I never thought there there are still places in the metro who sells good Filipino dishes with a twist! Not until I was asked to be at Buddy's at the Araneta Link. The place is quite small and not so busy during that time. It can seat less than 100 person I pressume. The interior is nice. It reminds you easily of a place somewhere in the provinces.
We took and seat and Alex ordered the foods. We have no idea of exactly whare are the foods that she ordered. It's her treat anyways so I don't really care. After we took our seat, the waiter served us what appeared to be fried noodles. Quite a nice starter for a full meal ahead.
The first to arrive is the never ending BULALO. The serving would be enough for 3 persons. It tastes good as well yet it's not expensive. We started digging it out while waiting patiently for the "RICE" to arrive as well. The beef of the "BULALO" we ordered is so tender that you hardly need any force to chew it or even separate it. The saltiness of the broth is perfect to my taste. The veggies are still crisp and not overcooked at all. It's really a nice treat to one's pallate. We are already almost done with the Bulalo when the rest of the foods arrived. We have "Pancit Lucban", "Hardinera", "Sisig Pusit" and Casava cake for desert!
The pancit Lucban taste good as well. It has a hearty serving of vegetables and lechon kawali. It was their first time to eat it though so i told them that It would go well with the "suka" or vinegar. They took my advise and fell in love with the dish more. like the Bulalo, the cost is not that much. The serving would be more than enough for 3 persons as well. Well, it should be good in the first place since the restaurant seems to offer home cooked food of the Quezon Province.
Next that fascinates me more is what appeared to be a baked "menudo". The dish is not called Menudo or Baked Menudo anyways. It's rather called "Hardinera". I tried tasking it and easily fell in love with the dish. It also has melted cheese on top that added some twist on the dish itself. Moreso, the vegetables in the dish itself was cooked well. The sourness of the tomato added flavor and blended well with the dish. It was indeed my first time eating that dish and I'll definitely gonna be there and taste it once more.
The last among the dishes that was served, Sisig Pusit catches my interest the more. I know that there are lot's of sisig but I never imagined that pusit can be made into sisig. It's spicyness added more twist to a regular meal. If you're drinking, the sisig itself can be made a very good pulutan. I wish the management had given me the recipe. Hahaha!!!
It was a very good meal. We really enjoyed and got bloated but not exactly spending too much. The foods reminds me of home when my mom and dad would cook. For me, the place really boasts a meal cooked inside the comforts of your home.
