What is the first thing you think about when you are looking for a place to eat? While the first thing that comes to mind is food, a lot of times it just might be not.
Pre-COVID the first question that’s always top of mind was “Tugnaw aircon da? (Is the aircon cold there?)” everytime a discussion on where to go for a food trip is the topic.
While there is the need to eat, the need to eat in comfort is the next most important factor in determining where we normally decide to head to for our stomach exercises.
Dining in a full service restaurant is a must for those who want to enjoy their meals. Sitting on cushioned seats, eating on glossy tabletops with shiny and polished cutlery with uniformed wait staff standing on the side in a cool air- conditioned room are essentials to a satisfying and enjoyable dining experience.
While satisfaction comes from the total dining experience of good food with good service with a lot of ambiance on the side, in my list of must-go-tos are holes-in-the-walls.
So much of the best tasting food I have ever had comes from a hole-in-the-wall carinderia or stall. While Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia have elevated hole-in-the-walls to an art, our country can also boast of super delicious pork barbeque, batchoy, inasal, empanada, among other things, thriving little holes-in-the-wall.
While full service restaurants almost always have ambiance, those that do not are simply bursting with character and I am always drawn to the stories on how they got to where they are today.
Top on my list is Super Batchoy. While it has three branches in the downtown area, I am more inclined to get my fix at their outlet along Cuadra Street which can only seat 15 people max as the batchoy is more flavorful and consistent there. As you wait for your order, you can also hear the snipping of the scissors as the cooks prepare each bowl of batchoy in a tiny kitchen by the side of the entrance.
Sherly’s is located along the highway going South across City Mall in Goldenfields and is a gem when it comes to their version of cansi and inasal. The cansi that they cook daily is left to simmer all day in a coal-fired palayok so the flavor just keeps developing. The inasal that comes from Sherly is unique because they use parts of the chickens and the pigs that are not commonly cooked. I really don’t know all of what goes into their cansi and inasal but I definitely can tell they have put their heart into every stick of chicken they grill and in every bowl of cansi they simmer. Best time to drop by is from 10 to 12 midnight if not for the curfew.
Malaspina Inasal is a small point-and-cook inasal place that is very popular for their cheap but very well-seasoned grilled chicken parts. The hole-in-the-wall is along L.N. Agustin Drive behind Golden Sun Finance. Go early as they sell out fast.
Satisfy your craving for amazing not-too-sweet with just a tinge of sticky pork barbeque that is perfectly seasoned with just the right balance of soft, tender meat with crispy charred bits at Chai Rose BBQ, located in the corner of Stork Street, Homesite. There’s smoke everywhere when you wait for your order but it adds to the anticipation of getting your porky fix.
Many times written about, Luisa’s Fried Chicken is, by far, the only place in Bacolod City or probably in the whole island of Negros that sells the best Hong Kong style Fried Chicken, garlic spare ribs and machang.
I was only 5 years old when they first opened their doors to serve chicken and it is very reassuring to know that the second generation has slowly been getting involved with running my favorite hole-in-the-wall which I believe is on its way to becoming a full service restaurant. Drive along Narra Avenue in the Capitol Shopping Center and you will never miss it. I think I’ll have some for lunch tomorrow.
As I go all over and around Bacolod, I am somewhat disheartened and sad to see so many empty spaces where restaurants used to be. I have reason to believe that hole-in-the-walls are surviving, some even thriving in the midst of the economic crisis that the pandemic has brought about simply because the food they serve is consistent in its deliciousness, character and in their simplicity at very affordable prices. Do you know of a well-kept-secret of a hole-in-the-wall you would like to share with me?
