Immediately upon our arrival in Puerto Princesa, I wonder what "The City within a Forest" could offer to a self-proclaimed foodist in me.
Lo and behold our friendly tour guide introduced the famous Bona's Chao Long. He told us that Vietnamese once stayed in the area and concocted these rice noodles to the Palawenses and the locals loved. The Viets though strongly recommended that the rice noodle-recipe not be shared to other island neighbors as this would soon make Puerto Princesa a must-visit spot. And true enough the experience of the rich rice noodles soup made me crave for more even when I'm back in the city.
The ambiance of the pansitan (noodle house) is simple. It reminds me of the karinderia near schools or some cheap resto in Binondo that serves great food. If you visit the place in the morning, you would have the luxury to have a solo table for you and your companion. However be prepared to share tables with locals (and tourists) if your plan is to visit in the aftee or at night.
Plastic chairs (monobloc), long wooden tables, plastic table wares are used in this place. As they say, if you are not a 'scout' then this is not the place for you.
Service depends on the number of customers as well. Since we visited the place for dinner, we need to wait for 20 minutes to be seated and for our order to arrive. It was understandably their peak time as it was Sunday eve (after mass goers) and dinner time.
Menu was simple. You choose your broth (Buto-buto, Beef stew or Pork), choose from Special (with vegetable siding) or regular (without) and as recommended by the tourist guide try their baguette or known as their french bread. Have plainly toasted or with your choice of filling: cheese, chicken, tuna, longganisa or beef.
My Kismet had the Beef stew chaolong which is slightly sweet; while I had Buto-buto chaolong since I'm trying to capture the simplest flavor as much as possible. However upon tasting these Palawan jewels I was mesmerized with the explosion of flavors. Sweet, sours, salty, tasty...oh Umami! We partnered our chaolong with Longganisa and Pork baguette. Indeed these are the perfect partners for the Chaolong. And as Kismet quipped "masarap isawsaw sa sabaw".
So if you have plans to visit "The City within the Forest" or the "Philippines' Last Frontier", don't forget to visit Bona's Chaolong. It is situated in the airport road so you won't miss it.
Two thumbs up for Bona's Chaolong. Rất ngon!
Pictures courtesy of Donna in Palawan
