A different experience @ Blue Carabao

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A different experience @ Blue Carabao

Posted by Blogie on 12 July 2008 • 6787 views, 18 today [link]

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With its cobalt-blue lighting and intriguing name, the Blue Carabao Eatery stands out above the other karinderya joints on Sobrecarey St., Bo. Obrero, Davao City.

I’d heard that they served a mean bulalo, so off I went to Blue Carabao for a spot of dinner. Turns out it’s Pochero (Bisaya style) and Hinalang that they have. For the benefit of those who don’t know, Bisaya-style pochero has no tomato sauce in it (which is how they do it in Luzon). What makes it ‘pochero‘ is the banana. Without the boiled banana (variety: saba), it would simply be nilagang baka.

Hinalang is nilagang baka — beef stew… or is it broth? — but cooked really spicy. But in the case of this bustling 2-year-old eatery, it’s carabao meat, instead of beef.

I had had “carabeef” before, so I thought I knew what to expect when I ordered a serving of pochero. But I was mistaken: the meat was in fact quite tender. And the soup was very, very tasty.

One serving of pochero or hinalang (P45) is a big bowl of piping hot soup and large chunks of meat and vegetables (and boiled bananas if it’s the former). One order serves 2 to 3 people, would you believe?

I also had one serving of Inihaw na Panga ng Bariles (Grilled Jaw of Tuna, P80), which they chop to a manageable size. And yet, it would probably serve 2 people. It was already cold when I got it, though, but still quite flavorful. You see, it’s turo-turo style at Blue Carabao. To my non-Filipino readers: “turo-turo” is like a smorgasbord, but you pay for each item that you get; “turo” means to point.

So, there’s a large glass counter where you can see all their offerings for the day, and you just point to whatever you want, and the attendants hand them to you. Very much like in a cafeteria. The pochero and hinalang are mainstays.

And to my Filipino and Asian readers: you’ll be delighted to know that rice is only P8 per order, and it’s a satisfyingly big serving. It’s cooked really well, too.

After dinner, the owner, Frank Scott, approached and asked me about my meal. I had to apologize to him because I wasn’t able to finish my food — I didn’t want him to think that the food didn’t agree with me. The servings were just so big, and I didn’t want to stuff myself that night.

Frank and his wife Sherry run Blue Carabao. Frank, who hails from Canada, jokingly said that his wife manages the place while he just works as a busboy. Actually, the first time I noticed him, he was clearing tables. They do have very efficient waitstaff. And as well they should, because it’s always jam-packed with people. Frank told me that they get around 1,400 customers everyday.

Beat that! This eatery has certainly hit on the right formula for doing business in the food industry: the right location, affordable prices but big servings, and of course, tasty food!

Blue Carabao
Doors 4 – 7, Sobrecarey St., Bo. Obrero, Davao City
Tel. (82)305-6696
Operating hours: Monday to Sunday, 7am to 10pm

The place is only 2 minutes away from Victoria Plaza Mall. From McDonald’s outside the mall, turn right just after the small parking lot. You won’t miss the place because it’s so blue.

Blue Carabao

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Category: Eatery
Tags: Filipino, pochero

30 Responses to “A different experience @ Blue Carabao”

iceman9

12 Jul 2008

cool!!! food these days are getting smaller by servings and yet the price skyrockets, but here at blue carabao busog ka sa sarap busog kana, mura pa.. hehehehe

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Lyle

08 Nov 2008

Brendel and I had pochero and hinalang at Blue Carabao today. Yup, this review hit the nail spot on.

I think I’m gonna bring my dad there when he comes back from the U.S. next month. I’m sure he’s craving for pinoy food.

Thanks for the very good review, Blogie.

Reply to this comment
Blogie

09 Nov 2008

@Lyle — Glad you liked the place, and my post!

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Dennis

16 Nov 2008

Oi, this sounds yum. I am sucker for pochero and hinalang. We’ll check out that place soon. Thanks Kuya Blogie for this very useful info..

Reply to this comment
Blogie

16 Nov 2008

@Dennis — You won’t go wrong there. But you’d do well to drop the “kuya” bit.

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Dennis

16 Nov 2008

Lolz I know you would react abt the kuya thingie. Haha. No probs Blogz.

Reply to this comment
Blogie

16 Nov 2008

Hehehe… Basta ang alam ko, mas bata ako sa inyo ni Avel.

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Dennis

16 Nov 2008

Naks..sige na nga…bday ng davaodeli eh so sige..i concede haha

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Blogie

16 Nov 2008

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gorgeousnelly

17 Nov 2008

I went to this place 60 million times. I love eating here because I have an excuse for having been born with a male’s appetite.

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rgbconnections

18 Nov 2008

Hmmm…..parang ok dd2…ma try nga…;)

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Pacifico Lorenzo

19 Nov 2008

Tried it there once. The hinalang was most satisfactory indeed! But the pochero left me wanting for… something else.

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Blue Carabao eatery

17 Dec 2008

Hello Blogie,thanx so much for your review of the”Blue Carabao”eatery.Our business has increased almost 20% since your visit,thanx so much.We are happy that your visit was unnounced so that you could experience the place and the food the way it is normally.We know that people would love for us to open up more branches and we have had some wonderful opportunities opened up to us but i am not able to find the people i need to man other locations.So we will concentrate on the orginal location.All the credit for the success of the “Blue Carabao”eatery goes to my wonderful hard working filipina wife,Sherry who is responsible for the taste that everyone loves.To all of you who have posted here,thanx for your kind words.

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Blogie

17 Dec 2008

@Blue Carabao — It was my pleasure. Good luck on your future ventures!

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Thomas J. Martin

10 Jan 2009

I drop in at least once a week the food is okay especially for the money. I have found the staff always very efficient and extremely friendly. If you are expecting candles and linen napkins not the place to go, but if you are looking for a good, fast, cheap meal it certainly is the place to go. I can tell you I have paid two or three times more for a meal else where in Davao and the food was not as good. I am sure the first time you go you will notice that all the other restaurants on the block are nearly empty and you are waiting for a table to be freed up there. There must be a reason why, try it and you will find out why.

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chi

02 Feb 2009

argh this blog is LITERALLY driving me mad! im getting dizzy, my stomach is growling and i can’t get the picture of a hot bowl of pochero out of my head!! aaahhhhhh!

Reply to this comment
Blogie

02 Feb 2009

@chi —

When you come back to Davao, let’s have pochero and hinalang at this place, ok?

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The"Blue Carabao"eatery

05 Feb 2009

Hello everyone.I know many of you are wondering why we no longer provide you with Coco-Cola products.It all boils down to service and quality control.We used to get Coca-Cola products delivered straight from their depot but when cost cutting measures where implemented that all changed.Coca-Cola now uses subcontractor to deliver their products.These subcontractors mostly use flat deck truck and the workers have to walk on top of the bottles all the time.These bottles are not designed to support the weight of a human being.As a result we started getting a lot of damaged bottles with customers finding most of them.Complained to Coca- Cola as we where very concerned that a customer could seriously cut their lips or even swallow small pieces of glass.Complaints fell on deaf ears as we still see this happening with our neighbors Coca-Cola delivery.
We also where finding way too much foreign matter inside full bottles of Coca-Cola products.We even emailed Coca Cola headquarters in Atlanta,Georgia,U.S.A to correct this serious problem.Some people from Manila contacted us and then a QC person came to talk to us from the local plant to inform us that it could never happen at the bottling plant so it had to be the fault of the dealer,like HELLO !!
Finally we had some issues with the Coca-Cola chillers,the door seals needed to be replaced.Four months of asking for these issues to be resolved left us with no other choice but to kick Coca-Cola out of the “Blue Carabao”eatery.We cannot serve you, the customer, if we get no support from a supplier .There are some very serious issues that to this day go unchecked.
So, we contacted Pepsi and asked if they could serve us so that we could serve you the customer.Pepsi gave us a promise that they could and so far it has been great.Very professional,alway early delivery,no foreign matter inside full bottles,nice clean delivery truck that is designed to haul soft drinks.
We know that Pepsi is not as popular as Coca-Cola but we will take the loss in soft drink sales any day to ensure that the consumer has a safe product. We at the “Blue Carabao”eatery take the health and safety of our customers very seriously and hope you as a consumer will too the next time you order a soft drink.
Thank you all for giving “power to your peso” at the”Blue Carabao”eatery.

Reply to this comment
- Blogie
  
  17 Feb 2009
  
  Thanks very much for this update! Makes your customers feel that you’re always on top of things. I just wish all restos in Davao would be like you when it comes to service!
  
  Reply to this comment
Blue Carabao

19 May 2009

Hello Blogie,hope all is well with you. We posted a copy of your comments about the “Blue Carabao” on our wall along with some others,hope you don,t mind.We will be opening a second location soon down on Santa Anna,close to our friends at Carabao Dive Center.We will be in the old “Joe Cool’s” restaurant.It is easy to find as the owner of the building repainted the whole building the same “blue” as the “Blue Carabao”.We chose this location as there is nothing down in the immediate area as far as eatery or restaurant goes and see it as a great opportunity to be a positive influence in that part of Davao.We will be offer a salad bar,caraburgers and other items catered to the location along with our regular “Filipino styled” food items. Also ,we will be having our own web site soon and would like to ask your permission to have a copy of your comments about the “Blue Carabao” on our web site and we would place a link to your site also if that is ok.
I have one question for you. With all the food you eat,how do you stay slim?What’s your secret?

Reply to this comment
- Blogie
  
  19 May 2009
  
  Hi there! Yeah, I noticed the poster.
  
  Go ahead and use my post for your upcoming website. And yes, I’d appreciate the link back to my blog. Do let me know the website address once it’s up.
  
  (I’m not exactly slim… Hahaha!)
  
  Congrats on your new branch! I’ll visit one of these days.
  
  Reply to this comment
millennium_force

23 May 2009

mukaon lang kog blue carabao basta naa kwarta…

the best kaayo mga foods…

Reply to this comment
- Blogie
  
  23 May 2009
  
  Barato ra man sa Blue Carabao…
  
  Reply to this comment