Cebu, PhilippinesThe largest and most chaotic traditional market in the Visayas - a 24-hour market covering several city blocks with fresh produce, dried fish, flowers, live chickens, herbs, and a ground-floor food court. Carbon Market is authentic urban Philippines in concentrated form - equal parts overwhelming and fascinating.
🍜
The original Cebuano-style lechon (roast pig) restaurant run by the family of the legendary Rico's Lechon, serving the most flavorful suckling pig in a city that takes its roast pig very seriously. The lechon cebu with crispy skin and aromatic herb stuffing of lemongrass and tamarind leaves is irreplaceable.
🍜
Cebu's most celebrated fine dining restaurant by acclaimed chef Jason Hyatt, serving contemporary cuisine using the finest Cebuano and Visayan ingredients. The tasting menu changes with the seasons and is one of the most sophisticated dining experiences in the Philippines outside Manila.
🍜
A magical floating restaurant on stilts over a mangrove lagoon in Cordova, serving excellent Filipino seafood and grilled dishes while surrounded by mangrove trees and fireflies at night. Lantaw is a 45-minute drive from Cebu City but worth every minute for the extraordinary experience of dining over water.