I personally think Mann Hann serves the best Lechon Macau or deep-fried pork belly. I wear dentures and texture is important to me. Mann Hann’s Lechon Macau, which sells for P208 per order, is good enough for two or three people, depending on what else is served on the table. Price is good and the service is ok.

(image borrowed from Em Dy.)

Second is Lutong Macau, a restaurant along Jupiter St, Makati City. You can’t miss it, it’s easy to find. Ask anyone in the area and they can point you to it. What makes their Lechon Macau special is that the rind remains crispy even when it’s at room temperature, and it’s still good even without any sauce. At P150 per order, you’ll have it for breakfast, lunch or dinner.  Another plus is that they serve it on a bed of jasmine rice. YUM!

(image borrowed from Doc Tess)

When you are unable to find any of the above-mentioned restaurants, have no fear; North Park will save the day by serving you scrumptious Lechon Macau fit for royalty. Why? Because it’s rich in flavor and cholesterol, as most pork dishes are. This is paydirt for all other dishes you may not like at North Park. Even better is that North Park is everywhere.

Where is the worst Lechon Macau?

Emperor’s Dimsum and Teahouse along Wilson St, San Juan serves the worst possible kind of Lechon Macau in the Metro. My hand is small, and look and how small the bowl is! Would you believe I paid P180 for this shriveled-up piece of last week’s meat?

It was brought to my table fresh from the microwave. After I ordered, it arrived in less than 5 minutes. What does that mean? It means it was someone else’s leftover order or someone ordered something else and the staff just wanted to get rid of it by giving it to me.

This is NOT marbling. The whole thing was dry and tough like a rock. Most Chinese restaurants wouldn’t use meat like this for serving. It’s usually lost in the Yang Chow or shredded to be mixed in noodles or something.

I’ve dined more than once in Emperor’s Dimsum and Teahouse, well enough to say that their portions are for mice. Really small. Their dimsum is so-so, nothing special. Gloria Maris across the street is way better, more value for your money. Good thing they don’t have loud karaoke singing, but I guess they should have because the food would have been a perfect match to dingy surroundings.

By the way, may mga artistang kumakain dito. Malamang masarap yung pagkain nung mga suki nila. They should treat all their customers with the same high quality food because celebrity or not, we’ll all paying customers. Well, except for me. I’m never going back there neither will I recommend it to anyone.

Chalk this one up for the husband and wife team of Rachel and Anton Diaz. They did it again, and this time the venue was bigger, more suppliers and more foodies joined the throng. Everybody loves a great meal but even more people love great company. In this event, I felt I was in the company of the some of the blogosphere’s most popular foodies, online and off.

The pretty lady on the left is fellow foodie, Annalyn Jusay. Beside her is Manang Tessie, the genius behind Ulcing’s Lechon Cebu.

Anthony Bourdain DID put Lechon Cebu at the top of his “hierarchy of pork” blog post. Score another big one for Filipino food. If we had Thanksgiving in the Philippines, we’d all have Lechon Cebu as the centerpiece of the meal.

That’s Manang Tessie with her idol Mr. Awesome himself, Anton Diaz. She told she wanted a picture with him so I posting it here. Manang Tessie is the lady behind the wonderful taste of Ulcing’s Lechon Cebu. For orders, call her at 810-6408 or her mobile 0919-4595591. ULCING’S LECHON IS THE BEST I’VE HAD SO FAR. Her prices will not give you a heart attack.

The History of Lechon

Not much is really known about the origins of Lechon. It is said that the Spanish brought lechon to the Philippines, as evidenced by the cuisine of our colonial siblings who were also set free from the Spanish under the Treaty of Paris. We enjoy Paella as much the regular South American does.

Because of frequent trading activities with the Chinese, it would not be so far fetched to say that some ancient Filipinos might have tasted Siu Mei sooner than Lechon.

I’m just showing other images here. To continue, Lechon Cebu is a world of difference with the Luzon-style lechon. For starters, Lechon Cebu never needs sauce because the meat is savory enough. I don’t know what else they put in Lechon Cebu that makes it better than local lechon. I guess it’s their little secret.

Enjoy the pictures and hope to see on the ultimate taste text event next year!