Have you ever traveled to Indonesia or Singapore? How about Thailand? Have you tried any of their street food? Are you curious to try their dishes? Look no more since Cio's Asian Street Food is now open for business.
Cio's Street Food is the latest food place from Restaurateur Chef Dennis Uy. He's also behind the popular MexiMama Cocina Latina diner. And now, he's venturing closer to home and bringing beloved recipes to the taste buds and hearts of his Cebuano customers.
One of the inspiration that pushed him to create this concept food kiosk is his many travels to places like Indonesia, Singapore and Thailand. As a chef, he would stock up on ingredients to bring home and experiment with. He wanted to make his food interesting as well as affordable to Cebuano diners.
He chose the tastiest dishes that he knew would be a hit with Filipinos and combined them with his beloved Pinoy recipes like La Paz Batchoy and his original pork barbecue sauce. Chef Dennis shared that his special homemade barbecue sauce helped him have some pocket money when he was still in school.
After bringing fast and good Mexican food to the Cebuano palates, why street food? Street food is a what-you-see, what-you-get kind of thing. No drama, no frills, you can gorge yourself on it without any guilt. Asian Street food brings comfort to whoever eats it.
The key to great food is having the freshest and choicest ingredients. Don't scrimp on anything. Ensure that only the best quality product gets to go out of your kitchen. These are just some kitchen philosophies that Chef Dennis believes in. And when you get to taste any of the dishes offered by Cio's, you'll automatically know that the truth is behind the cooking and preparation of the food.
Everything is homemade even their chorizo and the spices that they use for their cooking. No commercialized ingredients for these meals.
We were lucky enough to discover these amazing variety of street food, one Tuesday afternoon. We started off with the best La Paz Batchoy, I've ever tasted in Cebu. The noodles that he uses come directly from Iloilo.
What I like about Cio's Batchoy is that it doesn't have that aftertaste that you normally get from eating his stew. It's very smooth in texture and clean. The spices are just right.
Barbecue, anyone?
Will your street food feast be complete without anything barbecued? Cio's offers four kinds of barbecue heaven. There is the original and spicy pork barbecue that is marinated with Chef Dennis' special concoction. The ever popular Chorizo de Cebu which is quite different in flavor from the Luzon varieties.
Cio's rendition of the classic Bacolod Chicken Inasal is better than the original. They added their own recipe and I know folks would order this all the time.
Introducing Moo Ping to the Cebuano foodies, Thailand's own version of a pork barbecue. It has a different composition from our barbecue. Spices used are also different but nevertheless, it still goes well with puso (the ultimate street rice).
Fried, Fried, Fried
Anything fried is delicious! We, Filipinos, fry almost everything and we crave for it. Cio's Asian Street Food offers fried options that would make one sing up to the heavens (no pun intended). Who knew the Thais also love their bacon? Their Moo Tod is crispy bacon, and not just ordinary bacon. These are fried to perfection and looks like chips.
One of the famous Singaporean Hawker food is Belachan Fried Chicken. It's marinated with shrimp paste and comes with its own sweet chili dipping sauce. It's not your ordinary fried chicken.
Nasi Goreng
I know for a fact that Nasi means rice since I'm half-Kapampangan and that's what they use for rice. But this is a completely new dish for most of us Pinoys. Their Nasi Goreng is the full package. You won't need to order an extra viand since it has a lot of elements in it. It has fried rice, egg, pork, Indonesian homemade spices, and prawn crackers to boot. It's not chili spicy which I like. It's a mixture of a sweet and savory dish.
Room for Dessert?
And finally, we've reached the end of the line. After an hour of binging on street food, we were served dessert. What happens when you combine coconut cream, sugar caramel, vanilla ice cream and banana fritters? You get Cio's Turon Sekreto ala Mode. Its creamy, sweet, and crunchy. A perfect way to end a delectable and enjoyable afternoon.
Cio's Asian Street Food is located inside Makan Ahooy Food Kiosk. It's right infront of the University of Southern Philippines, Lahug Campus.
Another nice thing that they're doing is that a portion of your meal price will be given to charity. They teamed up with the other kiosk owners regarding this.
Happy eating!
P.S. I went back to Cio's the following day to bring my friends and ordered the Nasi Goreng and barbecue. My tummy was happy.
Cio's Street Food is the latest food place from Restaurateur Chef Dennis Uy. He's also behind the popular MexiMama Cocina Latina diner. And now, he's venturing closer to home and bringing beloved recipes to the taste buds and hearts of his Cebuano customers.
One of the inspiration that pushed him to create this concept food kiosk is his many travels to places like Indonesia, Singapore and Thailand. As a chef, he would stock up on ingredients to bring home and experiment with. He wanted to make his food interesting as well as affordable to Cebuano diners.
He chose the tastiest dishes that he knew would be a hit with Filipinos and combined them with his beloved Pinoy recipes like La Paz Batchoy and his original pork barbecue sauce. Chef Dennis shared that his special homemade barbecue sauce helped him have some pocket money when he was still in school.
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| Cio's Menu |
After bringing fast and good Mexican food to the Cebuano palates, why street food? Street food is a what-you-see, what-you-get kind of thing. No drama, no frills, you can gorge yourself on it without any guilt. Asian Street food brings comfort to whoever eats it.
The key to great food is having the freshest and choicest ingredients. Don't scrimp on anything. Ensure that only the best quality product gets to go out of your kitchen. These are just some kitchen philosophies that Chef Dennis believes in. And when you get to taste any of the dishes offered by Cio's, you'll automatically know that the truth is behind the cooking and preparation of the food.
Everything is homemade even their chorizo and the spices that they use for their cooking. No commercialized ingredients for these meals.
We were lucky enough to discover these amazing variety of street food, one Tuesday afternoon. We started off with the best La Paz Batchoy, I've ever tasted in Cebu. The noodles that he uses come directly from Iloilo.
What I like about Cio's Batchoy is that it doesn't have that aftertaste that you normally get from eating his stew. It's very smooth in texture and clean. The spices are just right.
 |
| La Paz Batchoy |
 |
| Another view of Cio's La Paz Batchoy |
Barbecue, anyone?
Will your street food feast be complete without anything barbecued? Cio's offers four kinds of barbecue heaven. There is the original and spicy pork barbecue that is marinated with Chef Dennis' special concoction. The ever popular Chorizo de Cebu which is quite different in flavor from the Luzon varieties.
Cio's rendition of the classic Bacolod Chicken Inasal is better than the original. They added their own recipe and I know folks would order this all the time.
Introducing Moo Ping to the Cebuano foodies, Thailand's own version of a pork barbecue. It has a different composition from our barbecue. Spices used are also different but nevertheless, it still goes well with puso (the ultimate street rice).
 |
| Moo Ping - Thai barbecue |
 |
| Cebu's version of sticky rice (Puso) |
 |
| Original and Spicy pork barbecue. Chorizo de Cebu. |
 |
| Bacolod Chicken Inasal |
Fried, Fried, Fried
Anything fried is delicious! We, Filipinos, fry almost everything and we crave for it. Cio's Asian Street Food offers fried options that would make one sing up to the heavens (no pun intended). Who knew the Thais also love their bacon? Their Moo Tod is crispy bacon, and not just ordinary bacon. These are fried to perfection and looks like chips.
 |
| Moo Tod |
One of the famous Singaporean Hawker food is Belachan Fried Chicken. It's marinated with shrimp paste and comes with its own sweet chili dipping sauce. It's not your ordinary fried chicken.
 |
| Belachan Fried chicken |
Nasi Goreng
I know for a fact that Nasi means rice since I'm half-Kapampangan and that's what they use for rice. But this is a completely new dish for most of us Pinoys. Their Nasi Goreng is the full package. You won't need to order an extra viand since it has a lot of elements in it. It has fried rice, egg, pork, Indonesian homemade spices, and prawn crackers to boot. It's not chili spicy which I like. It's a mixture of a sweet and savory dish.
 |
| Nasi Goreng |
Room for Dessert?
And finally, we've reached the end of the line. After an hour of binging on street food, we were served dessert. What happens when you combine coconut cream, sugar caramel, vanilla ice cream and banana fritters? You get Cio's Turon Sekreto ala Mode. Its creamy, sweet, and crunchy. A perfect way to end a delectable and enjoyable afternoon.
 |
| What's your secret? --- Turon Sekreto ala mode |
Cio's Asian Street Food is located inside Makan Ahooy Food Kiosk. It's right infront of the University of Southern Philippines, Lahug Campus.
Another nice thing that they're doing is that a portion of your meal price will be given to charity. They teamed up with the other kiosk owners regarding this.
Happy eating!
P.S. I went back to Cio's the following day to bring my friends and ordered the Nasi Goreng and barbecue. My tummy was happy.
 |
| Chef Dennis Uy |
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