Handuraw Pizza, An Iconic Cebuano Pizzeria

After checking out of Crimson Resort and Spa Hotel, my kids began to be tad cranky and luring them with Cebu's best lechon was the only thing they look forward to.  The day was definitely long, and walking from 10 in the morning till 4 pm around and under the heat of Cebu's sun isn't what I would want either.

Reading from different blogs, I knew Cebu has a lot in store for wanderers like our family . Not only is it a gem for historical landmarks, the metropolis is buzzing with noises from booming modern developments and ahhh, it is a definite, definite haven for foodies.  

With still a few places left on my list unticked, my family and our gracious Cebuano friend marched our way to Handuraw.  Though not famished, we were all tired, and our sugar babe (that's what we call our diabetic daughter) was really feeling exhausted with a slight headache.

Located at Gorordo Ave., Handuraw Pizza became our last stop before going to the airport as we flew back here in Manila.  Said to be Haduraw's Events Place which is in between University of the Philippines Cebu and Harold’s Hotel, it is also a few steps away from  La Vie Parisien - another resto I was intended to visit but apparently we came short of time.

The cozy and homey feel of the resto gave us a few minutes to be sheltered from the heat and talk more about the places we visited and the ones we couldn't.

Cebu with my kids had been in my bucket list for the longest time and seeing them learned about Cebu, it's colorful history and immersing through the short jaunt on it's majestic beauty it's best to reward them more with something that's familiar to them yet different in the same way, what else than with pizza.

and yes try Cebu's most famous pizza.

The restaurant is known as a venue for good music, mingling and of course the locals' very own pizza.  I got more interested coming here when I knew that a fellow Sumilon Island traveler is a member of the family who owns this epic place.  Aside from the very heart-warming and inspiring stories of Liana and her family, their love for food made me more enamored with the idea of designing their line of pizzas and sharing them to food-lovers in Cebu and now in Manila.

The place still had that ancestral feel to it, which makes it even more unique.  My daughter who's in to arts loved the paintings on the wall and the stickers left stuck on the glass of the door by her fellow artists.

Ordering was easy, because the staff knows what we can all enjoy.  Liana was kind enough to treat us with some appetizers and a pizza.  

After ordering drinks for the kids we had to try another kind of pizza.  

According to the staff everything was made from scratch even these nachos.  Each crackling bite tells you that they are pretty serious in providing awesome grubs.

These chili chips are  served with salsa and grated cheese.

What may look like Shakey's Potato Mojos are actually Handuraw's version.  Potato Jojos as it's called are sliced potatoes slightly battered and fried served with ceasar sauce.

Another part of the Pica Picks that was served to us is a plate of Chicken Fingers.  With Pica Picks you get three kinds of appetizers onlyfor P 288.  Ain't that a bang for your buck!

Though we got ourselves stuffed with Cebu's finest roast pig and eating more meat can be daunting, we still were able to finish these, well, for one it's well seasoned and the chicken pieces were really cooked enough without being tough while the outer layer seemed to be crunchy.

Then the highlight of our afternoon snack came, the pizzas.

The first one to be served was the Handuraw Special, it's a thin crust pizza with everything on it, that means all the things I like on a pizza.  As you can see, no scrimping on ingredients here, fresh veggies are used and it's a colorful art in itself.  

If telling you that this crispy baked thin crust pizza is probably one of the best pizza I had, I don't know how else I could tell you that.  I've had my fair share of different pizzas, even authentic Italian pizzas from Milan could not compare to the savory goodness of this and to think it's using a thin crust.

Cebu longanisa has the notoriety for being cloyingly sweet and fatty (though we bought a few packs back home) and kids love them, so I figured having it on a pizza is right out-of-the-ordinary, and I was right!  The brilliant idea of putting this famous pork delicacy on a pizza is great.  The oil coming out of the longanisa drips nicely to the melted cheese, infusing the pizza with a sweet yet savory flavor.  I would definitely suggest this Pizza Cebuana, without batting an eyelash on your visit of any Haduraw branch. 

The serving of each pizza was big for four or five people, we had two pizzas and a lot more, even just after 3 hours from eating so much lechon for lunch, we ate everthing, it's just that good!

Well, actually a few pieces of pizzas were left but this biggie guy on this photo could not let it go to waste.  We were almost running late for our flight back to Manila and I'm glad I chose to come here instead of the nearby French restaurant and bakeshop, and we'll definitely be back on our next Cebu tour.

HANDURAW PIZZA
460 Gorordo Ave., Brgy. Kamputhaw, Cebu
Website: www.handurawpizza.com
Contact No: (032) 412 2230