LITTLE Quiapo has, over the past 67 years, become synonymous with cult favorites halohalo and pancit palabok. It was the go-to place of our grandparents and parents for reasonably priced, delicious food. It was the “in” place to go for a date, or for family get-togethers.
“We have always been old school,” says 28-year-old Miguel Caleon, grandson of Irineo Bartolome, a sorbetero (ice cream vendor) who decided to put up a food stand at the UP campus in Diliman in 1949 and named it Little Quiapo, a reference to the bustling Quiapo area. In his book Icons and Institutions: Essays on the History of the University of the Philippines (1952-2000),Oscar Evangelista described the original Little Quiapo stand as “a meeting place for students and residents as the cost of its tasty hamburger and thirstquenching halo-halo at 15 centavos and 20 centavos, respectively, was a bargain.” The busy eatery, where the Parish of the Holy Sacrifice now stands, also became the starting point for the traditional UP Lantern Parade.
“Our customers are predominantly parents and grandparents – seniors who would order our halo-halo even if they are diabetics. They would bring their children, and eventually their grandchildren. And these kids who grew up eating in our restaurant have passed the tradition on to their own children,” Caleon adds.
Tucked along Malakas St. at the back of the main SSS building in Quezon City is one of two enduring branches of Little Quiapo. There are no fancy, flashing lights or giant bees to entice you to come in. There is no drive-thru either. Instead, there are baskets of fruits (depending on the season, you can chance upon Sagada oranges, mangoes, and chico) and assorted suman made of glutinous rice or cassava. Upon entering, there are assorted packed snacks at the left side of the cashier: fish crackers, shing-a-ling made from miki noodles, toasted watermelon seeds, toasted squash seeds, chicharon, and salted egg chips, among others.
Looking at Little Quiapo’s menu is like looking at snapshots of history – these are the dishes that have been part of the lives of at least three generations of Filipino families for more than half a century now.
“Most of our dishes are decades-old. We have always served mostly Filipino dishes so you get the feeling of not really having left home whenever you eat at Little Quiapo,” Caleon says.
A solo order of pancit palabok will set one back for only P90. It comes with a generous serving of sauce, which Caleon says was influenced by his grandfather’s Kapampangan roots. For P25, you can ask for additional sauce and toppings of squid, pork chicharon, and sliced boiled egg.
Their main dishes, which are good for two to three people, include fried boneless bangus (P259), chicken pork adobo (P303), pochero (P292), sinampalukang manok (chicken cooked in tamarind, P271), kare-kare (P387), beef steak (P296), and tokwa’t baboy (deep fried tofu with pork strips, P199).
With Caleon and his 24-year-old brother Martin at the helm (Martin handles the Little Quiapo B.F. Homes branch in Parañaque), the restaurant’s menu now includes dishes that appeal to the younger crowd. There’s the salad with bagnet slices with Mang Tomas vinaigrette; rice toppings such as chopsuey rice, adobo rice, and kare-kare rice; tenderloin steak, and French fries overload.
“Our guests continue to enjoy the dishes that they have come to love over the years even as we offer new items in our menu,” Caleon says.
And the secret ingredient to the restaurant’s staying power? His grandfather, says Caleon, always reminded his staff to “treat customers like kings.” Couple that with passion to whip up delicious comfort food cooked the way you do at home everyday and you will surely have an enduring big winner like Little Quiapo.
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Photos by Sonny Espiritu