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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 (₱45) 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, ₱80), 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 ₱8 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!
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. They’re open everyday from 7:00am to 10:00pm.
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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
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.
@Lyle — Glad you liked the place, and my post!
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..
@Dennis — You won’t go wrong there. But you’d do well to drop the “kuya” bit.
Lolz I know you would react abt the kuya thingie. Haha. No probs Blogz.
Hehehe… Basta ang alam ko, mas bata ako sa inyo ni Avel.
Naks..sige na nga…bday ng davaodeli eh so sige..i concede haha
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.
Hmmm…..parang ok dd2…ma try nga…
Tried it there once. The hinalang was most satisfactory indeed! But the pochero left me wanting for… something else.
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.
@Blue Carabao — It was my pleasure. Good luck on your future ventures!
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.
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!
@chi —
When you come back to Davao, let’s have pochero and hinalang at this place, ok?
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.
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!
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?
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.
mukaon lang kog blue carabao basta naa kwarta…
the best kaayo mga foods…
Barato ra man sa Blue Carabao…
big serving, perfect taste!!
Hello Mr Food,lol,just wanted to drop you a line and let you know the latest goin ons at Blue Carabao land.
We have our web site up and running,www.bluecarabao.com where anyone is welcome to post a comment.Positive or negative,we will post them as long as it is done with taste and proper language.The site is fairly new and is about 80% complete,just so darn busy,hard to get time to finish it.
Drum roll please………. We have our new branch of the “Blue Carabao open as of Oct 1st on the corner of Monteverdi St and Alveraz St. We are in the old Joe Cool’s space in the Monteverdi Building.
We have learned some valuable lessons from the “Blue Carabao ” eatery and have implemented them at the “Blue Carabao” diner,yes,our branch is called a “diner” instead of “eatery”.
At the “diner” it is “pay as you order” which we will also be putting in place at the “eatery” but we will be using two cash registers so that we can look after the same number of people as we do now.
Our kitchen at the “diner” is something we are very proud of and you and all customers are always welcome to tour it. We are upgrading the “eat” kitchen as we speak so as to improve to the same standard as we have set at the “diner”.
At the “diner” we serve Coke products via fountain style dispenser which will take care of all the quality control issues we have had with their bottled products.We will also be installing a Coke fountain style dispenser at the “eatery” very soon.
The next time you visit us Blogie,you will notice our staff in a new style uniform.They all look great.
As you know we specialize in carabao meat via two very popular soups but not everyone likes or is comfortable eating carabao,so we will be offering,on a daily basis,a third soup which could be any kind of soup.We will announce the soup on our info boards a day ahead .It could be native chicken,assorted variety of fish,etc.I can tell you that it will be “lip smacking gud”
The “diner” is very comfortable what with it having a very high ceiling so the heat has somewhere to rise to unlike at the “eatery”.
We will be installing a microwave at both locations so as to be able to accommodate those who prefer their food hot.
Now you maybe wondering why would we set up a branch in that part of town,why not on Torres St with everyone else? Well when we looked for another location,we wanted somewhere that is not oversaturated which eating establishments,somewhere where we could be a benefit to the local community and economy. As soon as we saw the building and it’s location,we knew we found what we where looking for.We feel that this part of Davao will undergo some well needed improvements as the traffic at the Santa Anna wharf increases due to development on Samal Island.
We also lease the second floor of the diner but i will leave that for a surprise on a later posting.
Hope all is well with you and yours
PS Sherry,my wife and our head cook,was in a month long cooking contest at Makro.She went up against cooks from some very well known eating establishments throughout Davao City and she came out # 1.We are all so proud of her as she has never attended a cooking school or had any formal training. I can honestly say that Sherry is the power behind the success of the “Blue Carabao”.
Francis and Sherry Scott
Blue Carabao eatery
Blue Carabao diner
Davao City
Hello Blogie,interesting to go through and read the reviews of so many food establishments here in Davao.One thing i have noticed is that a lot of restaurants have come and gone in the last tear and a half.It is not an easy business.You constantly have to search for the best products at the best prices in order to survive. I think one thing that has killed a lot of restaurants is greed,either by owners who under-declare their earnings and refuse to give O.R’s.Also the greed of restaurant staff is a problem,stealing food only hurts a business and their fellow workers,some with families who really rely on the job they have to provide for their respected families.
We look after our employee’s,we do not contract,we do a 3 month probation and if it all works out,the person ends up with a full time job starting at minimum wage,SSS,PhilHealth,Pegibeg,plus 13th month pay,paid monthly.The sad thing is that some of the people we have hired,worked at other restaurants in this city and got no benefits plus now where near minimum wage which is just plain criminal.If we at the Blue Carabao can look after employees,do it and survive,why can’t others?
It falls on the shoulders of each consumer to make a conscientious choice when choosing a restaurant to dine at.It is just not about the food.There is nothing wrong with asking the staff at a restaurant about how they are treated,paid ,etc.
If consumers only choose restaurants that not only look after the customer but also their staff,the rest will have to fall in line in order to survive. Everyone benefits
PS Maybe a follow up on the restaurants/. eatery’s that you have on your blog would helpful to those who search through it for information on places that are recommended to eat at.It is like going to a restaurant,looking at a menu, setting your heart on a menu item only to be told,sorry,it is not available.I think it would be the same for any who set their heart on eating at a restaurant/eatery on this list only to see that it no longer exist.Just a friendly suggestion.
PSS You have to check out the world wide web site http://www.tripadvisor.com to see what restaurant is # 1 in Davao City. Tell me if you are surprised.
Hello Francis! I wouldn’t be surprised if it was Blue Carabao that came out on top @ Trip Advisor.
I do agree with you that taking care of your staff is important in a restaurant business. Customers can actually tell the difference between restaurants that do and those that don’t — in those that do, the staff are happy and serve better.
i’d definitely go here!
added it to my itinerary already
You won’t regret it, Eric!
Hello Blogie , just wanted to inform you that the Blue Carabao located on Sobrecarey St will be permanently closed as of May 16 2011 due to a illegal 80% space rental fee.We cannot look after our staff like we do nor offer our food at affordable prices and absorb such a huge rent increase. We have been told by a couple of lawyers that we could fight this illegal rent increase,but we do not want to waste our time and money being tied up in courts for God knows,how long. The landlady personally told me that we are making huge profits and she wants part of it.She sees lots of customers but fails to realize that one person will purchase but shares that meal with one or two other people.We work on a 3% profit margin which means that if we where to stay we would be working for nothing,sorry,not into that.
So we will just concentrate on our location on the bottom of Monteverde St,no more branches of the Blue Carabao.We will focus our efforts on maintaining the taste and variety of meals that we offer.Being consistent in food quality and taste is vital inorder to survive in the restaurant business.
We will miss our old location as we put in five solid years of hard work building the reputation that we have today. Also we take this opportunity to thank you Blogie for it was your blog back in 2008 that gave the Blue Carabao exposure which caused our customers to double in what seemed like over night.
Give us a visit on Monteverde St anytime.
That’s really sad to know, Francis. You’ve been like a fixture on Sobrecarey St. already… I’m very sure a lot of people will be sorry that Blue Carabao will no longer be in Bo. Obrero. It’s embarrassing, the way your landlady is behaving. What a shame some small-minded people look after only their own intetests.
I’ll certainly visit your Monteverde branch soon. I can’t stay without your yummy pochero for too long!
i was really looking forward to visiting the eatery. as someone who was born and raised in obrero, i think that this is quite shameful. sorry to hear, but i will definitely visit the diner soon! (ok, well, in december)
@ blue carabao
hi..
I lived in matina, which is quite far from sobrecary st., but whenever i find myself in the area i would always prefer to eat at blue carabao rather than order from the nearby fastfood joints. When i got married and moved to obrero, i was assured that, when worse comes to worst, i could always rely on blue carabao in case my cooking backfires. Sadly, after just three months of me living in obrero he (my husband) noticed one day that blue carabao’s shutters were shut tight at 11:00am (panic), “baka nagrerenovate lang sila kasi masikip na sa dami ng customers..” (in denial). He had to walk back to our place with instant noodles for a then-sick me (healthy noh?). He found out a few weeks later and told me in outraged tones that our “suking eatery” had to move to a new location because the landlady wanted a cut. Outrageous naman.80%?! The residents, my husband (who has been ordering take-out there since 2006) and some students of USEP are lost w/o their carabao.
By the way, i have always loved the way you color-code your dishes. Do you still do that at Monteverde?
@ sir blogie, can you please update the google map for blue carabao? i am terrible in taking directions kung words lang po..
Hello Misses Santos,great to here from you. Yes,we had to move out of our location on Sobrecarey St because the landlady want some of the millions she thought we where making. Truth be known, the Blue Carabao works a a very small profit margin and was created to provide to provide full time employment {no contract workers} for Filipino. When the notice came that our rent would be increased by 100% ,well we where left with little choice. If you drive by our old location on Sobrecarey St, you will see a business called the Brown Carabao,yes it’s true and it is run by a friend of the landlady,so you see we where forced out so that the landladies friend could take over our location. They even have the same old set up for customers as we did. Sad to say that is the way of business and nothing one can do about it unless you want to spend time and money in a court system that is very questionable.
So we set up business in a space that had a very bad record. 10 restaurants that opened and closed in less than a year. We even had to beg the building owner to let us set up restaurant number 11. We just celebrated 2 years in our location on Monteverde St and which to thank all the people who followed us to our new location. It goes to show that if you build a good business and provide safe good tasting food,the people will follow.
Misses Santos,as a token of our appreciation for your support of the Blue Carabao,we invite you and your husband to Monteverde St for “super on the house”,just see the cashier and tell her that their is a Blue Carabao calling card in the cash drawer with your name on it,just show some picture ID and you and your husband can both enjoy a free meal.
To find the Blue Carabao on Monteverde St , we are straight across from the City of Davao Central Fire Station and just up from Santa Anna Wharf and all the diving shop,very close to Magsaysay Park. You may contact us at 09087557550
Once again we are grateful to all who have made the Blue Carabao what it is today,yes it is you the customer who gives power to the Blue Carabao to be able to provide full time jobs and the best quality food.
The Blue Carabao salutes you all.
knock me down with a feather…
thank you so much for your generosity..my husband’s name is Paulino M. Santos IV..we will surely visit blue carabao sometime next week..thank you..
@ blue carabao
hi..
I lived in matina, which is quite far from sobrecary st., but whenever i find myself in the area i would always prefer to eat at blue carabao rather than order from the nearby fastfood joints. When i got married and moved to obrero, i was assured that, when worse comes to worst, i could always rely on blue carabao in case my cooking backfires. Sadly, after just three months of me living in obrero he (my husband) noticed one day that blue carabao’s shutters were shut tight at 11:00am (panic), “baka nagrerenovate lang sila kasi masikip na sa dami ng customers..” (in denial). He had to walk back to our place with instant noodles for a then-sick me. He found out a few weeks later and told me in outraged tones that our “suking eatery” had to move to a new location because the landlady wanted a cut. Outrageous naman.80%?! The residents, my husband (who has been ordering take-out there since 2006) and some students of USEP are lost w/o their carabao.
By the way, i have always loved the way you color-code your dishes. Do you still do that at Monteverde?
@ sir blogie, can you please update the google map for blue carabao? i am terrible in taking directions kung words lang po..