Arquiza: This time, it’s beer matches

Jigs Arquiza
Eat's my life

WHILE most Pinoys are slowly embracing the wine culture, majority of us are still fond of our very own San Miguel Pale Pilsen. With most people knowing me as a food writer and an amateur cook, I’ve been asked a lot of times what dishes go well with beer. The answer I’ve always given them is “Whatever you like”.

I do have my favorite beer matches, and with a really nice neighborhood bar, The Veranda in Maria Luisa, about ten minutes’ walk from my place, it’s pretty easy to indulge in two of the things I love: beer and food.

The Veranda’s menu is pretty much straightforward: a handful of traditional favorites like callos and crispy pata, and some Continental and Asian dishes. And it’s also got a lot of food that goes really great with beer!

Pinoys love greasy food when drinking, and this means stuff like the ever-popular sisig. The Veranda has a pretty good sisig (no offense to The Veranda’s board of directors, but Aling Lucing serves the greatest sisig in the Philippines) that goes very well with your beer. For those who don’t know what sisig is, it’s finely chopped pork (or pigs’ face) mixed with chicken livers, onions and green chillies, seasoned with salt and black pepper served on a sizzling plate. Sometimes, a raw egg is put on top of the meat and mixed with everything else.

For those tired of the usual sisig, The Veranda’s salpicao is another option for those who love oily pica-pica, although this particular one is cooked using olive oil, so there’s supposedly very little cholesterol. Whatever. The important thing is that the beef cubes are so tender and garlicky that you wouldn’t mind eating them with rice, which is what a lot of Veranda regulars do.

One dish that you’d have trouble finding anywhere else in Cebu would be The Veranda’s
sizzling hotdog. They’re hotdog slices in a spicy, tomato-ey sauce, with sliced onions, again, served on a sizzling plate, and yes, it goes really well with beer.

I don’t know if a lot of Pinoys also do this, but I sometimes have a beer with my burger and fries. Of course, the burger has to be really good, like the Veranda burger, which in my opinion is one of the best burgers you can get in Cebu.

The patty is actually an inch thick, which is how hamburger patties should be, garnished with lettuce, onions and a tomato slice, plus a slice of cheese. Each order is served with a side of fries, and if you’re hot with the staff, they allow you to order the burger how you like it: rare, medium well or well done.