Cyria’s Kandingan (Consolacion, Cebu): A Carinderia (Eatery) Specializing on Cebu-Style Goat Dishes Including Goat Head!

This article is part of my Cebu Food Trip 2023 series. Check out the installments so far: Abaca Baking Company (Bakery and Brunch) | House of Lechon | Johnna’s Liempo Haus (Balamban Liempo or Pork Belly) Plus Balamban Food Park | Matias BBQ (Pinoy Barbecue) | Parr’t Ebelle Tinola (Seafood) | Red Lizard (Mexican Food)

When Bangkok-based American food vlogger Mark Wiens did a Cebu food trip, one of his stops is Cyria’s Kandingan. (His other stops include Matias BBQ and Parr’t Ebelle Tinola. Click on the links to see my reviews.)

Cyria’s Kandingan is a carinderia (eatery) that specializes on kanding (kambing in Tagalog) or goat dishes (thus, kandingan refers to a goat place). It’s located in Consolacion, a municipality north of Cebu City. Being a typical carinderia, it employs a turo-turo (literally “point-point”) style of ordering. So at its counter, you just point to the dishes you want to eat.

I love goat dishes. However, goat dishes aren’t too common in Manila. So when there’s an opportunity to eat goat, I almost, always try to seize it. My favorite goat dishes are Kalderetang Kambing (stewed in tomato sauce and liver spread), Kilawin na Kambing (boiled or roasted then soaked in vinegar), and Papaitan (bitter soup due to bile). I was expecting to eat these dishes at Cyria’s. But the carinderia serves different goat dishes or different recipes for it, which I think is Cebuano-style.

For example is their take on kaldereta. It’s cooked, I believe, with pork and beans, giving a sweet flavor (I haven’t had goat kaldereta like this). The goat meat is tender.

We also tried their version of kilawin. Its vinegar has a nice, fermented taste. It’s spicy because of the chilis, and has nice crunch from the ginger. This is easily my favorite.

Another favorite is the goat head. Usually, goat head is cooked in sinigang or sinampalukan (soup made sour with tamarind) style. But again, Cyria’s has different way of cooking it.

Cyria’s braises their goat heads with soy sauce-based stew, which is sweet and caramelly, similar to Chinese braising sauce. The cheeks are super tender, and the eyeballs are creamy.

Last goat dish that we had is Paklay, a Visayan stew made with cow, goat, and pig innards. Cyria’s version has a medley of textures and is sweet be ause of the carrots and sayote (chayote).

Cyria’s also serves non-goat dishes, such as Adobo. But this is not the typical soy sauce braised dish. Rather, it’s the Cebuano-style deep-fried pork. It’s crunchy and bursting with fatty juices!

Look at the heart-stopping *Adobo*! LOL.

Finally, we had the Bam-I, which is the Visayan variety of pancit or stir-fried noodles.

Cyria’s version has two kinds of noodles—soft egg noodles and smooth vermicelli noodles. It’s tasty but I wish for more ingredients.

Honestly, I still prefer the goat dishes that I’m used to. But to try Cebu-style goat dishes at Cyria’s Kandingan is a unique experience that I think every foodie that visits Cebu should try. I recommend Cyria’s to you!

What dish above have you tried or would like to try? What goat spot should I try next in the Philippines? Comment below!

Address: Cebu North Rd., Pitogo, Consolacion, Cebu, Philippines | Operating Hours: Daily, 10AM-9PM | Contact No.: (032) 236-5826