Cebu's Larsian
A Barbecue Kind of World

When talking about barbecues, Larsian immediately comes to mind. For decades, many have used this name to refer to that smoky stretch of barbecue stands along the nameless road adjacent to Don Gil Garcia street near the Fuente Osmeña Oval with fondness. The place has been the "hideout" for many barbecue lovers over the years.

Although most people do not know how the name originated (even many of the vendors do not), they remain attracted to the rustic stretch of barbecue stands, where the smoke of burning charcoal screens the vision and the low-watted incandescent lights set the mood as they send one teary-eyed onto a humble abode.

The name Larsian actually belonged to one of the first eateries that opened in the area during that opened in the area during the early Seventies. It occupied the largest space and had the most prominent billboard among the rest of the stalls, so that the whole block was named after it, probably for easy reference.

The original Larsian was owned by Ret. Col. Alvino Mondarez. During early Eighties, when he felt that he had enough of the barbecue business, he decided to give it up and pass it on to his family's long-time helper, Irene Payaw. Today Nang Irene owns a stand of her own. Her stall was given another name at the request of her former employers.

Larsian is a blend of two names, Pilar and Siana. Pilar was the mother of Col. Mondarez and Siana was Pilar's twin sister, thus Larsian was born.

The stalls encroach into the unknown street. The structures, poorly built, become shelters where nails protrude and become the gaunt fingers of prodding children. A Santo Niño icon, adorned with now wilting flowers, peers over. Here you simply choose among the piles of meat on skewers: chicken thighs, wings, breast, skin, gizzard, intestines (liston), pork barbecue, pork liver, tocino, chorizo, sausage, dried squid (pusit) and a lot more.

You have them cooked over blazing embers, and then, you devour them with the puso (portable rice), which are conveniently hung on one post. Most customers drown their barbecued meat into a mix of vinegar and soy sauce with, of course, some pinched chilly peppers. It does not take a chef to prepare this, and it takes no more than a hungry person to enjoy it. The place stays awake until the morning sun drives away the darkness.

Eating in Larsian is like being your primal self because things don't have to be complicated. Barbecue and puso have almost become an inseparable duo in Cebuano cuisine. They have gained popularity for faddish reasons - fast food for a fast lifestyle.

Most of the people who frequent the place are people who work during night shifts. They choose to eat there because the prices are affordable. The place has already somehow turned into a tourist attraction. Foreign guests enjoy the variety of barbecued meat. The place was once featured in Philippine Airlines' in-flight magazine Mabuhay in the late 1980s.

In Larsian, when you eat there, it does not matter if you are rich or poor.

Excerpts from an article by Michael Giovan Sarthou