Written August 2010

“We only have breakfast” chirped the lady at the end of my mobile.

“At 1.30pm?” I was perplexed.

“We have specials too”, she pronounced and promptly hung up on me.

Rudeness, a canteen-style restaurant and authentic Filipino food; excellent I decided, sounds like the perfect lunch date.

I met my two mates at Rice Terraces a few hours later and indeed there was a breakfast menu and a list of four specials on the wall. We ordered them all. The phone conversation had obviously been a ‘language issue’ as it transpired that this dinky eatery is staffed by the friendliest people you could hope to meet. Moreover, they are demonstratively proud of their home-cooked food which is not only cheap and delicious but also gives an insight into Filipino culture; a revelation in profit-driven Edinburgh.

We shared Bicol express, pork cooked in coconut or chilli and inihaw na baboy, pork cooked in soy sauce and vinegar (£5.50 and £5.25); also adovong babiy at manok, barbecued pork (£.5.50) and siopaw or dumplings (£2.95). Rose-pink cubes of pork barbecued on skewers was baby tender and salty, the mix of sweet coconut and mild heat in the Bicol express was enhanced by the underlying savoury depth of shrimp paste. The pork cooked with soy and vinegar also contained garlic and ginger which along with bay leaves are common in Filipino cuisine. The dumplings came last; white glutinous marshmallow textured baps the size and shape of implants. They were sweet, meaty and served with a thin peanut sauce.  Dessert was hot, fruity banana and jackfruit spring rolls with cool, milky sweet coconut ice cream (£2.95). I was continually offered ‘more coffee’, hospitality rather than up-selling.

The chef came out to chat about other dishes and ingredients on the menu including, milkfish, stuffed squid, purple yams and traditional stews. She studied home economics at university in the Philippines. Asian influences brought, rice cultivation, soy and ginger to Filipino cuisine whilst the Hispanic brought garlic and onions. The eponymous Banaue rice terraces are a UNESCO world heritage site. They cover about 4000 square miles of mountainside and are often considered an eighth wonder of the world.

We left this unique little eatery with warm glows, full bellies and a unanimous desire to return regularly.