Where to Eat
BIGG'S
They say you've never been to Bicol, if you haven't been to Bigg's. And it won't probably be hard to find a store near you as it's literally all over the place. We ordered crispy chicken, one of the dishes they're famously known for and yes it lived up to its promise. Crunchy and delish. I ordered 2pc chicken (P179) and I got stuffed already. Hubby ordered the same crispy chicken with carbonara and a slice of pizza (P185). Bigg's reminded me of Friday's when it comes to ambience but priced affordably.
1st Colonial Grill
Every post I read recommend this place. Like Bigg's, it's also all over the place. For lunch on our first day here, we ordered Kadingga (P195) (Bicol's version of bopis), Pinangat (P99) and Tinapa fried rice (P255). We didn't like kadingga that much as it's on the sweet side but the Pinangat was the real winner and it wasn't even the kind that's stuffed with ground pork. It was just all taro leaves. Why I never loved anything gata when I was younger was beyond me. Now I want to learn how it's done the Bicolano way.
The day we left for Manila we had our last Bicolano meal again here, it was supposed to be just a meryenda but we opted for a heavier meal as the trip would be 12 hrs and we wouldn't have liked a hasty meal during stopovers.
Pork sisig Pinakbet Meal, (P149) with tinapa rice and pink lemonade. I enjoyed both pork and veggies. Usually pinakbet would just be an a-ok dish but this one's really good. I thought combo meals are just put together with nary a care of how it tastes you know, just to tide over hunger for those with little budget.
Combo2
Lechon kawali Pansit Canton Meal, (P169) with tinapa rice and soda. Same with this meal, I also didn't expect much but I was glad it was satisfying and was worth more than the price would have suggested.
You don't leave 1st Colonial without trying their famous sili ice cream (P45/cup). I left that challenge to hubby as I'm not really ma-sili. He chose level 2 and when I tasted it, half a spoonful's enough to grab me a glass of water. Hubby says it was first okay until it lingers at the back of your tongue. He liked it. Pili ice cream (P45/cup) was just like vanilla. There's pili okay but it was creamy that I thought there was more milk than the nut. It was good actually, I loved it too. They also offer gabi ice cream, salabat ice cream, tinutong na bigas ice cream and more not-your-ordinary ice cream.
They also have Bicol Express fruit shake (P69) here but we dared not try. Like the ice cream, hubby also ordered level 2 of the sili shake, it was actually mango with sili (P55). I sipped as usual just to say I tried and again I found it too strong for me liking.
Another food joint you must not miss. It's like Goldilocks in Manila. They say they offer good chocolate and yema bread (P48 each) and so we ordered them and brought home to Manila with us. My family liked it a lot. We also tried others on their menu.
Bicol Special, P140
Pinangat's never a disappointment in this region. I started my love affair for this dish here in Naga.
Blueberry cheese cup, P34
Halo halo special, P95
Desserts we tried to cap off the night.
Small Talk Cafe
Hubby read a blog where one backpacker strongly suggested a meal here. It was compelling enough that we searched Legazpi for it. And he was right. We had late lunch here and we stayed a little longer for meryenda too where we ordered coffee and desserts, all for P613.
Pasta Pinangat, P130
Another pinangat love. I never thought that this takaw-kanin dish can ever be paired with anything other than rice. It's one dish best described as "maghahanap ng kanin" so my surprise when both pasta and the creamy pinangat, blend perfectly well, like they're bestfriends. Perfect combo truly.
Bicol Express, P60
Another dish that's partnered only with rice. I love bagoong so any dish that comes with it is worth the try no matter how many sili they put in it. hehe
Guinobaton Longsilog, P135
Guinobaton's isn't up there in my list of favorite longanizas but it's not a disappointment either. It was okay lang. I wouldn't order it again but I wouldn't mind giving it another try if it's served again, if that makes sense.
Pili pie
It's like a pudding with pili. Nothing special there but it isn't a waste of money either.
Pili ice cream
I liked it the first time so it's not a surprise if I'll have it again.
Iced Tea, bottomless
It was unlimited so I enjoyed 4 cold glasses. It was a thirst-quenching balm for me for the walk all day not to mention of the beastly heat that afternoon. It was P50 only so it was a steal. And it was that good.
Breakfast Meals
For Sunday and Monday mornings, we had our breakfast here courtesy of Naga Land Hotel. We just paid an additional P50 per head per day and we were served breakky meals with a choice: continental, like these meals we had or filipino, which are the silog meals.
Toasted siopao, P8
Usually served warm, with ground pork filling. But even if it got cold when we had it as baon it was still good.
Our food trip in Bicol was satisfying. Although we weren't able to explore more due to limited time it was still my favorite trip ever. Try as much gata dish as you like or as many pili treats you can have or enjoy any dish loaded with as much sili as you like, it will all be better and worthwhile here.
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