Cebu City Food Tour: Eat, Drink, and Explore

Cebu City, Philippines is rich in culture and history but is also known to be a haven for food enthusiasts. To fully explore the food scene here, it is highly recommended to join a Cebu City food tour. Let the professionals and locals guide you around Cebu and show you the historical monuments and all the best places for authentic dishes. From delightful dishes like Sisig to the downright weird food like Balut, we tried it all and want to share our Cebu City food tour experience to include how to book a tour, expectations, and the food we got to try.

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Booking a Cebu City Food Tour

Compared to other cities I’ve traveled to, there were not a whole lot of food tours offered for Cebu City, at least through Viator.

Through Viator, we ended up booking the Cebu City Historical Street and Food Tour.

Using this link through Viator you can enter in your travel date, number of people, and read the overview, what is included in the tour, and even read up on some of the reviews from fellow travelers.

The Cebu City Historical Street and Food Tour was definitely one of the highlights from our trip to Cebu City and I highly recommend booking it.

Cebu City Historical Street and Food Tour

Our tour guides met us at Ayala Center, we hopped in a Jeepney (which is something I really wanted to do while in the Philippines), and started our food tour.

After riding in the Jeepney, the rest of the tour was on foot and it ended at the Carbon Market.

The tour consisted of two guides. They were both very knowledgeable in regards to both the historical attractions and Filipino cuisine. They also provided us with water and several other drink options throughout the tour.

What I really liked about this food tour was that it combined a traditional food tour with a historical tour. So we got to see some of Cebu cities most important historical sites while sampling delicious Filipino Street Food.

Historical Monuments Visited on the Tour

Yap-San Diego Ancestral House

Built during the Spanish colonial era, Yap-San Diego Ancestral House is a 17th century home in the heart of Cebu City.

The house was built by a Chinese merchant, Don Juan Yap and it still belongs to the family. The family still lives in the house from time to time, even when open.

Today, the house can be explored by visitors. There are many antiques scattered throughout two floors. There is a 100 peso fee per person to visit the Yap-San Diego Ancestral House. It is well worth a visit.

Heritage of Cebu Monument

Across the street from the Yap-San Diego House is the Heritage of Cebu Monument.

This large and detailed monument showcases the history of Cebu City. There are several depictions on the monuments, from the Battle of Mactan to important structures found throughout Cebu City.

Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral and Sto. Nino de Cebu

You can’t visit Cebu City without stopping by one of the churches.

On our Cebu City Historical Street and Food Tour we briefly stopped at the Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral and Sto. Nino de Cebu.

These cathedrals and churches reminded me of the ones from Europe or Central and South America. They were elaborate and massive.

Magellan's Cross

Perhaps one of the most well known attractions in Cebu City is Magellan’s Cross.

Magellan’s Cross is encased in an Octagonal building with the cross in the dead center. The cross you see today is actually a covering to protect the real cross.

The famed conquistador, Ferdinand Magellan planted a cross at this location and it is still preserved to this day.

Food and Dishes We Tried

Fried Food at Pungko-pungko sa Fuente

Our first stop on the Cebu City Historical Street and Food Tour was to Pungko-pungko sa Fuente.

Once we arrived, I noticed there were several tables at the restaurant, each table had large tubs of primarily fried food.

You pay for what you pick, but this style of eating is very cheap.

We tried several different things here at Pungko-pungko sa Fuente. We ate various fried pork bits, crab innards, small sausages, and spring rolls. Definitely not the healthiest of options, but I honestly did not care, it was for the most part, delicious.

Pusô

Pusô seemed to be everywhere in Cebu City. Heck, even some of the convenience stores had it.

Pusô is basically a ball of rice that is boiled n a hand woven pouch that is generally made of palm leaves.

We had Pusô twice on our food tour, once with the Sisig and Tuslob Buwa and one with the Lechon.

Locals eat Pusô with just about every meal and they love it! It even goes well with drinks.

Sisig

One of my favorite Filipino dishes on our Cebu City Historical Street and Food Tour was Sisig.

Our tour had us sit down at a restaurant called Red Barracks, not far from the Heritage of Cebu Monument.

At Red Barracks, we actually tried Sisig, Tuslob Buwa and Pusô.

Sisig is a pork dish where many parts of the pig are used and cut into small pieces. The meat is usually mixed with calamansi and other spices and usually serves with an egg.

Each bite has a nice mix of crunchy, soft, fatty, and flavor. The calamansi, which is like a Shikuwasa or lime adds a nice refreshing taste.

Tuslob Buwa

A dish that I’ve never heard of is Tuslob Buwa. Tuslob Buwa was a bit bizarre and could be added to my Interesting food around the world post.

Tuslob Buwa is kind of soup like and meant to be eaten with Pusô or just plain rice.

This dish is made out of primarily pig brain, liver, and broth.

The restaurant in Cebu City we went to, Red Barracks, had stove grills on the table. Our guide then added garlic, oil, and other ingredients to the grill before dumping in the brains and liver.

Honestly, dunking the Pusô in the Tuslob Buwa was really good. I would definitely eat this dish again.

Lechon

Lechon is king in Cebu City. Lechon is a roasted suckling pig and it is found everywhere in Cebu City.

We tried Lechon at the Carbon Market.

Think of pulled pork but with a crispy and crunchy outside. The meat was moist and the skin was crunchy. Lechon is delicious and is a must when sampling Filipino foods.

Balut

The star of the show, at least for me. I’ve been wanting to try Balut since moving to Asia. I knew the Philippines was going to be my best shot at trying Balut from a local street food vendor.

After trying Lechon and ending our Cebu City Historical Street and Food Tour, our guide found me a vendor outside selling Balut.

Balut is one of those dishes that many have heard of but are to squeamish to try. I’ll be honest, I was a little nervous to try it.

So what is Balut? Balut is a fertilized duck egg. The duck eggs I tried had an incubation period of 16 days. Anywhere from 14 -21 days is pretty typical.

So how do you eat Balut? You crack the egg and suck out the juices. The juices tasted like you would expect. It tasted like duck broth and egg. You then crack more of the egg off and eat the different parts of the egg. Yes, since Balut is a fertilized duck egg, there is a lot more to these eggs then your typical store bought egg. You can see the duck that started to form. Depending on the incubation period, the duck can be further along and even have feathers.

After trying Balut for my first time in Cebu City, I was actually surprised by how much I enjoyed it. I wouldn’t say it was delicious but to me it tasted like a normal egg with a little texture to it. I would definitely try Balut again.

Conclusion

What better way to explore one of the Philippines top destinations then by booking a Cebu City Historical Street and Food Tour. This tour combines history and food. I guarantee you will learn a lot about Cebu City and its history but at the same time explore Cebu’s culinary scene. You’ll try popular food like Lechon and Sisig, if you are brave enough, try the Balut, I bet you will be surprised! I highly recommend booking a Cebu City Historical Street and Food Tour while on vacation in Cebu City, Philippines.

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Plan Your Trip: 🗺️✈️ 🇵🇭

Booking Accommodations ⛺️🛖

For booking recommendations on the best deals and locations, check out Agoda or Booking.com

Activities and Tours 🏖️🚁

Find fun activities and things to do through Tripadvisor. If you are looking for tours and day trips, Viator and Get Your Guide have a lot of great options.

In need of a car rental? 🚗🚘

I recommend checking with Rental Cars.