Cebu Travel Blog Restaurant Review: Chika-an Just a Carinderia at SM North Wing

This Cebu travel blogger loves eating out and while there are a few places I haven't eaten at, I usually listen to friends' critiques of such places and try to pick the ones that had positive reviews. Chika-an at SM's North Wing has had positive reviews from my friends that it actually prompted me to try the restaurant just to find out for sure.

Native home-cooked dishes in a more cozy ambiance, that's what the place seemed to promise judging from its interior design, menu and friends' critiques. My experience however, was less positive or was a lot less encouraging than what my friends think. Well perhaps, it could be that I am harder to please than plain Cebu folks. It didn't help that I had a hard-to-please Bacolodnon to tow along.

The dishes they serve were okay, except that there was nothing extraordinary or special about it. We ordered Pork Sinigang(the presentation was plain awful), Crispy Pata(it ain't worth the price) and some mollusks baked in cheese(probably the only positive experience I had, probably because it wasn't a common dish). And oh yes, another positive is that if you are a rice lover, steamed rice is unlimited. Oh well, that's bad news though for those who are watching their calories like me.

Service is also wanting, the staff is inattentive, I had to holler a lot of times for my ice tea refill and it didn't help many of them do not actually wear warm smiles. They are quite impolite and discorteous too. One waiter, without a word took out the table napkins in our table when I still needed some of those. He did that without the courtesy of asking.

For Filipinos who are very critical of native dishes, I do not ask them to try Chika-an. It's just a t a level with a roadside carinderia or a regular school cafeteria and you are paying more for the brand rather than what the dining experience is worth.