If you’re planning to explore Cebu City, they say that it’s a sin if you don’t try The Original AA Barbecue. Since we have an extra time before we go back to Manila, we decided to try this Cebu’s famous barbecue house. 

The Place: 

★★★★✩ (4/5)

The Original AA BBQ has several branches in Cebu City and Lapu-Lapu City. So you can see this barbeque house in almost all of the major streets of the town. The place we visited is in Cebu City and it’s an al-fresco type, perfect for smokers and its high ceiling structure added additional ventilation to the place. 

The “not-so-intimidating-feels” carinderia set-up of the place gave an extra value for me.

The moment you arrive at this restaurant, get ready to see the fresh meat and seafood on the tray - line-up first and then pick your orders immediately. You can choose your own raw meat or seafood and have it charcoal-grilled on the spot. You can check our orders below as a guide ;) 

Food: 

★★★★✩ (4/5)

To start up our lunch, we ordered a bowl of Halaan (Soup). It’s one of the top sellers in their menu. The taste is not too salty and just enough to set off a good food experience. 

Since this is my first time to visit Cebu City, we decided to order seafood. We had Sizzling Squid and Baked Talaba. 

The sizzling squid is too oily but the fresh taste of “pusit” gave justice to the meal. I recommend that you consume the Sizzling Squid right away.

On the other hand, Baked Talaba is something new to my stomach. I tried one and it was like “tahong” with melted cream on top. 

We also had this sinful Lechon Kawali with atsara (Papaya Relish) on the side. Make sure you request for their famous soy sauce vinegar with chilli a.k.a “sawsawan”.

Sarap! 

Of course, our meal wouldn’t be complete without veggies. We ordered Ngoyong, Kangkong and Kinilaw na Talong. For the vegan out there, these unique meals are a must! 

Ngoyong is a like a spring rolls with bamboo shots and ground pork/beef inside. It is served with sweet and sour sauce. Yummy! 

The AA BBQ’s version of sautéed Kangkong is different from other restaurants because it is not dry and plain. They topped it with cripy garlic and mixed with small cut of meats as “sahog”. 

Lastly, the Kinilaw na Talong is heaven for me -- that sweet taste of eggplant mixed with calamansi and topped with tomatoes is too masarap and perfect for pulutan! 

To complement our food, we ordered a pitcher of Four Seasons Juice. Ayos! 

Overall, the experience was good and here are my recommendations (aside from their famous barbeque): 

• Halaan 
• Ngoyong 
• Kangkong 
• Sizzling Squid 

The Original AA Barbeque Menu:

The Original AA Barbeque Branches:

AA - Lahug :	Salinas Drive, Cebu City
AA - A.S. Fortuna:	Mandaue City, Cebu
AA - Guadalupe:	Andres Abellana, Cebu City
AA - Plaza:	Plaza Independencia, Cebu City
AA - Minglanilla:	Minglanilla, Cebu
AA - Pardo:	Bulacao Pardo, Cebu City
AA - Reclamation:	North Reclamation, Mandaue City, Cebu
AA - Mactan:	Pusok, Lapu-Lapu City
AA - Lapulapu:	Max Patalinghug Jr. Ave, Gum-ob, Lapu-Lapu
AA - Mango Square:	General Maxilom Ave

Thank you for visiting my page and hope to see you in my next adventure! :)