Manyaman, Lami, Namets!

i kind of figured that it was a full moon yesterday. i had this craving to sink my fangs on something meaty. roar.

kapampangan is arguably the best in fiipino cuisine and who would have thought that one would find a bistro specializing in manyaman (pampangan word for delicious) food right in the center of Cebu City?

I settled for a lunch date with my cousin (something that's three months late!) in bop bernie's (click on read.more for restaurant details) because there's nothing better than catching up on stories over great food and they offer something for every palate.

callos, lengua, stuffed squid, dinuguan na maasim, lechon kawali, mestizang bangus, bangus sa gata, sisig. i've sampled each and every one of these dishes in previous visits but my favorite is the sizzling pork steak.

size does matter. and this slab of pork meat rubbed deep with 16 spices, grilled and set on a hot sizzling plate delivers on its promise. humongous. there's no other way to describe the portions and it is meant to be shared. except that i want one for myself. u-huh.

the filipino obsession with white skin carried on to a dish named mestizang bangus. which is actually de-boned milk fish lightly rubbed with pepper and salt then stuffed with onion, tomatoes and garlic before it is drizzled with cane vinegar, wrapped in foil then steamed to perfection. The vinegar marinates the scales until they turn a milky white, thus the moniker "mestiza".



i kidded my cousin that rubbing vinegar on her skin won't make her white. just stinky. gluthathione is all the rage with everyone wanting to turn a shade whiter but malathione is a quicker and faster solution: turn white, stiff and dead in a matter of minutes. anyways, enough with the diversion...

the funniest part is, i don't really know which ones are originally kapampangan except for the sisig and dinuguan sa asim. i hear they serve kamaru (or apan apan, or stir fried dried grasshopper) but since my only reaction to insects around food is to swat if off, i really don't have any intention to order one. just check out the food items i listed above, proven, taste-tested and digested. you can definitely add this to your list of food-finds in the city.

Bop Bernie's
Telephone Number (?)
Don Gil Garcia St.
Cebu City,
Philippines

ps. right beside verbena pensione house.

you have got to sample the home-made achara with bitter gourd, carrots, and ginger.

NOTE

This original post was published December 13, 2008. Unfortunately, Bob Bernies closed their branches in Don Gil Garcia and Paseo Banawa. Another great dining place that suffered from poor marketing. It is my fervent hope that cebuanos discover more of these places to keep these gems alive.