Cebu - a place I finally went to

Cebu calls itself a Euro-Asian cafe, in Downers Grove, for pete's sake, next to a Dominick;s. I had always heard of it as a Filipino restaurant. Heck, I had even sent friends there, but despite living less than 5 miles away which is nothing for us in the burbs, I had managed to avoid going for the five years (!) of its existence.

So tonight I offered the bride a choice for dinner - Cebu or Chef Paul. She picked Cebu, without much enthusiasm. I love that woman.

As we walked in, she said, "I like this place." Open, bright with sunlight and plants, and large illuninated stars and other whimsical art, the place was welcoming. The young (teens or 20's?) waiter and waitress might be the children of the owners.

We sat down, took a look at the menu, and she said, "I like this menu." In our marriage, I am the one who enthuses about restaurants, while she comes along for the ride. I suspect this is true for lots of us. So who knows what had come over her - though I too liked the music, the space, the ight, and the feel of the place.

The menu is charming, cheap, and the food well done. I would call the style more filipino meets nuevo latino cuisine than anything else, and this works for me. We ordered way too much.

Eggplant Tomato Tower - roasted eggplant and peppers, stacked with fresh tomatos, garlic vinaigrette, and boursin cheese. A pretty and tasty dish that will only get better as the tomatos improve this summer, tho it was pretty good this time.

Vegetable Lumpia Frito - Nicely greasy and crispy filipino eggrolls, full of crunchy matchstick vegies: carrots, cukes, onions, and a simple soy sauce for dipping.

Calderata - brisket or chuck simmered in tomato sauce with green olives, potatos and peppers. Sort of a zinged up ropa vieja.

Fried chicken - marinated and fried, but not too crispy (in honor of my friends who are obessed wih fried chicken, I had Fab Noodles Crispy Chicken for lunch, and that was a tough act to follow) with a spicy sweet dipping sauce. Satisfying, but this was the dish I would not have next time, so I can try other things.

Pancit Guisado - a side of sauteed rice noodles, lightly sauced with vegies and chicken.

And we finished with a pretty good leche flan de limon in caramel sauce.

And then there were the things I wanted to have, but need to wait until next time:

Lechon Chicharones (roast pork with crisp skin and a "lechon liver sauce"), Kinliaw (spicy kingfish ceviche), Pala (fried hocks with dipping sauce), a couple of lumpia variations with meat, and there are lots more traditional, plus some international options, like Tilapia with Mango Salsa, and Paella. And let's not forget the Halo Halo all the filipino diners finished with.

All done very well, and reasonably priced at between $5 and $10 a dish (okay, Paella and Seafood in Coconut Milk break the bank at $13 each).

What a fool I was to wait so long to go. This place is good.

Cebu Restaurant
7329 Lemont Road
Downers Grove
630-663-8803

dicksond wrote:What a fool I was to wait so long to go. This place is good.

D,

Cebu sounds very good, another addition to my list of suburban places I'd like to try.

You brought up in another thread have-not-tried yet lists. Seems many of mine are suburban.

Enjoy,
Gary

Cebu is another oft-overlooked spot in the fertile area between 75th Street and Ogden west of 83.

I've always liked it, though with the new Unimart out that way, I am unlikely to get takeout from the somewhat spendy Cebu when I'm visiting the in-laws. It's a nice place to sit down, and like the new place next to Garden Buffet, Cebu is less daunting to the unfamiliar than are the grocery/delis.

This is neither here nor there, but if you happen to see Sky Flakes, the Filipino saltine crackers that come in a terrific tin, pick some up. They are the best saltine crackers you will ever taste. I like them and I don't really care for saltines. I know they are at DiHo or whaterver it is called now.

More on Filipino

http://www.chowhound.com/midwest/boards ... 59025.html

Had another excellent meal at Cebu last week. Tried the Lechon this time, and was pleased with this profoundly unhealthy take on fried pork fat, okay it was half meat, too.

The owners' son was a server - he is pressed into part time, volunteer work he confessed, because business is not quite good enough to support the proper staff. We were saddened, because it really is excellent food. So, please see the events section where I will be arranging a Filipino feast for y'all.

This is another cuisine I have never liked that much, but these guys have made it hum for me.

Jeff, belatedly, thanks for giving me a heads up on the Unimart. I think I will pick up something there this very evening. The Bride tells me she has picked up Portillos so I must do something.

The best filipino cooking is home made! When your a guest in a filipino's house they are persistent that you eat and will feed you to death. I'm finding following in my grandmother's footsteps a difficult act to follow.

I've been to Cebu a few times and think some of the dishes are good but others need tweaking.

Mby385 - you're absolutely right. In my filipino home, refusal of food is an insult!

mby385 wrote:The best filipino cooking is home made! When your a guest in a filipino's house they are persistent that you eat and will feed you to death. I'm finding following in my grandmother's footsteps a difficult act to follow.

Is that an invitation? Because I would love to be taught the difference .

D - You're asking for trouble if you go to a filipino's house. You will be fed to death and then they will force you to take some home with you. My mother will always cook enough for a small army, when there will only be 4 people eating.

Anyhow, sorry to turn down your challenge but I have yet to master cooking the food of my own culture and wouldn't be able to give you some palatable.

Crushed by mby's refusal to introduce me to the real joy sof home-cooked filipino food , I did host a dinner at Cebu with a few intrepid LTH'ers who ventured out here last Sunday evening. As is my current lazy wont, I did not take full notes on the meal. But a few impressions remain, and I will just comment on the dishes I had not previously sampled. I think there are some photos out there, which hopefully will be posted with other notes.

I was not successful in getting any kind of special menu prepared for us. This was done fairly last minute, so I do not begrudge the place that. They did fuss up a couple of dishes for us, particularly the Calderata, which was made a lot more spicy than is the norm. The Pata, deep fried ham hock, is an impressive and tasty item. Sort of treads the same ground as the lechon, but I think I will stick with the pata in the future. The Kinlaw - ceviche-like preparation of kingfish with some garnishes - was very nice. Good tang, some bite, and I would get it again, too.

The rice pudding sampler was fun, particularly the purple, taro-flavored, one.

Lastly, the Laing, creamy taro leaf with shrimp, is becoming my favorite.

To repeat myself, they do a very nice job at a good price. The place is a little fancy, particularly for that location, and they make some extra efforts with the food and presentation. If anything, the whole presentation is a little too fancy, implying to me a lack of authenticity, but the food is the real deal. For price and quality, it is a great deal and has become a regular on the dicksons' circuit.

Where are the pictures?!?!?!? I want to show my hubby so he can salivate over the crispy pata. Too bad its a bit of a drive to just drop in. Are you using the restaurant.com coupon? If not, grab it today with the 50% code.

Our dinner last week began with Kinilaw, which is seviche of King Fish marinated in ginger, lemon and wine vinegar with onions and sweet peppers. This can be adjusted to taste from moderate to spicy.



For warm appetizers, we had Vegetable Lumpia Frito: vegetable eggrolls with vinegar and soy dipping sauce:



Lumpia Shanghai slender eggrolls filled with minced pork, scallions and jicama, served with sweet and sour sauce.



Crispy Pata, which are deep fried hocks or European ‘suckling’ served with spicy vinegar-soy dipping sauce:



Lechon Chicharones, a redundancy after the crispy pata, of crispy skin on pork served with lechon liver sauce. (Many of the Chinese BBQ’s offer this sauce upon request)



For entrees, we ordered Pancit Palabok are sautéed thin noodles with tofu, garlic and hard boiled eggs, topped with garlic, ground pork rinds and calamari.



Kare Kare, which is oxtail simmered in peanut sauce with eggplant, string beans and bok choy. Served with ground peanuts and shrimp anchovy paste.



Caldereta (not pictured) of beef sautéed in olive oil, slowly simmered in tomato sauce with Spanish green olives, potatoes and sweet peppers.

We had a side dish of Laing that is sautéed taro leaves in spicy coconut milk with shrimps.



For desserts, we shared several different items. The first was Halo-Halo, which translates to ‘Mix-mix’ with shaved ice, ice cream, fruits and sweetened beans:



Banana Turones are sweetened plantains and jack fruit wrapped in an eggroll wrapper and fried. This banana eggroll was arranged on caramel sauce and ice cream with roasted pecans on top.



Our final dessert was a Coconut Rice Pudding Sampler, with the purple portion in the middle likely made with purple yam. The portion on the right is very similar to cassava and coconut pudding I made with macapuno or young coconut on top. The portion on the left was delicious as well but unknown precisely the ingredients.



The food preparation and styling was more than one expected for the price point of the meal, which came to $22 per person including a generous tip.

Cebu
729 Lemont Road
Downers Grove
Phone: 630/663-8803
(75th and Lemont in Downers Park Plaza between TJ Maxx and Dominick’s)

Open Tuesday – Sunday, closed Mondays.

Just an FYI for everyone, since there was discussion on this restaurant:

Cebu , very good Filipino dining, in Downers Gove is closed.

Dodger

Hi,

I was only at Cebu twice, though it made quite a good impression on me. It was perhaps the only Filipino restaurant in this area that didn't serve food from a steam table. Their food didn't have a homestyle appearance or taste, it had an elevated style. Whenever I encountered people who pooh-poohed Filipino food, then I always recommended Cebu. I know I have suggested Cebu at least twice in the last month. Did I go as often as I recommended? Unfortunately, no because it was in a pocket of the Chicago area I rarely travel to.

I'm sorry it ended this way.

Regards,

Cathy2 wrote:Hi,

...Whenever I encountered people who pooh-poohed Filipino food, then I always recommended Cebu. I know I have suggested Cebu at least twice in the last month. Did I go as often as I recommended? Unfortunately, no because it was in a pocket of the Chicago area I rarely travel to.

I'm sorry it ended this way.

Regards,

I second that emotion. I just recommended it to two people over the weekend without knowing of its demise. Other than Jennifer Aranas' Rambutan, which closed far too soon also, Cebu was hands down the best Filipino place in Chicagoland. Truth be told, I hadn't been there in six or eight months myself. It's sad that option is gone now.