fill diner’s plate with generous servings of rice.
Cebu is known for “puso” hanging rice and this is consistent with the restaurant’s theme interior, with its suspended puso-shaped lamps. 🙂
This well-loved restaurant from Cebu promises to provide a gastronomic feast experience to its diners and we had a taste of just that during its recent the media launch.
“Meals at our restaurants are synonymous to great food, family, celebrations, fun, and having great conversations,” describes General Manager, Kenneth Kokseng. And upon seeing this line up, I cannot be more ready! 🙂
As soon as I was done with my beeswax candle, I got to our table and was served with this pitcher of ultra refreshing pineapple cucumber drink. For someone who’s been infusing our pitchers at home with cucumber, this is something I really loved straight away. I was told that this can be served, by request, with zero or less sugar, for those who are calorie-conscious.
Hukad’s scallops come from Bantayan Island, a well-known white sand paradise in Cebu rich abundant with marine resources.
After having tasted a stenchy mollusk once upon a time in a seafood place, I have been very particular with my shellfish favorites. I loved Hukad’s scallops for their fresh taste. It’s easy to tell because there’s this mild sweet taste as I bit through its flavorful soft flesh encased in its topping of butter and cheese. Truth be told, I can finish an entire plate of this. Nothing beats a fresh batch of baked scallops.
Pomelo Salad
Another runaway favorite is Hukad’s very refreshing Pomelo Salad, “sprinkled” with crispy dried squid, Cebu is also famous for. The crispy squid added a delightful texture to the healthy appetizer and the fusion of all the other ingredients (onion, radish and spring onion) perfect the Pomelo Salad recipe.
Sinigang Baby Prawns
Ngohiong
This kikiam-looking dish is apparently another native recipe of Cebu, with its stuffings are made up of “puso ng saging” (coconut heart), “singkamas” (turnip), garlic, spring onions, et.al., specifically seasoned with Five Spice powder. This is the first time I’ve tried this and I loved it. It’s definitely nothing like I’ve tasted before, definitely. I did have to pause and savor for a while, investigate even as its stuffing looks nothing like our usual lumpia.
Adobong Talong
As big veggie eaters, our family love a whole bunch of eggplant recipes. From the simple steamed one, fried, enchilada to eggplant lasagna and every other talong recipe we could think of, my taste buds were so delighted with Hukad’s Adobong Talong that I would have ordered two or three servings for take out, if I didn’t have an appointment to go to after the launch. I’m sure that my boys are going to love this as well.
Bloodless Dinuguan
An oxymoron, all right. But let me explain, this vegetarian dish is cooked to look like your regular “Dinuguan,” but bloodless, since unlike the one we got used to, no animal blood was used. Although I loved the thought of a veggie variety of an old Pinoy food favorite, its tofu taste overwhelmed my gustatory cells. Somehow, I’m looking for a texture to complement that taste. A “crispied” oyster mushroom, perhaps. Just a thought, since that’s what I’ve been mostly using in viands that at home.
Oxtail Humba
Hukad’s menu of modern Filipino cuisine lists more than a hundred dishes including its best-selling Lechon Cebu. Other bestsellers are Crispy Pata (which won People’s Choice for Best Crispy Pata in a Sunstar Cebu newspaper survey), Pork Sisig, Lechon Kawali, Grilled Pork Belly, and Chicken Pandan. Among the appetizers, guests frequently go for the Bantayan Baked Scallops, Pancit Guisado, and Calamares. Also popular are the Ngohiong, Adobong Kangkong, Seafood Pancit Habhab, Grilled Tuna Belly, and Sizzling Bangus.
Escabecheng Tanigue
Owners of Hukad also have local partners in towns known for their organic production of various ingredients such as Dalaguete (Cebu’s Vegetable Basket).
Crispy Pata
The restaurant gives diners the option to have unlimited rice with their orders, all savored on plates lined with banana leaves. Serving sizes are good for sharing too.
Vegetarian Sisig
Tofu and mushrooms, you can’t get a healthier sisig dish than that! I love this dish too. I’m not sure if it’s just me but what mostly sold me out were Hukad’s Veggie Entrees.
Budbud Turon
If in Antipolo, we fry our suman and sprinkle with sugar, Cebu wraps theirs in lumpia wrapper, fry and sprinkle some sesame seeds. Looks a bit more complicated but I loved it!
Ube Halaya Crisp ala Mode
This dessert piece, with my favorite ube, in crisp ala mode, is the bomb! Topped with keso sorbetes, at that. Goodbye diet! 😛
Taking an ube peek. 🙂
One of the owners of Hukad sa Golden Cowrie shared that they make their own ube halaya. It’s always a good thing when brands produce their own, it only means they are not at the mercy of their suppliers and the prospect of them getting better at their craft is higher.
Golden Cowrie goes back to its origin at in Luhug, Cebu in 1982. Hukad was developed in 2008 for the Golden Cowrie mall branches.
Hukad sa Golden Cowrie Trinoma Promo
On promo at Hukad sa Golden Cowrie Trinoma branch are the “Sulit Meals at 149” promo, available from 2:00 pm to 5:00 pm daily and the Feast Bundles promo, pre-set menus good for four persons that start at P1,399. The Trinoma branch can seat a total of 98 guests and has a function room that can accommodate 24 persons.
Hukad sa Golden Cowrie
www.alwaysafeast.ph
Facebook: hukadgoldencowrie
Instagram: @alwaysafeast
Franchising inquiries: (032) 231-2481
