Foraging at the Food Market

Banilad Town Center (BTC) plays host to Cebu Food Market [0933 467 5890] every Saturday from 10AM to 9PM. Various vendors ply their ware at the ground floor of BTC, and there's something new to discover each week. At the time of my visit, the market offered lechon belly, rice meals, siomai (dumplings), brownies, potato nuggets, paella, empanada, and veggie burgers.

If I were a bottomless pit, I would have taken a bite out of every food item offered. Since I am not a bottomless pit nor my pocket, these are the lucky ones who got acquainted with my palate:
From left to right: Chorizo paella with egg, chorizo empanada, potato nuggets, and spicy lechon belly with rice.
Toni's Patatas Nuggets0927 884 8469


This Japanese guy, Toni, has a little stove and a pot of oil ready for deep frying nuggets and lumpia. The food on his table don't look too interesting. That's what I thought. But don't judge the food by its presentation. I was delighted to find the nuggets to be mashed potatoes. It went well with their homemade sauce but would have been better with the Japanese mayonnaise (they ran out of mayo at that time). I was also able to try their potato nugget sandwich on another day, and who would have thought that potatoes as palaman (sandwich filling) would be good? Couldn't say much for the lumpia though since I didn't try it.
Dos HermanosAlfonso Martinez#47 2nd St. Paradise Village, Banilad, Cebu City(032) 232 8693 / 0917 620 8764fonso_zenitram@yahoo.com.phIn another corner, a Spanish-looking guy, helped by two ladies, sells chorizo paella, chorizo empanada, and paella balls. No for sale sign for Spanish chorizo but they do sell such, priced per kilo. I found the portion size for the chorizo paella too small for its price (Php 120). As for its taste, I was a bit disappointed, but blame it on my expectations. The chorizo empanada was forgettable (I already forgot how it tasted). I took home half a kilo of Spanish chorizo and my mother loves it (and to think she doesn't like anything spicy). We had it for breakfast every day until our supply ran out.
Belly InThingAutogas Station, Sanson Rd. Lahug, Cebu City0933 336 1045bellyinthing@gmail.comOpen daily from 1130AM to 2AM (Closed at 3PM on Sundays)Boneless lechon belly and Pinakupsan
You can also ask for the tasty belly stuffing. They give some for free.
Boneless lechon belly has been all the rage recently in Cebu. This table at the far end of the food market is manned by two Filipinas. They sell  lechon belly (regular or spicy) by weight, value meal (a meager portion of lechon belly and a cup of rice), Belly batchoy (batchoy with bits of lechon belly), and pinakupsan (pieces of pork belly fried until the fat shrinks and gets really crispy). Their lechon belly was okay, I didn't jump for joy at the first (nor the second or third) bite. I prefer Cebu's Original Lechon Belly which I found tastier and spicier :-)
How the Market foraged Mustachio's pocket:
Potato nuggets Php 50
Chorizo paella with egg Php 120
Chorizo empanada Php 30
Lechon belly with rice Php 50