San Antonio’s most exotic new dining venue, Cebu looks utterly American, with sponge-painted walls and Ella and Louis on the sound system. But open the menu, and you’re in a whole other country: the Philippines, to be precise. Are you ready for kinilaw na manga? I was, especially when the waiter set before me a beautifully arranged platter of mango slices accompanied by a shocking-pink paste made from fermented salted shrimp. The fruit went down easy; the shrimp paste—well, imagine biting into a hunk of Gorgonzola if you had never even heard of cheese. Luckily, various culinary comfort levels are accommodated by chef and co-owner Ronald Brennan, a native of the Philippines who learned his craft at his grandmother’s knee. My date wanted no surprises,…
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