What do you eat when you’re in Malabon? Well, pancit Malabon, of course.

The birthplace of pancit Malabon, there are numerous panciterias offering this noodle delicacy in the city. But where can you actually get the best pancit Malabon in Malabon? And what if you don’t live there, are there panciterias offering pancit Malabon that are at par with those in Malabon City? As a kid who actually grew up in Malabon and has tasted innumerable bilaos of pancit Malabon for every occasion—and still wants more—let me share the best pancit Malabon I’ve tried, not only in Malabon itself, but in the whole of Metro Manila as well.

A TYPICAL BILAO OF PANCIT MALABON

To be sure, there are still pancit Malabon restaurants that I’ve yet to try. So, I will definitely update this article from time to time as I try new pancit places in the city. If you also have suggestions for the best pancit Malabon, just drop a comment and I will try my best to visit it too.

Note that this list is not in any order. My advice is to try each one out, as they almost always have something unique to offer.

We were on our annual daytrip to Tagaytay with my parents, and as usual, we were unprepared on where we would eat. I’ve tried bringing them to the Mahogany Market bulaluhan the year before, but they don’t seem to fancy the food being hawked there.

With a couple of hours to spare en route, I Googled for some of the most interesting places to eat in Tagaytay—there are a lot, but I’m particularly looking for a somewhat inexpensive one. What I found was a pancit batil patong place in Tagaytay, with prices that seemed friendly enough.

So, before heading to the Tagaytay City Hall, which is what we really came to the city for, we stopped at MASINGngo Restaurant first for lunch.

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It was by pure chance that we got to sample a relatively new pancit batil patong place in Quezon City. Coming from Tandang Sora , we alighted on a jeep at General Avenue en route back home, and by pure luck chanced upon Noa’s Diner. From its simple tarp sign, you’d assume it’s just another carinderia, but I did a double take as we passed it—I saw a sign printed on bond paper posted on their wall proclaiming they serve our favorite noodle dish in the Philippines!

THAT SMALL SIGN PRINTED ON BOND PAPER HAD US GOING INSIDE

Pancit batil patong, as you probably know by now since I can’t stop talking about it here on my blog, is a noodle dish that originated in Tuguegarao City. What’s different with it from all the usual pancit in the country is that they mix in carabeef  and top it with poached egg. The miki or noodle they use is also unique to the city, so most panciteria serving this in Manila actually buy theirs all the way from Cagayan, transporting them using public buses that ply the province to and from Manila. It’s actually one of the reasons why most pancit batil patong restaurants in the metro are located near bus stations that have routes going to Cagayan Valley. It’s such a surprise then to find a panciteria such as Noa’s Diner quite a way away from any bus stations.

We were on our way to a foodtrip weekend at Taal Vista Tagaytay, call time was still at five in the afternoon and the meeting place was in Cubao. With a few hours to spare, I was racking my brains on what to do to while away the time when I remembered a comment I received on my Facebook page about a pancit batil patong place near Cubao.

Together with my constant pancit companion, C, we headed to Anonas to find Jenter Food Hauz Pancit Tuguegaro. Going there was easy enough. From the corner of EDSA and Kamuning, we boarded a Project 2-3 jeepney and alighted at the corner of Anonas and Bigna Street. From there the panciteria is just a hop away.

Ever since frequenting Quirino Highway in Quezon City, I’ve always passed by an old panciteria near the Sangandaan intersection. Aling Leoning’s Special Pancit Palabok, it humbly proclaimed above its doors. I’ve always thought of trying out their food, but I always gravitate to the nearby Jollibee and its mouthwatering Chickenjoy. About two weeks ago, together with A and BG, I finally got the gumption to avoid the bee, enter the old panciteria, and try their noodles.

LEONING’S SIMPLE INTERIORS

Aling Leoning’s naturally lighted interiors is straightforward enough. A foyer leads diners to a counter where they take your order, you then turn right to the small dining hall filled with a combination of heavy iron and rattan chairs paired with marble-topped tables. The furnishing was more fitting for a garden, than say, a panciteria, but I guess it gets the job done.

If you have been following my blog, you know I have this obsession with pancit batil patong, a noodle dish famous in Tuguegarao City. During the years I’ve travelled to Baguio City, I have never thought that we would find the said delicacy on its street.

BAGUIO’S ATHLETIC BOWL BUS STATION NEAR BURNHAM PARK

By chance, I tried to googling it, just for the heck of it, and was quite surprised to find a hit. Google told of a panciteria inside the La Azotea building along Session Road, the same building that houses Kidlat Tahimik’s famous Oh My Gulay! restaurant and our go to inuman place in Baguio, 108 Session Road Cafe.

Right then and there, we trooped towards the building, only to find that the panciteria has already closed down. Not losing hope, we asked the on duty guard if he knows where it relocated. He said that he really didn’t know, but being from Tuguegarao himself, he knew a pancit batil patong place in Baguio City. Head on to the Athletic Bowl Bus Station, he said.

I was quite surprised. I have never seen Tuguegarao’s famous noodle cuisine—pancit batil patung—served on swanky boat dishes. The miki and its excess of veggies and carabeef, were on the main part of the dish. The chopped onions, on the prow. And the soup on separate bowls. I was fervently hoping for it to taste as good as it looked.

We were at Mommy Alma’s Bulalohan & Pancit Batil Patung place in front of GMA 7. Located on the corner of EDSA and Timog Avenue, this is probably the most conveniently located batil patong place in Metro Manila. If we find their noodles good, we’d probably be here every time we get the chance to cross EDSA.

With Rapsatodits—the nearest pancit batil patong experience in Quezon City—closing down, we were kinda hard-pressed where to get our fix when the craving attacks for our favorite northern noodle dish without going all the way to Paco’s Jibs and Bustillos’ Cagayan’s Best. As luck would have it, one of my common friends in Facebook tagged me on their batil patung find that’s just a ride away from Trinoma, Weng’s Pancit Batil Patung.

SIMPLE AND UNASSUMING STORE FRONT

Located on Del Monte Avenue, just a few steps away from West Avenue along Quezon Triangle, Weng’s place is an unassuming open-aired panciteria. A bright red tarpaulin announces that they do serve Cagayan Valley’s famous pancit.

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So, what’s pancit cabagan like? I asked my pancit buddy as we were going through a plate of pancit batil patong at Ed’s Panciteria in Tuguegarao. She said that it’s a bit similar to what we were having now, except they use hard-boiled quail eggs and pork instead of poached chicken eggs and carabeef. Plus, she went on, it’s much more saucy.

That got me really curious. With my love affair with pancit batil patong, I guess it really wouldn’t hurt to fall in love with another northern noodle dish.

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It’s not where I want to eat, it’s what I want to eat. We were headed to Manila, and I knew right then what my buddy was craving for when I asked her for lunch, a plate filled with noodles from north of the Philippines, pancit batil patong.

I know just the place where we could get one without going all the way to Tuguegarao City.

► SEE: TUGUEGARAO TRAVEL GUIDE

CAGAYAN’S BEST’S OPEN-AIRED SET UP, WE DECIDED TO EAT OUTSIDE

Having previously tried most of the panciterias selling pancit batil patong in Metro Manila, I knew that going to Cagayan’s Best Pancit Batil Patong would be a challenge. Most of these eateries are located on out of the way places, along unknown and narrow streets. This one, near the Bustillos area in Sampaloc, proved to be the same.

There is absolutely no argument, Jomar’s has the best pancit batil patong in Tuguegarao, but we were tipped off that it has another branch near the city’s Buntun Bridge; a branch of sort anyways, Jasmine-Jomar’s Panciteria. With our obsession with this noodle dish at fever pitch, we hailed a tricycle one afternoon and decided to check it out for ourselves.

BUNTUN BRIDGE IN TUGUEGARAO

We timed our visit right before sunset, might as well take some photos of Buntun Bridge, the longest bridge this side of the Philippines, along the way. We looked for a way down the banks of Cagayan River, hoping to find a nice spot to pass the time and ready our tummies for another bout of pancit batil patong.

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I became obsessed with pancit batil patong after trying out a plate at a roadside panciteria in Tuguegarao City a couple of years back. I’ve scoured Manila since then, trying to find that perfect eatery that serves the same pancit dish. It wasn’t as easy as I thought it would be. Looking for a restaurant selling one was hard enough, finding one that has the same legit flavor as those in Tuguegarao was nearly impossible.

INSIDE JOMAR’S PANCIT BATIL PATONG IN TUGUEGARAO

After several restaurants, I thought I finally found the perfect one at Jibs Pancit Batil Patung in Manila. My taste buds thought it has that same zest as those in Tuguegarao City—where this particular noodle dish came from. But during my recent trip to this city up north, I tried out the pancit being offered at Jomar’s Pancit Batil Patung, and realized I thought wrong.

► CHECK OUT: PANCIT BATIL PATONG IN METRO MANILA

It was literally along the street of Tuguegarao City where I first had my taste of the region’s famous pancit batil patong noodle dish.

We arrived in the city’s downtown area around eight in the evening. We bought a few cans of Red Horse from a grocery store and before going back at Pensione Joselina (now Hotel Joselina Tuguegarao), where we were staying, we passed a makeshift, hawker-style eatery set along one of the main avenues of the city. And since it looked quite popular with the locals, we decided to try it out for ourselves.

The rest, as they say is history.

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EVENINGS AT TUGUEGARAO CITY

During our recent visit to Tuguegarao City, we were determined to find this guerilla-type pancit batil patong stall again, not only to relive that first moment where I tasted my now ultimate favorite noodle dish in the country, but also to have another taste of their offerings.

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I tasted my first pancit batil patong dish the night before at a guerilla-type roadside eatery along Bonifacio Street near Hotel Joselina Tuguegarao, where we were staying. I was instantly hooked.

This was about two years ago and it was my first time to visit Tuguegarao City. The next morning, we hunted for a proper panciteria, asking locals as we went along. They were all saying the same thing, go to the Tuguegarao Cathedral, there’s one along its left wing. We followed their advice and we found Ed’s Panciteria (amazingly, it was just across Jomar’s Panciteria, which would later become our favorite pancit batil patong restaurant).

INSIDE ED’S PANCITERIA’S SIMPLE INTERIORS

It was basically a shack with a bare ceiling, unfinished floor with a few plastic chairs and makeshift tables. The thing that made us decide to eat there was the number of locals having their fill of their noodles, a good indication that this place serves a mean dish.

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My favorite noodle dish in the Philippines has always been Tuguegarao’s pancit batil patong. But I’ve always been curious about its kissing cousin, the pancit cabagan, an almost similar noodle cuisine found about an hour or so from Tuguegarao City, originating from a town whose name it came from.

CABAGAN MIKI BEING SOLD AT THE MARKET

Coming from another town in the province of Isabela where we visited the Tumauini Church, we decided to drop by the municipality of Cabagan before heading to Tuguegarao City. Our only purpose in doing so was to have a taste of its pancit. It can’t get more authentic than having my first taste of pancit cabagan at Cabagan itself.

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With my pancit batil patong craving satiated the previous day at Akel’s Panciteria, it was time to hunt for the next best thing, pancit cabagan. The said noodle dish, famous in the town of Cabagan, Isabela, took more than two hours to find.

From Quirino’s capital,Cabarroguis, we boarded a jeepney to the town of Nagtipunan. And our first stop before rocking the Siitan River Cruise? MJ Snack and Pancit Cabagan Restaurant. It cannot be more perfect.

MJ SNACK AND PANCIT CABAGAN RESTAURANT

The humble panciteria is located at a roadside somewhere in Barangay Ponggo in Nagtipunan. It seats about fifteen people and serves nothing but pancit cabagan; well aside from stray orders of inasal na manok and liempo.

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One of the things I was really looking forward to during our visit to Quirino Province was Cagayan Valley’s regional noodle dish, pancit batil patong. Granted, this particular pancit is really from Tuguegarao City, but it’s such a popular dish that most provinces along the region has panciterias peddling them.

One such place is Akel’s Panciteria, which is located right along the main road of Cabarroguis, the province’s capital town.

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AKEL’S PANCITERIA’S OPEN-AIRED INTERIORS

Quirino has such a provincial vibe that restaurants are quite hard to come by—most folks simply cook their own meals. So I was overjoyed to learn that among the few food places in town, there’s a panciteria selling pancit batil patong near Capitol Plaza Hotel where we were staying.

Akel’s Panciteria is an open-aired shed-type eatery. It has a very native feel with its unpainted wood and thatch roofing. It opens to a gravel atrium with a few huts parallel to the shed.

It’s quite basic, but I kinda like how airy its atmosphere was.

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It was past eight in the evening as we rolled along the Zobel Roxas street somewhere in Makati City and stopped at a talyer where sleek sports cars were being serviced.

I thought we were going to a batchoy house? I asked my companions.

Yup, we are, this is it.

Welcome to Antonio’s LaPaz Batchoy House. Located at a barangay aptly named La Paz, it is somewhere between the boundaries of Makati and Manila. It looks like any ordinary eatery except it’s not. Here, they serve two of Iloilo’s specialty noodle dishes, batchoy and molo, plus a few more.

It seems that we are not alone in our quest to find the best Tuguegarao pancit in Metro Manila. From the post I did regarding our Jonash pancit batil patong experience, a reader commented about another place that serves this noodle somewhere in Manila’s Quirino Avenue. Without hesitation, we immediately trooped to the place to see if it’s any good.

The name of the place is Jibs Batil-Patung Pancit Tuguegarao. I searched Google Maps for its location and found it listed near Manila Zoo. Unfortunately, the listing is incorrect. Good thing I saved the panciteria’s number and asked for directions to their place. We were off by more than a kilometer, it turns out.

Located near the corner of Quirino Avenue and Angel Linao Avenue near the Paco Market, we finally found Jibs panciteria.

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The hunt for Tuguegarao’s iconic pancit batil patong continues even as we travel. This time, while in Vigan City, we quickly googled through the interweb, looking for traces of this noodle dish near the the area. Since we were in the northern territories of the Philippines, we thought that the chances of a panciteria selling our favorite pancit would be quite high. Right?

Our web search turned up zero results.

It wasn’t until our second to the last day of exploring Vigan when we chanced upon a security guy from Hotel Luna, Sir Medrano we called him. After accidentally finding out that he hails from Cagayan Valley, we immediately asked if he knows a panciteria selling pancit batil patong in Vigan City.

Well, not exactly in Vigan, he says, but I know one near Bantay Church, which in all practicality is almost part of the city.

That same afternoon, on foot, we traversed the Meztizo River and went out of Vigan City. We desperately wanted a plate of pancit batil patong.

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