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Niece and nephew came visiting me and hubby in Cebu after their trip from Hong Kong and as a treat, I brought them to SM Seaside City Cebu for lunch, a few sweet desserts afterward and a whole lots of fun for the two young ones. This is yet another review post for the places we went today together with the kids and my sisters in law with a highlight on Hukad specifically for this entry.
Here are the places which we visited:
1. Lunch at Hukad
2. Playtime and Milktea at Double Ma Tea
3. Dessert at Giardino Gelato
Before I begin, let me share a little bit of story. My brother together with his entire family went to Hong Kong for a very short vacation. My other sister in law went as well. Their route was Hong Kong to Cebu and then Cebu to Bohol. They arrived late in the evening on the 28th and so earlier today, we went to the mall for lunch, that was the original plan though.
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Lunch at Hukad
"It's always a feast!"
Hukad is a Cebuano term which means serve. The restaurant is a little famous in the city because of their unlimited rice options as well as they're affordable yet good food options thus making it one of the most selected restaurant when it comes to celebrations like birthdays, graduations and a lot more.
It was 15 minutes before noon time when we arrived at the mall, all of us were hungry but we were not sure where to dine so we had to go ask an assistance from the customer service at the center desk of the Mountain Wing part of the mall. The lady CS gave me a flyer which contains all the restaurants and stalls available in the mall, Hukad immediately caught my attention and so we went ahead and looked for it.
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Left side 174th cube on the second floor, that's where Hukad was situated. It took a few minutes and a good amount of energy getting here from the elevator where we came from. But seeing that it was almost empty when we arrived made me feel confident that it won't take long before we could eat our lunch.
A smiling staff welcomed us and showed us our way to a table good for six. I thought there was no customer at all but I was surprised to see that there were already customers at the back part and our first table offered was a little hot because it is in front of the glass door which was sipping the hot sun so I asked for another table and we seated at the middle of the restaurant.
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We ordered five viands and a good juice choice dined at our hearts out and of course the unlimited rice although we were all females having lunch. We realized it was too much for us so we asked the remaining ones to be taken away in which the staff willingly agreed.
Hungry we came into the restaurant, fully stuffed we got out.
Hukad's Ambiance
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Hukad being a sister company of Golden Cowrie, is know for a good and clean ambiance, one that I also love about them. Like every single time that I pass by any of these two restaurants within Cebu since they have a lot of other branches, their ambiance is just really good and comfortable.
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However, in SM Seaside's branch specifically, the restaurant's interior design is just subtle. The low contrast, Earthy-colored tones were very homey. The chairs' backrest has a simple stripe design with several colors in it. Note that it was also very comfortable and not too heavy to move around. They offer high chairs too for babies and toddlers.
The highlight though of the interiors lies at the ceiling because they got hanging rice of different sizes hanging in there but they were not just there as decorations, they were also used as chandeliers. It looked really raw and native, it certainly depicts the Cebuano culture.
Hukad's tables were all ready with all the white textured plates and the basic condiments. I really appreciate that they had them ready and when they get customers, they'd just add the utensils.
Staff and Service
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One of the things I love about Hukad is the fact that they have really good customer service, it was comparable to that of Circa 1900 Casa Do's where in one staff would be assigned to a table who will be entertaining them with the table assignment, to the introduction of the menu as well as making sure that all the orders had been served. Once the order is taken, they leave a paper on the table with a copy of the orders, they'll be checking the list every now and then to counter check.
Every now and then, the staffs would be coming over to the table, asking how's our experience and the food. I guess the staff came to our table for around five times during the entire duration of our lunch. Our orders were served pretty fast too!
Perhaps the only concern I had was that when they served the Calamares, they didn't include a sauce for it. I asked the server afterward and he said we have to ask for it if we want one. He, however, makes up by giving us the sauce as we asked to pack the remaining Calamares.
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One more thing was that although there were a lot of them around the restaurant, when we ran out of rice, it took a few minutes before we could get the attention of the staffs, that was okay for me because we were not in a hurry though but it might be a little issue if they'll have a lot of customers.
Food and Pricing
Hukad's menu contains over 100 dishes to choose from. They offer the common Filipino comfort food with a highlight on Cebu’s famous Lechon, and other truly Filipino tastes plus the offering of unlimited rice.
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As mentioned, their pricing is in the mid-range so some of the items on the menu may cost higher compared to the other because of its specialty, however, as an average, the prices may range from 100-300 and is good for 2-3 persons.
Our orders were their Baked Scallops, Calamares and Pansit Guisado for our starters, Tinolang Tangigue for the soup, Spicy Golden Fried Chicken but requested to lessen the hotness for our meat dish, two unlimited rice, and two regular one cup rice and Pineapple Cucumber Agua Fresca to wash that food down our stomach.
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Obviously, I had no issues with all the food viands we ordered. In fact, after being served, I realized badly that we had ordered so much more than what we could take in. That was a total of five viands for three women and two kids. Our unlimited rice was only good for two rounds too but it is way fine to request for their unlimited rice rather than ordering two cups.
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I got stuffed really quick, I dug into the Baked Scallops, ate the Tangigue soup which was really good. However, the Calamares was just so-so and the Pancit Guisado as well. Although, I must state that the Pineapple Cucumber Agua Fresca was superb! I loved it and the serving was good for like 5-7 people that we were not able to finish the entire pitcher.
Video credits: The Lazy Filipino via YouTube
Overall, we had a good time and a full stomach to end our time at Hukad. I surely recommend this restaurant.
Next blog will be about the second and third places that we visited for dessert and play. Please visit my blog section again for those two other interesting stops!
Thank you for reading! Tell me more about your favorite restaurants!
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About the author:
Jean Beltran-Figues is a photography enthusiast.
A traveler who wants to promote her beloved country, the Philippines.
