Food Review: Boosog at Juana Osmena Street, Cebu City

Juana Osmena Street is becoming the new destination for Filipino food lovers with the opening of two restaurants in the area offering Filipino dishes. One such establishment is Boosog, the same one found in Mabolo. We will talk of the other restaurant in another post.

Boosog is located in the corner of R. Aboitiz and Juana Osmena Streets, within walking distance of St. Theresa's College, Redemptorist Parish and National Bookstore. They offer several choices of Filipino dishes.

When me and my wife checked the place, there were many foreigners dining. We tried their pork sinigang, rellenong talong, and baked scallops. With regards to the aforementioned foods, here's the verdict.

Pork sinigang is one of the favorite dish ordered in Filipino restaurants and so we ordered one. What we got was a bowl with quite a big serving perhaps good for 3 to 4 persons. The soup is plenty with bits of meat and fat, not the usual bony sinigang cut. It tastes quite good even if the soup appears to have some help with sinigang mix as there are also natural ingredients added. They are also a few leafy veggies thrown in the mix. However, it took perhaps 30 minutes for the dish to be served. Perhaps the seeming delay in the serving of the food we ordered may be because they just opened.

I liked the rellenong talong with the right mix of onions, tomatoes and other ingredients.

The baked scallops were prepared differently. It was as if, the scallop meat shaped into squares were bought separately and placed on the shells when baked. I would have preferred the scallop meat left attached to the shell unaltered in appearance (not trimmed). The result was that the scallops meat appeared to be too small than usual and therefore, it's difficult to appreciate the flavor. This is one dish they need to improve as other restaurants have baked scallops as one of their best sellers.

On a separate occasion, I got to taste the sinigang ulo ng isda. Among the food we ordered, it was ghe one I liked best. Even if the soup was plenty, we almost consumed the entire soup.

The restaurant interior

Tinolang isda

We have yet to try the said restaurant's pride -- the mongo with seafood and many other food choices. One thing's for sure though.

With regards to the place, it appears very clean and elegant. There is I think 3 function rooms outside the main restaurant itself. The rest room appears well-maintained. There is also parking space in front of the restaurant.

The restaurant is worth trying with it's wide range of Filipino food choices and nice ambiance. One can save money if he or she dines with a group as the servings are big and the prices are reasonable.