Habra Covina Cafe Restaurant - Sta. Cruz, Davao del Sur

About a kilometer from the fork of the road from Sta. Cruz, Davao del Sur, passing through Sta, Cruz Cemetery, straddling barangay Tuban, I found a seemingly misplaced restaurant in the middle of nowhere. The surrounding area are coconut plantations and a sprinkling of small houses. It's called Habra Covina Ihaw-Ihaw Cafe Restaurant facing the national highway that services Davao City to Digos road.

For just PhP99, you can have a buffet of endemic gastronomic servings found in the province - nothing too fancy, but it's the variety that's the catch.

On the buffet table was what they call "lokot", which is believed to be a digested seaweed; some calling it sea cucumber's (trepang) "shit". The whole serving looks like a greenish gelatinous noodle that others erroneously consider "fish shit" - which it isn't. Lokots are usually served raw with a sprinkling of onions, parsley and sometimes, a sweet-savory sauce.

The menu changes daily, but we caught kinilaw, boiled chicken parts, squid dipped in its dark ink sauce, tasty meatballs, clams, some fried fish, a fish-based soup, and my favorite - the sweetish "humba" (must have enjoyed three returns). There are desserts served depending on your day of visit.

This seemingly secluded restaurant is said to be owned by the Otbo family of Digos City, and is competently run by its friendly staff of three (waitress/cashier, cook, janitor). Its clientele are the well heeled denizens of the province who prefer serene dining here. We caught a mayor of a small town and a lady and her daughter on their way to Davao City. Though the restaurant opens at 7AM for a la carte servings, buffet starts at 9 AM onward. Restaurant closes at 7PM and has a "no leftover" policy for their buffet meal.

Meatballs

Lokot - sea cucumber's digested end product, served raw with onion, parsley and a sweet and savory sauce.

Clams

Humba - a Visayan pork dish thats sweet, sugary and reddish on sauce. Ingredients include pork hocks, crushed garlic cloves, packed brown sugar, vinegar, soy sauce, bay leaf, pepper, oil, salt, potatoes, and the optional hard boiled eggs. Humba used to be exclusively served in mountain villages and far flung towns but has since enjoyed popularity throughout Visayas and Mindanao.