the best eating place is not the cleanest of them all... who cares as it has the best liempo!

the protocol goes this way. approach the main table and choose your viand. the inihaw (broiled) food ranges from tilapia, stuffed milkfish, fillets of marlin, medium sized squid, and liempo (pork belly). there are also other choices such as bulalo (boiled beef bones), menudo, dinuguan, adobo, etc. in short, the dishes except for the fish are all major causes of a heart attack! vegetables are scarce and cost as much as the meat dishes.

there's either a fork or a tong on the tray of the broiled food. for the liempo, you have to choose your piece and put it on the chopping board. a lady will chop it for you.she'll hand that to you along with a saucer with chili and calamansi. another lady will approach where you are seated and hand over your cup of rice. another attendant will come over and give you a small bowl of hot and tasty beef soup. the table will have a bottle of soy sauce.

squeeze the calamansi. crush the chili. pour the soy sauce. pour some soup on your rice. dip a slice of pork in the soy sauce and spoon some rice with it into your mouth.

in all my years of eating inihaw na liempo, this is the best. even the fish is fresh and tasty. however, i actually go there for the free broth. it's what makes the experience fulfilling. the whole meal costs P60 with no drinks. the liempo can feed two persons. i don't order extra rice because it's P10, quite expensive.

so, what if the place is not exactly the cleanest. in fact, they've already changed the seats (still plastic but firmer now) and added a bottle of vinegar for the whole area. the floor has been cemented and the roof is made of canvas now. i don't go there during lunch time, though as seats will be hard to find.