Taboan Market

Taboan is where Cebu buys pasalubong - the food you are obliged to bring home from a trip - and the specialty is dried fish. Stalls run down both sides of the street piled with danggit, the small rabbitfish split, salted and sun-dried that is eaten fried with garlic rice and vinegar for breakfast, along with dried squid, pusit, tuyo, dilis and various other salted and sun-dried things, plus dried mangoes, chorizo de Cebu, otap biscuits and the rest of the standard Cebu haul. The smell is considerable and carries; vendors will vacuum-seal purchases, which is worth paying for if the fish is going into a suitcase. Prices are quoted by the kilo and haggling is normal. It is a working market rather than a tourist one - loud, crowded and not tidy - and the mornings are when it is fullest and freshest.

What you actually see

• The danggit piles - split, salted rabbitfish by the kilo.
• The dried squid and tuyo - the rest of the dried-fish range.
• The pasalubong stalls - dried mango, chorizo and otap.
• The vacuum sealing - packing for the journey home.

When to go

Mornings, year-round, when stock is fullest. It is busiest before major holidays when everyone is buying pasalubong.

Honest expectations

The smell is strong and clings - have purchases vacuum-sealed. Prices are quoted high to visitors; haggle. Note that some countries restrict importing dried fish, so check before packing it.

Nearby

Cebu City's Parian heritage houses and Magellan's Cross are close; Carbon Market is the larger general market nearby.