Hukad sa Golden Cowrie - Robinsons Place Dumaguete — Restaurant in Dumaguete

My husband and I enjoyed the spicy nilagang baka soup. That’s all we could enjoy, really. We ordered grilled bangus, mixed veggies (chopsuey) and sisig. I didn’t try the bangus, it didn’t look appetizing I feel so bad for my husband who ordered it. The mixed veggies tasted sweet like, did they mix up the sugar and iodized salt while seasoning it? They told us in advance that chicken is not available so they will put Chinese sausage in it instead so that also added to the sweetness of the mix veggies. In fairness, the bell pepper in it was cooked al dente so I could eat that. I’ve never had that dish taste so sweet it’s so bad. The sizzling sisig didn’t sizzle and it was so mushy it felt like I was eating it raw—although I know it was cooked because some of the jowl that was in it was a bit crunchy. I had to eat it along with rice to tolerate the slimy sensation in my mouth. What happened to this restaurant? It used to be so good when they were at the Al fresco area at the back. Oh and one other thing: My husband was trying to get their attention so we can get and pay the bill. He said they’re trying so hard to not look at you so you won’t ask them anything. Or if you do lock eyes with them, they would look...

Atmosphere Clean and gives off a native Filipino dining ambiance. The restaurant is located within Robinson's Place mall, ground floor. Plenty of tables inside plus a few 'outside' (thankfully indoors). Dinner plate is a heavy rectangular ceramic, flatware arrives in a similarly styled mug, which I almost mistook was for drinking (I had a beer with my lunch and almost poured it in 😁).

Service Excellent attentive service seems to be the norm. There was a very low waiter to table ratio, something like 3-5 tables to a wait staff. Quick service experience didn't come as a surprise and I was impressed.

Food Wanted to order lechon sisig, which they didn't have at that time, ordered the next best thing - Pork Sisig (gamay - Bisayan speak for small serving). And I decided to supplement it with Pork Barbeque, expecting 5 tiny slices for the price - but was greatly surprised to see 5 skewers, albeit small but better than my expectations. The quantity of sisig was likewise generous for the price. Main dishes aren't served with rice and have to be ordered separately. If one is starving, I'd recommend ordering the Unlimited Rice at P41 vs a P31 bowl.

10/10 would go back on my next trip to try out their...

Hukad offers good quality Filipino traditional cuisine at affordable.  For those that are unable to cook or are too lazy to cook.

Although we were expecting disappointment, because we were drawn in by the outside poster menu offering Kare kare and it was off the menu.

Also, our visit was during a 12 hour brown out on a Sunday in Dumaguete and Robinson's Place was one of the few fully operational places, so the place was nearly full.

Nevertheless, pleasantly surprised... Helped by good food and decent service.  Not all staff were attentive, and food and drinks were both slow to appear, but not the worst experience I've had, and one serving staff member did a lot to help.

Escabecheng Isda and Chicken Bicol Express were notably tasty. P1328 paid by card for a meal for 3.5 of us was also quite reasonable.

One star down for not having a full menu and watching staff mill around doing nothing.... I had to make Kare kare myself the next day to satisfy the family.... But then again my Kare kare is exceptionally good.

Worth visiting again this lesser known franchise restaurant...