Ante-dinner Pancit Lucban Affair

a take-out food from Buddy's

Dieting is really tough when people around you tempts you with food you surely can't refuse. Yesterday, his mom brought home a box of Buddy's Pancit Lucban! Yes, indeed! It was in a box, like all other take-out food. No longer fo they serve them in bulky bilaos thus sparing them from too much foil and banana leaves!

We used to eat at Buddy's located in the open-air food plaza in Market!Market! when we visit the condo in BGC but I think it was only last year when they had opened a branch along Timog. We'd usually eat the pancit with a dozen on longganisa. Anyway, last night, we just had the pancit.

a hearty serving of pancit Lucban

Location: @home, take-out food from Buddy's

Food Ordered: Pancit Lucban

Cost: not sure

She says...

chomping on another spoonful of pancit!

This pancit from Buddy's is quite yummy. It really carries a different taste as compared to the usual pancit Canton or bihon that's traditionally served every birthday "for long life. Indeed Filipinos have such a number of beliefs and pamahiin. Going back to Buddy's pancit Lucban, it was tasty. The meat in it had bigger slices compared to the usual bits and pieces noted in commonly served pancit. It also had plenty of vegetables in it. It was really flavorful but quite oily at the same time. The pack came with vinegar and adding the vinegar into the pancit lessens the oily, greasy feeling on the palate. I really like this noodle treat. It's really something worth considering when planning the menu for my next birthday.

She rates:4/5

He says...

Buddy's restaurant has really great food and one of their specialty is the Pancit Lucban -- a noodle-type food with lots of toppings. This pancit has a lot of toppings and also varied in types. There are different vegetables and meat in it.

The oil and other seasoning give this food a very strong flavor. It's so strong that even old person can probably taste them.  If you're on a diet. This is not for you. The oil in this thing is so thick that the box it came with is soaked in it.

However, as delicious as this is, this is still not the best pancit out there.

He rates: 4.5/5

Amber's Golden Dinner Set

Imagine this: The rainy season has just (officially?) ended. The heavens have been kind to you and you were provided with a nice and warm weather for the week. What do you do?

Take a nice stroll outside and celebrate by eating out, of course!

And that's exactly what we did. Just conveniently located on the corner of Tomas Morato and Scout Castor streets in Quezon City, we took a small walk to this very simple looking establishment called Amber's Golden Bowl Restaurant. The place doesn't look so much like a typical restaurant in Tomas Morato but more of an upgraded carinderia (filipino. noun. a small food joint).

"Who needs interior designers if you have great food, right?"

The restaurant mostly caters to takeouts (or "To go" for Starbucks fans out there) that's why they only have an ordering counter and some bar stools lining the counter on the first floor. If you prefer to eat in, they have some seats on the second floor. The joint itself is open so you're treated to a bit of al fresco dining.

Alfresco dining - pinoy version

For this little excursion, we ordered the pork barbecue (for the meat) and the restaurant's famous pancit malabon (a noodle based food) and pichi-pichi (a local snack item) - the variant with the cheese. 

Don't be scared. That's just the cheese toppings.

She says...

Amber's Golden Bowl Restaurant reminds me of old chinese restaurants where we used to eat lomi and bihon. The area was not well ventilated. At 3 in the afternoon it was really humid. The barbequed pork tasted like its been prepared hours ago, not even a hint of getting reheated. Although, it did taste sweet and flavorful. The pancit malabon, which is one of their house specialties, had a full taste of atchuete, coconut milk and chicharon. It tasted nice but really the tastiest of all. The pitchi pitchi on the other hand was superb! It just had the right amount of sweetness, with a really soft almost jelly-like consistency and with an overload of grated cheese on top. This perhaps is the best pitchi pitchi that I've ever tasted.

Cool...ed?

She rates: pancit malabon-3.5/5, pork bbq-2.5/5, pitchi pitchi- 5/5

He says...

The pancit malabon tastes really good. Although it is not the best, it is one of the good ones (and I've tasted some really bad ones). Eating this with the egg slices, shrimp cuts and pork barbecue gives you a really satisfied feeling. Just thinking about sends shivers down my spine and a tongue drooling for more.

Drool worthy

Their famous pichi-pichi is famous for a reason -- it is the best pichi-pichi I've tasted in my life! This pichi-pichi itself is very soft and yet solid. It's soft enough to chew easily without stressing your jaws but solid enough to not stick on to your mouth. There are no hard residues (from the cooking process) anywhere in the pichi-pichi which is quite common on other pichi-pichi I've eaten. The cheese only adds more flavor to an already delectable chow. Being a meat lover, I partnered that again with the barbecue and, like in the movie Ratatouille, my whole childhood play right before my eyes.

He rates: 5/5 for this combo!

P.S. They have a site! Check it out HERE!