Food Trip! - Abuhan

Abuhan has somewhat a cult following among the ravenous partyphiles wanting to grab something to eat before heading home. There's nothing fancy about Abuhan and there's nothing spectacular about the food.

Except for one.

In my opinionated view, pochero (chunky beef on the leg bone stuffed with bone marrow cooked soup style with cabbage and corn thrown in) is usually the choice for hungry party carnivores to gulp some hot soup and sink their teeth into lusciously soft beef. everyone is a carnivore in Abuhan. You don't go there for vegetables.

then again am not a party carnivore. oh okay, yeah to the carnivore description but not really a party-freak. i find the soup too salty and thin to my liking - if you've had batangas bulalo then you know that cebu pochero is a poor imitation - my guess is that they don't cook the meat long enough (in batangas, the same soup stock is kept boiling for days and fresh batches of bone thrown in. the fat and marrow makes the soup thick) and it lacks the citrus punch of lemongrass and ginger.

so what's the ONE? the one that more than makes up for everything else on abuhan's menu?

sizzling pochero.

take out the soup, the vegetables, slather butter gravy, fried potato chunks and set it on a hot iron plate.

if you desire a beef scented facial, by all means stick your face close to the dish and inhale the devilishly delicious aroma. just make sure you're headed home right after the feast. pochero eau de toilette is not a favorite scent in party places. (that's also the reason why abuhan is the LAST stop for the day)

order lots of rice and prepare for battle to take the bone marrow out of the bone. the way it melts on top of hot rice is consolation enough that you're consuming a lifetime's worth of cholesterol.

go for the soft glutinous tendon and feast on tender beef that literally falls off the bone. for an added extra punch - ask the waiter to give you extra gravy and am sure you'd find tender meat mixed in.

if you've got a weak heart or your blood pressure's shot, make sure to call a hospital in advance for confinement AFTER the trip to abuhan.

it is worth every sinful bite.

Abuhan Restaurant

Add: Abuhan and Abuhan Dos - F.Ramos St. Cebu City
Abuhan Tres - IT Park, Cebu City
Tel:?
One Dish Must Have: Sizzling Pochero. This dish if five star but the rest of the place and food is really nothing. save for the sizzling pochero i would have ranked it one star.

Photo Credits:
Sizzling Pochero - linnor.marikit.net
Pochero - paulbanday / flickr

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