Buffet Lunch at CABALEN in Cebu City, Philippines

If you want an "Eat All U Can, and Eat All U Want" meal with a touch of the Pampangeno cuisine, visit a CABALEN branch nearest to you!

Fast Fact on CABALEN via the Wikipedia:

Cabalen is a Philippine buffet restaurant chain primarily serving traditional Filipino entrees heavy on influences from the Pampanga region of Central Luzon. Wikipedia

Founder: Maritel Nievera

Headquarters: Quezon City, Philippines

Date founded: 1986

Founded: Philippines

Number of locations: 18 (17 local, 1 overseas)

Type of business: Private

Areas served: Philippines, United States of America

CABALEN Restaurants in Cebu are only located inside an SM mall and there are already two branches of this buffet restaurant in the city.

The photo that I captured above is the customer friendly reminders when dining in their restaurant.

Upon entering the restaurant, you can immediately see the foods on a U-shaped counter.  The above photos are the fresh vegetables for your d-i-y salad, the soup of the day and the steamed white rice.

The corner above is for the appetizers and below are the main dishes placed in sliver cooking pans, so homey and authentic!

The dessert corner where a chocolate fountain have attracted both the kids and the kids at heart who love to munch on marshmallows and fruits dipped in this chocolate fondue, see picture below.

I made two rounds for this buffet lunch.  The photo below was my first plate and the plate further below was the second one.

I love the paella negra despite it would mess up with my teeth, but it tasted surprisingly delicious.  I love grilled foods so I went for the squid, the tail of the fish and a piece of chorizo.  For the veggies, I love anything green - the kangkong, the steamed eggplant with bagoong and some atchara ( fresh veggie salads in vinegar).  And I dared not miss the lechon skin and strips of meat and its dinuguan (pork blood stew) partner! I have shown some love for the tofu too!

For my drinks, I opted for the BUKO SHAKE!  Though you have to pay an additional cost for the drinks.

My Ratings:

Restaurant Concept = 10 of 10 

(Filipino cuisine / Buffet)

Menu Options = 6.5 of 10 

Overall Food Taste = 7 of 10

Restaurant Lay-Out and Interior Designing = 6 of 10

Size of Restaurant = 8 of 10

Restaurant Lighting = 9 of 10 

( natural daylight was available since glass windows lined up on side of the restaurant) 

Ambiance = 7 of 10 

Services of Staff = 7 of 10 

Money Value = 8 of 10 (affordable but drinks are excluded)

OVERALL RATING = 76.1% Recommended

This branch of CABALEN is located at the Upper Ground Floor, North Wing, SM City Cebu, North Reclamation Area, Cebu City

Photos were taken using LG Nexus 4 cellphone

Eat good food, every day!