🍽️ Top 10 Cebu Dishes to Try in 2025 – Must-Eat Filipino Food Favorites

✨ Craving something unforgettable in Cebu? This food capital of the Visayas is bursting with savory delights, local classics, and tasty surprises. Whether you’re a first-time visitor or a returning foodie, here’s a 2025 list of must-try Cebuano dishes with tips and favorites from locals.

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🐷 1. Lechon Cebu – The Star of the Feast

🔥 Iconic. Crispy. Juicy.
Dubbed the "best pig ever" by Anthony Bourdain, Cebu’s lechon is roasted to perfection, seasoned inside-out, and served with no sauce needed.

📍 Where to Try: Rico's, CNT Lechon, House of Lechon
💡 Tip: Ask for the “belly” part — it’s packed with flavor!

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🍜 2. Pochero Cebuano

🥩 Beefy broth meets banana twist
A Cebu-style pochero is a cross between bulalo and nilaga — with bone marrow, saba bananas, and a sweet-savory soup.

📍 Where to Try: Kusina Uno, Abuhan
💡 Tip: Add a drop of soy sauce with calamansi for a flavor boost!

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🥥 3. Budbud Kabog

🍃 Native, Nutty, and Sweet
This delicacy is made of millet seeds (kabog), wrapped in banana leaves and steamed — a gluten-free snack locals love.

📍 Where to Try: Taboan Market, Carcar
💡 Tip: Best paired with sikwate (hot native chocolate)!

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🍜 4. Larsian BBQ

🍢 Midnight cravings solved!
Cebu's street food central — try puso (hanging rice) with grilled pork, isaw, and chicken skin at this late-night food haven.

📍 Where to Try: Larsian Food Strip, Fuente Osmeña
💡 Tip: Bring wet wipes. It’s deliciously messy!

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🦀 5. Ginabot (Cebu Chicharon Bulaklak)

🤤 Crispy, sinful, unforgettable
Deep-fried pork intestines done Cebuano-style. Crunchy, golden, and usually paired with cold beer.

📍 Where to Try: Pungko-pungko sa Fuente
💡 Tip: Eat it with saw-sawan (vinegar dip) for the perfect bite.

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🐟 6. Ngohiong

🌯 The Cebuano spring roll
Ngohiong is like a lumpia, but spicier, with five-spice powder and a crunchy rice-paper wrap.

📍 Where to Try: Doming’s Ngohiong, Chinese Ngohiong
💡 Tip: Order extra sauce — that’s where the magic is!

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🦑 7. Sutukil (Sugba, Tula, Kilaw)

🐙 Triple threat: Grilled, Stewed, Raw
A seafood trifecta you can mix and match: grill, soup, and ceviche-style. Choose your seafood fresh!

📍 Where to Try: STK ta Bai!, Sutukil Mactan
💡 Tip: Go with a group to sample all 3 styles at once.

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🍚 8. Bam-i

🍝 Pancit fusion done right
A combination of egg noodles and vermicelli sautéed with shrimp, pork, veggies — served at every celebration!

📍 Where to Try: Home kitchens, Kusina ni Nasing
💡 Tip: Tastes better after resting — reheated bam-i is 💯.

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🥩 9. Tuslob Buwa

🫕 Bubble, dip, repeat
This unusual dish from Pasil uses sizzling pork brain gravy that you dip puso (hanging rice) into — a must-try for food adventurers.

📍 Where to Try: Azul Cebu
💡 Tip: Eat fast! It thickens and sticks when it cools.

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🍰 10. Mango Float / Dried Mango

🥭 Sweet Cebu staples
Cebu’s mangoes are among the world’s best — whether fresh, dried, or in dessert form like mango float.

📍 Where to Buy: Profood Gallery, Shamrock, La Fortuna
💡 Tip: Buy extra dried mangoes — they vanish fast as pasalubong!

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✅ Quick Tips for Cebu Food Trips

• 🕒 Avoid peak hours for local eateries
• 🚗 Bring small bills for street food or local joints
• 🍴 Ask locals for hidden food stalls — they know the real gems!
• 🏨 Staying overnight? Choose hotels near Fuente Osmeña for easy access to food hubs.