What I ate and bought at Mercato Centrale

Yesterday I finally went to Mercato Centrale at The Fort. It was my first time to go to an outdoor market. Can you believe I haven’t been to Salcedo, Legaspi or Greenhills markets yet?

Mercato is just behind Serendra condominiums. We got there around 9:30 and there were lots of people already.There was sufficient paid parking around the tents.

We went in through the outdoor grill area.

What I ate.

The first thing we did when we got there was to head straight to Bale Dutung’s stall before the line gets long. While in the queue Rochelle’s son bought taclings from the stall across. Taclings were mini tacos in egg trays. You have to pop the whole thing in your mouth so you can eat the ground beef, tomatoes and sour cream at the same time. Not bad at all. 

Mr. & Mrs. Taclings

Without a doubt the stall of Claude Tayag’s Bale Dutung was the most popular in Mercato. When we got the there the line was about 5 people deep. Around 10:30 there were only 3 people in line. At 11:30 the line went around the corner. I pity the stalls that were blocked by the people in line.

Bale Dutung Pan de Bagnet P150

This reminded me of the porchetta sandwich in San Francisco’s Ferry Terminal.  The skin was as crisp as it looked.

I took a bite of Rochelle’s Pan de Bagnet and found it just ok. The meat was tender and I liked the vinaigrette.

Bale Dutung Lechon Tortilla P150

I tried a bit of the crispy lechon flakes and found it dry and lacking in taste. I wanted to change my order to the pan de bagnet but the server told me to try it. I took a chance and went ahead with it since all the people in front of me bought that too.

This was supposed to have lots of cilantro but since I hate cilantro with a passion so I told them to skip it.

I groaned when I took the first bite. The crispy lechon flakes soaked up the oriental sauce, vinaigrette and kimchi. There was an explosion of all sorts of flavors from sweet, sour and spicy. It was simply amazing! One of the best sandwiches I’ve ever eaten. Now I understand the long lines. I want to go back to eat this.

Warren bought an oyster cake from Cheryl’s Cuisine for all of us to share.

I don’t like oyster cake and never eat it but I tried this oyster cake. Oh my. It was so good! There was lots of fresh oysters, it wasn’t too slimy and it was cooked to a crisp. I also loved the sweet spicy sauce that came with it. I’m now an oyster cake fan. I bought an additional two orders to take home.

oyster cake P140

I also bought a pigeon which I ate for dinner. It wasn’t as soft as the owner promised but it wasn’t bad at all.  I also bought their kiampung which was made with Japanese rice and didn’t have msg. Yummy!

pigeon P300

For dessert I had a scoop of earl grey tea from Merry Moo. It had a really strong tea flavor and it wasn’t as sweet as regular ice cream.

P60/scoop P230/pint

What I bought. 

I love savory pies and since I saw Lori’s review on Tina’s pies I immediately bought some to try.

I bought the cheese steak, chicken and bacon and beef and San Miguel beer. The pies cost from P200-P230 each. I was disappointed she didn’t have the lamb and the salmon and prawns were out of stock. The pies are currently stored in the freezer until I’m ready to eat them.

I also bought a small biko or bibingka malagkit from Q’s Kitchen. It’s the best! Soft and sweet.

Rochelle and Chris went gaga over the oatmeal, sultana and pinipig crispy cookies.

Warren and I got sales talked into buying the bignay tea made from branches, twig and bark of the bignay tree. It was supposed to cure high blood pressure, cholesterol, triglycerides, diabetes, acne, uti, asthma, erectile dysfunction and many other diseases medical science has yet to find cures for.

What the guy said that convinced us to buy was, “it can reduce your belly size.” Then he looked at me and said, “but it won’t reduce the size of the arms and legs.” I wish I had a bignay branch or tree to hit him with.

bignay tea P100

sweet pineapple from Ormoc Farms P55

So here’s my purchases from Mercato Centrale.

What I would like to try next time.

Rodrigo’s roast beef belly with wickedly good mashed potatoes

macarons

kyoto macha milk tea from Tea.ology

Interesting but no thanks.

Offbeat Kitchen’s Krispy Kreme glazed donut burger and
Ensaymada chorizo burger

I got a kick out of the big ass fan that provided a cool and quiet breeze in the outdoor dining area.

There were so many, many other food stalls selling paella, barbecue, fried chicken, sausages, tapa and lots of cake stalls. But after the super yummy lechon tortilla, oyster cake and countless free samples I was too full to try anything else. I definitely have to go back and try other food. But then I want to eat the lechon tortilla again. What a conundrum!

Mercato Centrale
corner of 9th Ave. and 30th St., Bonifacio Global City


Bale Dutung
Villa Gloria Subdivision, Angeles City, Pampanga
telephone: 668-4038, 502-4527
cellphone: 0917-5359198


Merry Moo Artisan Ice Cream
Kelvin Ngo   0917-5289590
merrymoo@ymail.com 


Cheryl’s Cuisine
Franklin and Belen So
telephone: 255-2628, 514-8699
cellphone: 0916-6291627

Savoury Pies by Tina Raines
cellphone: 0917-8310925 / 0918-6367952
savourypies@gmail.com


Aro Baro Churo’s Bignay Tea
Fred Lee
telephone: 775-9352
cellphone: 0922-8920331