lstorya

The reason why I’m writing about Handuraw, even though it’s very common and a lot of people has already been there, is because I ate there like two times in a row in a single week… and I’m also bored as hell right now. The branch that we went to was main one near UP, I never had any idea that they actually have other branches which means I’ve never been to any of the other ones. Me and my family and friends went to Handuraw for my daughter’s birthday and second was juz to chill and hang around with my partner and daughter along with my brother who’s in vacation here in Cebu. Before I start, I juz wanna give a heads up that my means of payment to the establishment was gift vouchers (and some cash for the excess).

On my daughter’s birthday, we ordered a lot of food since there are like 10 -15 of us. From what I remember, the pizzas that we ordered are the Hawaiian, Meat lover and Handuraw Special (there might be some other ones but I don’t remember), they serve thin crust. The one that stood out was the Hawaiian, the sweet blend and tomato sauce are juz perfect. The dish that I ordered myself since I wanna try was the Nilagang Baka (Beef Stew with Clear Broth), a personal favorite of mine. Unfortunately though, I was a bit disappointed. The flavor of the broth was okay, juz the correct blend of a little spice and saltiness. What disappointed me though was the beef, it was a bit hard (trust me, I eat beef a lot so I know what I’m talking about), like rubbery, and sort of like…dry, and coz of that, it tasted bland. The vegetable with it is the same, bland and somewhat dry (like wilted or something). One dish that stood out that my friends ordered was the Buffalo Wings. Simply saying, it tasted good, really good. Not too hot that my baby girl can handle it, but still with a good tangy bite on your tongue. And the sweetness is just the right way, not like from those other stores where it can give you tonsillitis. Another food was the fried Bangus (Milkfish) sliced in half in the middle. One of the biggest factors for me when eating fish is if it would actually smell like a fish, and good thing for this is it didn’t (you know what I mean). The taste was good, too good in fact that I had to finish even the scales. My partner ordered a Pasta Bolognese for my daughter, mind you I’m not a big fan of pasta so I really didn’t get to taste it, but I think it was good since my 3 year old daughter finished the whole plate, the presentation of the food was also very nice. There were a lot of other food that my friends ordered but those were the only ones that really stood out for me to remember.

I’m sure most of you are aware that Handuraw is well known also because of its music scene, a lot of well known musicians have played here and some even gained their following thru this place, but I usually eat outside though coz I cant stand crowded places but that event was an exception. If you notice, I haven’t mentioned anything regarding the drinks, unfortunately, yours truly only drinks water! Heheheh, I know, boring. For the second time we went there to juz hang out, we mostly ordered pizza with the new additional flavor of All Cheese. That pizza was okay and delicious but it got kinda boring to eat after a few slice. All the other food that was ordered was the same as the last time like the pasta for my daughter, my partner ordered something different for herself though which is Pork Binaguongan (Pork in Shrimp Paste, a favorite dish of hers). I asked to taste it, and it was actually very good, the pork was cooked to a crisp but not overcooked, the vegetables used complimented the dish and it was a bit spicy which is good, the only thing I didn’t like about it is since I’m not a big fan of tomatoes, the tomatoes used were sliced big, but it isn’t such a big deal coz that’s a personal preference.

All in all, I’ll rate the overall experience I had with the place with 5 as the highest, a 4.