How a Bicolano Dish Became a Cubao Staple Thanks to This Humble Stall

Manoy Henry's Special Bicol Pancit Bato
13th Avenue corner P. Tuazon Boulevard, Cubao, Quezon City 
Facebook: www.facebook.com/ManoyHenrys13thAvenue
Contact: 0917-126-7166
Open from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m., Monday to Sunday

(SPOT.ph) At around 2 p.m. people start to gather around the corner of P. Tuazon and 13th Avenue, in the foyer of a building with a pawnshop and a small stall offering notary services. Above the din and smoke of jeepneys roaring on the street outside, you can hear the sizzle of pork fat being rendered, and smell the bite of capsaicin from chilis soaking in vinegar.

This unassuming space is home to one of the most popular meriendas in all of Cubao: Manoy Henry's Special Bicol Pancit Bato. The space is informal to say the least, with none of the creature comforts that one might expect from a place where one might have a meal. But this doesn't stop people from frequenting the stall, making use of whatever odd ledge or step in the area to provide some surface from which to enjoy the noodles.

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Manoy Henry's Special Bicol Pancit Bato in Cubao, Quezon City

The namesake of this humble stall is the patriarch of a Bicolano family in Manila. He has since passed, and it is his children who are carrying on his name by spreading the gospel of Pancit Bato in this somewhat unusual setting. They have inhabited this space for almost three years, and their popularity continues to grow.

Pancit bato is one of the many regional variations of the humble noodle dish. Its most distinctive quality is the noodle itself: a toothsome, hardy sun-dried noodle that might have a tinge of smokiness from being processed over coals. The noodles Manoy Henry's uses are shipped in from Bicol. It's cooked in a broth that is equally hardy: rendered pork mixed with soy sauce, vinegar, root vegetables, and a variety of flavorings. Often, it is topped with a ladleful of dinuguan, or a hard boiled egg.

A basic bowl of just the noodles and the broth at at Manoy Henry's is just thirty pesos. Even if you get both toppings, the entire combination only costs fifty pesos. They use noodles of two thicknesses, creating a satisfying variation of texture. If you need more acid, squeeze on some calamansi. If you need some Bicolano heat, there is a jarful of chili sauce on the counter, and another jarful of dried chili powder. You can also get buns or rice, if somehow the noodles aren't enough to fill you up. The space may be humble, but the options are plentiful.

It's not hard to understand why this place is so popular; why there are people sitting on the floor slurping down these noodles in this hot, noisy space. It's a cheap, deeply satisfying bowl of food, full of big, savory flavors that stick to your gut and keep your energy up through another endless afternoon of work. It's exactly what meriendas ought to be.

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