Ginabot sa Pardo: The Most Popular Ginabot Stall in Cebu City (Sold Out by Noontime!)
This article is part of my Cebu Food Trip 2023 series. Check out the installments: Abaca Baking Company (Bakery and Brunch) | Cafe Laguna (Tagalog Food) | Cyria’s Kandingan (Cebu-Style Goat Dishes) | House of Lechon | Johnna’s Liempo Haus (Balamban Liempo or Pork Belly) Plus Balamban Food Park | La Parisienne (and La Parisienne Sky) (French Food) | Matias BBQ (Pinoy Barbecue) | Parr’t Ebelle Tinola (Seafood) | Red Lizard (Mexican Food)
If Manila has pares (beef stew) carts popping up everywhere, then Cebu has ginabot (deep-fried pig mesentery or ruffled fat) spots.
Since my wife and I love chicharon bulaklak (the Tagalog translation for ginabot) and anything deep-fried, we made sure to visit a ginabotan (ginabot spot). So we went to Ginabot sa Pardo, which is translated as ginabot at Pardo, an area in Cebu City. It’s made popular by food vloggers, including Team Canlas, The Chui Show, and the Bangkok-based American vlogger—the legend—Mark Wiens.
Ginabot sa Pardo
If you love street food vibes, then this is for you. The stall is literally in a side walk.
Many are doing takeaways
The vendor uses a gas pump to make sure he’s cooking in high heat.
The vendor pumping his gas pump to increase the fire
High-Heat Cooking
We ordered ginabot (which ran out by noontime) and pork chop, which are battered. They’re both crisp and tasty. Nothing fancy but simply comforting!
Left to Right: Ginabot and Pork Chop
We ate our deep-fried goodies with puso (poo-SO) or “hanging rice”. These are chunks of rice wrapped in coconut leaves and hung in bunches (hence its English name). It’s a staple in Cebu, usually eaten with barbecue, lechon (roasted pig), and other deep-fried stuff.
Puso
A ginabot meal won’t be compete without a sawsawan (dip) composed of calamansi, chilies, soy sauce, vinegar, and white onions. This dip gives acidity, cutting through all the fattiness.
Sawsawan
And don’t forget to order a softdrink, which is refreshing in the Cebu and perfect to wash down all the oils! LOL.
I like ginabotans like Ginabot sa Pardo because the food is fried upon order. This is unlike pungko-pungko stalls, where the food is already fried and stacked like a mountain (it’s prone to losing its crispness). Anyway…
A Stack of Deep-Fried Goodies in a Pungko-Pungko Stall
If you love street food and deep-fried stuff, then Ginabot sa Pardo should be on your Cebu eat-inerary. I highly recommend this stall to you!
Address: J. Tabura St. cor. Dacalos St., Pardo, Cebu City, Cebu, Philippines | Operating Hours: Monday-Saturday, 9AM-12PM | Contact No.: 0968-3301387 | Facebook