It’s been just over a week since we rushed the opening of our second outlet, a smaller, more take-out oriented Zubuchon at the new Escario Building near the provincial capitol building. We started off with a very limited menu, and our tiny kitchen here (totally open and WITHOUT gas burners) with only a couple of induction stoves means we can’t serve the full range of dishes that we offer at our Mango Avenue branch… But we are slowly finding our stride and we are amazed by the number of customers coming to give the new place a try… In our first week, we had the Cebu City Mayor walk in unannounced just before closing, to enjoy a meal. A few days later, the Governor dropped by to eat our lechon, not the first time she’s had it apparently. So I guess things are going very well. The most amazing patrons, however, are the folks that seem to have returned not once or twice or even thrice, but several more times in just our first month of operations. We are also thrilled to have served many a tourist (local and foreign) seeking to enjoy some Cebu lechon, without having to order a whole one. Maraming, maraming salamat sa inyong lahat!
Our Escario outlet is even tinier at 36m2 (including the washroom!) than our first restaurant on Mango Avenue. Originally envisioned as a Zubuchon “X” outlet, this small modern space was, I thought, the place for me to experiment with new dishes, to offer lechon in a new light, in different, possibly fusion-like states. I still want to experiment with more sandwiches, push our pastas, build a breakfast menu, perhaps even a Ceasar salad topped with fried lechon flakes instead of bacon, offer the confit of adobo, etc. This was to be “the laboratory”, the place to experiment, and for marketmanila readers to drop by and occasionally find me behind the counter, trying something new… But right now we are busy just serving up our basic dishes and still getting our acts together! And before the dust has settled here, we are being offered interesting new locations to open future branches if it seems like that makes sense and we haven’t lost our sense of humor yet… :)
The aesthetics are anchored on the same principles as our first branch, a very clean, modern look, a lot of grey, stainless steel, glass, white and red accents. The store is brightly lit, and we are thrilled with the small frontage facing the busy Escario thoroughfare. We have gotten a lot of positive comments about the setting, and hopefully we impress on the food and service the vast majority of the time, though we are no where near where we would like to settle at… Frankly, I think we thought “too small” and our stores just don’t seem designed for large groups of people, the sort of “village comes to dine all at once syndrome” still prevalent in local dining… Now I know why other restaurants seem way too big and are empty 90% of the time, they are designed to capture the frenzied two hours at lunch time and the same period at dinnertime… We are learning as we go along, of course all at what seems like warp speed to us…
The centrally positioned glass showcase features our lechons, and you can watch as the lechon is chopped up… Freshly cooked lechons are typically delivered at 11am and again at 5:30pm and while gauging demand is still dicey for us at this point, we do try to have fresh lechon up until about 8pm, far later than many of our competitors who seem content to run out of stock by 5:30-6:00 p.m. on most nights. We do appreciate it when clients give us advance notice on big orders, like this morning for example, when we filled an order for 55 lechon meals for takeout! The more neighboring offices, institutions, hospitals, call centers, etc. start to order in this manner, for meetings, birthdays, promotions, births, etc., the more our original view for the restaurant as a take out place becomes a reality, but we also serve meals in-house. Two photos up, chinese take out boxes filled withs lechon sisig rice which we sold below cost at PHP39 on our first day. We sold several hundred. :)
The Escario store also has a full line of our frozen and refrigerated Zubuchon products, so please feel free to drop by and load up on “pasalubong” goodies that we can package in boxes just prior to your trip back to Manila, your home province or elsewhere in the world. We don’t recommend it, but it seems our lechons have crossed borders and reached Indonesia, Thailand, Hong Kong, etc. :)
Zubuchon Escario Branch
Escario Building
731 Escario Street
corner Clavano Street
Cebu City
032.583.5699
74 Responses
How about having a take out place at the Cebu airport – that way it will be easier for travelers to pick up one before boarding their flight.
Lou, we have part of our frozen line in the pre-departure area, along with fresh packaged lechon for most of the day, but no take out place for food. We are waiting for a chance to get a bigger space in order to do meals, etc…
are U in hongkong mm?
Dear MM, I’m an avid reader but now a certified Zubochon lover. A friend brought a pack from Cebu to HK, which was shared with friends and eaten with gusto. Then my sister bought another pack last month which made it to Baguio, in time for my short vacation and birthday celebration. One weekend I intend to fly HK-Cebu-HK to try your restos. All the best and good luck!
I see your bookkeeper must be very busy these days, judging from the upper right corner of the last photo :)
Congratulations MM! Now, I really need to get my a** back to Cebu real soon. Can’t wait to try your other dishes. Exciting! ;p
doesn;t look tiny at all. congratulations and good luck! nice to see the red piggy all over the front, and going places!
Hmm, now to find reasons to fly back to Cebu so I can volunteer to be a guinea pig :)
Congratulations MM, Joan and the team!
next time we go home, we’ll land straight to cebu :)
we nearly tasted zubuchon last time we’re home, but had to cancel our order at the last minute, well, there’s always next time, and by then loads of other dishes to try!….Congratulations MM and to your crew :)
@ChrisB = Bookkeeper Sans Serif.
The chest type freezer sized pension room I stayed in is behind this building.
Zubuchon Manila! (I can dream, right?) :)
That’s roomy and comfortable. I’ve seen more cramped food preparation facilities than that; galleys on airplanes and boats for instance. As long as it’s kept stylish and bright.
Congratulations MM, it all looks so fantastic. Back for my annual stint in the home country but can’t make it to Cebu. I’m with Willie, we’ll just dream of the day you open in Manila. Loved Tom Parker Bowles’ article by the way – it was honest, gritty but inspiring. For those who’d like to get it quick, you can get it through Zinio digital magazines for instant download.
Imagine a Zubuchon at Stanford Mall…one can only hope.
Hello Mr MM!
My brother and his family went to Cebu last month and brought home some of your Zubuchon for pasalubongs. I think they bought your lechon at the airport (?). Anyway, we had it that same day and it was to die for!!! We froze the left-overs and popped it either in our toaster or oven everytime we wanted a taste of it.
Its quite a shame but it took us about 2 weeks to finish it all (he brought home a lot and our cholesterol are at an indecent level so we were trying to go slow on the lechon) BUT BUT BUT, it was still tasty and delish. The skin wasn’t as crisp (blame it on the freezer!) but still very tender and flavorful.
I look forward to enjoy your lechon in your resto when I go to Cebu, but for now, I’m happy with the lechon pasalubongs I get.
Please consider opening an outlet in Manila in the near future. I will work for free lechon! LOL!!!
To think I used to live along Escario! I want to move back to Cebu! I’ll be your frequent customer. :(
The new Consul-General once said that Pinoy population here in Vancouver has grown a lot! So, how about scouting places, MM, while you are here to put up a BC ZUBUCHON?…go global, I say!
I still have to try this branch. I went on the first day, but it was so packed that MM shoooed me away!! hahahahaha.
Congratulations on your 2nd store!
Flew in yesterday… 1st order of the day (literally ;-)): Zubuchon! J & J- I hope to see you in Mango! ;-)
Congratulations MM!! Your zubuchon dishes, all of them, are superb :) Loveeeeeeeet
Congratulations MM!! Your zubuchon dishes, all of them, are superb :) Loveeet
I’ll be in Cebu in November, hope to stop by and eat! You should sell t-shirts, hats, and aprons with that proud prancing pig on them!
congratulations and thank you for creating jobs for some cebuanos in this trying times of our economy…
mm!i hope we can have a zubuchon in manila,too!please! ;)
ahm, now I’, changing mind, my husband will accuse me of being fickle-minded but instead of going to Roxas City we’ll try Cebu instead. I am really intrigued what zubuchon tastes like. Have a Manila branch please!!!
Congratulations on your second store. Dreaming that you will have one in Manila one day :)
Congratulations! Happy to hear about the packaged items at the airport. Yum yum!
MM! I was in Cebu for a few days last week. First day, straight from checking in, I had lunch by myself, and I had the Zubuchon and the Kangkong with chicaron and dessert. I swear I thought my cholesterol levels were to go overboard but I managed to live the next day! Hahaha.
It was a hectic and short trip for me but I managed to go to Mango and get two kilos of the frozen lechon, sisig and dinuguan… plus bugbug, right before I rushed to the airport. I love the take out box! SO classy :) I love how you “branded” everything with that dancing pig :)
It was my daughter’s birthday the weekend I arrived in Manila and I treated everyone to the fried lechon :) awesome!!! I just had to share the calories! Hehehe! (But Im keeping the sisig to myself!!!)
Congratulations on your new restaurant… If only I wasnt too busy, I was going to eat there everyday! :)
MM, we are flying to Cebu on August 28 to celebrate our son’s birthday. With 2 Zubuchon resto venues, hopefully we would be able to squeeze in all 6 of us. Looking forward to trying out all the food your wrote about that are being offered.
I’d love for Zubuchon to have pastas and sandwiches! I’ll definitely look forward to that. I know you’ll introduce some great and surprising flavors there.
And I can’t wait to try the lechon sisig rice soon!
MM, i just wander, when will you put up a branch here in NCR? Need someone re-vitalize the lechon outlets in La Loma, Q.C. (Just a friendly comment)
And also, can you add your MM chicharon to you Resto’s pasalubong counter?
And also, Kudos to your Resto!!! And more PORK!!!
I have to get to Cebu ASAP!!
MM, a friend gave me zubuchon sisig from cebu. What is the best way to re-heat it, microwave or oven toaster? One week after he gave it to me, its still in the freezer while I wait for that monumental lunch where I could share it with someone..(i just hope it will not expire in the meantime.)
Congrats on your new Restaurant,love the look..Very modern….those piggy icon..Neat! love em !!. If you start producing them comercially,like Refrigerator magnets,for pasalubong..lunch bags,take out chinese box,apron .the potential marketing of that little piggy, is so vast since you have the patent for it.If you make em..we will buy:) :):) (on line of course)(i know,I know,I am just yakking here,iguess because. iam so far away from the Fun!!:( but ,love your concept.Very classy!! Edgy..someday,i will make it there.
congratulations!
Looks like Zubuchon is getting alot of raves lately, I want to try and drop by Cebu maybe the following year by summer of 2012, or October-November 2011. I miss Cebu..
Congratulations,MM! You’ve done it again!
Hi MM. Did your trip to the GK village in Bulacan (the one Filet Minion proposed) convince you that there may be a good source of pigs for a possible Zubuchon Manila Branch? Most of your pig-loving followers are based in Manila so you already have a customer base from the get go.
Would you also consider having a small outlet for your other pasalubong stuff in Salcedo, Legaspi or Mercato Centrale weekend markets?
Ah Artisan Chocolatier, I would have loved to see your frustrated face after being shooed away..
@MP. actually, I left with a big smile on my face since MM reserved a table for me at One Mango and had a bigger smile after my lunch feast!!
A cebuana neighbor just arrived from her annual visit there, and I been meaning to ask her if she knows about your pig, pero may jet-lag pa yata. Yeah, I hope nga na merong Zubuchon Chicharon na mabibili sa airport para maipasalubong dito sa States. Para naman dito sa amin na hanggang panaginip na lang na mangarap tumikim ng lechon nyo. Di naman kasi makakarating ang frozen dishes nyo rito eh.
Wahhhhh, next year pa ako uuwi, and straight Quezon Province right away, hopefully by that time, meron ng ibang developments, like outlets in Manila or right at NAIA, yung mga to-go products. Hihihi, imagine I am still in the airplane, but already salivating knowing as soon as I land, I can get my hands (and mouth) on your famous lechon and sisig rice. Congratulations sa inyong restaurant and more blessings on your endeavor to share your continous efforts to share us quality Pinoy dishes.
Artisan Chocolatier, may I just say on behalf of the ladies here that WE hate you? Why do you have to live such a charmed life: easy access to Zubuchon :-) ????
I really like your food place MM, it’s neat, nice and clean just like your website. It has no tacky commercial banners or logo from different companies (free refrigerator so you can sell their drinks). I like that you own your own brand, food with love, very independent looking, and not dictated by some big corps. Kuddos MM, you the man!
Congrats MM! My family had our first meal in Cebu @ Zubuchon One Mango Mall branch. Kudos to your Zubuchon team there! Customer service at its finest. Before flying back to Manila, we dropped by Escario branch to buy frozen lechon & RTC sisig. And oh, as I type this I’m munching on chicharon! ;-)
Nice place, MM….veeeeerrrry nice! I am drooling here looking at that crispy lechon skin! Nephew, Ms. Connie C. and I will pay you a visit sometime in January.
MM…sandwich suggestions!…confit of adobo…would make a nice filling for something like those served at Kogi trucks in LA…warm tortilla then topped with confit of adobo with a light drizzle of adobo sauce and topped with diced tomato salad. Another one …like a Banh MI sandwichmaybe…light mayo mixed with adobo sauce then confit of adobo, topped with shredded labanos pickle and green onion slivers.
Do you have a panini press at the resaturant? …how about shredded lechon flakes in it…bread, chipotle mayo, your slow roasted tomatoes, mashed avocado, your lechon (pan fried maybe), cheese from GK.?
OK…I am getting carried away again!
That’s an attractive setting you’ve created, and the dishes sound tasty (though some of them take some imagining by us in this Euro/American household–we are well travelled and omnivorous but some of the ingredients aren’t familiar to us).
A suggestion toward environmental responsibility–the handles on the chinese take-out boxes look like they’re made of plastic? Could these be changed to something less environmentally unfriendly (renewable/biodegradable twine for example). It would be a great example for others.
@Trish: same here, it’s the pasalubongs that keep me sane until my actual trip to Cebu happens in 12 weeks’ time.
@Passive: I thaw completely and throw into a pan over medium heat until heated through. No need to add anything, the flavor is perfect as it is… I just like to get the bottom a little crispy (but not burnt). Sometimes when I feel “pakialamera” (or I have more mouths to feed, like during inuman), I add minced white onions to the pan to let it sweat and mellow out. Eitherway, best over rice and with a cold bottle of San Mig. =)
Congratulations on the new store.NICE!!!
MM, would you consider making available gift certificates for those who want to gift the zubuchon as wedding, christening, anniversary or birthday present? the recipient can then make the necessary arrangements to claim their heavenly present.
BettyQ, will be waiting for you and nephew, then we all can fly to Cebu via Puerto Princesa.
Connie C, Bettyq, let me know when you are coming in advance… :) kurzhaar, yes, twine would be better, still searching. We are only one of a handful of stores that use these takeout containers, many still use plastic or other box like creations… most of our ready to heat meals are in plastic as well… but are trying to reduce waste as we go along… bettyq, yes, have confit of adobo in the past… and we do have a panini grill, just haven’t launched the sandwiches yet… Nina, so happy to hear you enjoyed your meal and experiences at the restaurants… we are still young and hope to keep service up and if it falls short, improving… Lava Bien, thanks. EbbaBlue, bringing chicharon into the U.S. is actually prohibited… :( MP, still exploring, but I haven’t gotten to Bulacan yet… passive, the sisig should have come with instructions… if not, there are two variants, warm and ready to eat (it is already seasoned) or frozen and ready to cook. If the latter, simply thaw, then into a pan add some lard or vegetable oil, some onions, ginger and garlic (all minced), then some chopped siling labuyo if you like it spicy, then a touch of light soy sauce, salt and pepper (may not need salt) and finish off with a touch of kalamansi just before serving… frozen, the sisig will last months… Ruth B, you should be able to get in… turnover is relatively quick… Lester G, Manila is a ways away, as the lechonan itself is the main problem, once we have that set, then we can open outlets… and finding a place for a proper lechonan near metro manila is a real task… Mrs. Kookie, thanks for trying the restaurants, if you noticed, we haven’t gone to POS yet! Still working out back office issues… :) Isaac, tshirts and aprons on the shelves in a week’s time hopefully…
Zubu Two! Congratulations, MM. Hard to believe it’s just 36sq meters, the glass wall and high ceiling makes it look much bigger. Will be visiting Cebu soon, and I’m already planning what to order. Strategic planning, eh?
betty q. (with Connie C!) coming over to the Philippines in January! Ayayay now this is going to be interesting. Can I spearhead the campaign for an eyeball, a going-to-market with betty q. and MM, a series of kitchen tutorials? There must be many of us wanting to meet her in person, sit at her feet, or be a fly in the wall of her kitchen. In my naughtier moments, I also wonder about the waistline of someone who immediately thinks up a dozen recipes at the mere mention of an ingredient. If you’re going to be as thin (and intelligent) as MM, that would simply not be fair!!!
Congratulations on your second outlet MM! I hope a Manila one is on its way…:-)
Please set up one in Manila…. please, pretty please … :)
Zubuchon seems to be deliciously marketable. The pig mascot in the logo has a happy walk that reminds me of the fat kid “Haters Gon’ Hate” image that’s spread around the internet lol. I love the logo. I love the name. I love the food. Good luck and I hope this becomes one very successful franchise in the Philippines (and for my sake, internationally!)
if betty q and Connie C are coming home in January, i might have to change my sked then instead of mid-December!! can we push for the EB then, pretty please? :)
i love your red chairs!!!
Congratulations again! I am really amazed….with 2 restaurants….you have your hands full and yet you are so meticulous, organized and very hands on!
Connie C and Bettyq, please consider Cumin & Terrey’s suggestions. I would love to join. I’ll be in Manila for the holidays (+ sidetrip to Cebu for Zubuchon) and will delay my trip back if it means seeing you all in person!
bettyQ: There is no turning back! See everyone else ( cumin, terrey, MP) trying to time / stretch their skeds to be in sync with our trip, even to sit at your feet!
MM, another eyeball come January? Yes indeedy! I am ready!!!!!
Footloose: would you let your feet loose and join us all?
See you all in Cebu!
Hope I can visit before year’s end. Congratulations an hoping for your continued success.
Congratulations MM! Gonna take a break after all these exhibits and demos. Gonna visit Zubuchon!!! Yehey! More Power to you!
Congrats MM!! I will be in Cebu in September…I will visit Zubuchon….wooohooo….hope we can have an EB in Jan for bettyq arrival…..
I used to go to Cebu on a weekly basis for work reasons. My last visit is more than 7yrs ago. How I wish I can go back just to have a quick taste of your famous lechon! And those sisig and lechon rice seems really delish as well!
Congrats on your new shop! More power!
Mr MM, I thought it was you waiting at the luggage carousel at MactanIA last Sunday morning.
I tried Zubuchon (Mango Br.) already w/ wifey and kid two Sundays ago. I want to go back with a hungry stomach to enjoy the lechon. We were 30 min. ahead of the fresh delivery so we were only served the oven heated fare. The resto ambiance is pretty cool and the staff are friendly.
my workmate is in cebu and told her to buy some zubuchon goodies :) i’m officially excited!
when are you coming t manila?!!!
Lee, Chrisb and Edik, I have Kona coffee now and it will go well with the Zubuchon biko.
I will be in Cebu tomorrow for a business trip but will surely find a way to try Zubochon.
After unsuccessfully looking for Zubuchon yesterday at Banilad TC, my wife and I finally found a blog post with the Escario location and we managed to snatch up some amazing Lechon today! MM — you really should make it easier to find your delicious lechon for travellers (hit me up if you need any help)
dankind, sorry for the confusion, the BTC outlet was closed when we opened our Mango and Escario restaurants.
Zubuchon Mango Avenue
One Mango Mall
General Maxilom Ave (formerly Mango Avenue)
Cebu City
+63.32.239.5697
Zubuchon Escario Building
731 Escario Street
corner Clavano Street
Cebu City
+63.32.583.5699
I’ll definitely visit your store/s when I go to Cebu this October! Yum! :)
MM, Zubuchon reached the island of Singapore too :)… just forgot to take a photo as proof that i bring it there, lol! heat up then like magic everything in the plate’s gone… really looking forward for Zubuchon products (even frozen) here in Manila…still not losing hope…