bagnet in makati and its unlimited variations

One of my good friends introduced me to this place, though I have heard of it so many times in the past and also passed by it several times before. Along Estrella street in San Antonio, Makati, is a nondescript house whose front has been converted into this restaurant - 8065 Bagnet. Even the name is very plain and simple - the number is the actual registered number of the house.

You enter and you get an old home feel - old wood, old 60s architectural style,  old marble slabs. The walls are literally littered with books, plaques, memorabilias of a family. It's like entering your grandma's house. It's not unusual that it has a low ceiling, it was obviously formerly an anteroom into the actual house. There is a wall that has all these grafittis from patrons, and you can make out scribbles of celebrities. The place is owned by Kitchie Nadal's family. Call me starstruck, but I was waiting to catch her there. I've been there 4 times and never saw her. hahaha. Anyway, inside this unpretentious front is delicious, cardiac food.

What's the food?
It's main feature, as the name states, is bagnet. In all forms imaginable. Dinuguan, kare-kare, etc. Bagnet, to the uninitiated, is pork (usually boiled pork belly) that is popular among Ilocanos. It's from that region, and I think the main difference between a lechon kawali and bagnet is that it is fried twice - first, a slow fry and then the second, a boiling fry. Now I am not sure about this, but nevertheless, it is great! It's quite similar to chicharon Camiling from my mom's province, Tarlac. But chicharon camiling is boiled twice and then slow fried to a crisp, whole, the inside juicy and succulent. But that's a different, and equally delicious, story. Back to 8065 bagnet. We ordered the dinuguan and the kare-kare. You can actually order 1.5liter  coke products here, so we also ordered that. We didn't order the original bagnet anymore. You can actually order it as a serving (1 plateful without rice) or as a rice topping. The topping cost only P99. Now that's a treat!

How was it?
Now I was bracing for the dinuguan to be something like bagnet thrown with dinuguan sauce. It wasn't. I think they actually cooked the meat with the sauce, because dinuguan juice just oozes out of the meat. But the Kare-kare, they definitely poured over the sauce. It's ok though. They probably wanted to maintain the crispiness of the meat. But both are great!! We also ordered their ensaladang talong, which is probably very close to homemade ones. Very nice!

Their sabaw is a piece that can stand on its own. Sobrang sarap, and you have to sip it piping hot. There are slivers of repolyo thrown in for healthy measure (yeah right), but even without it, it's a standout. I suspect it's the broth where they boil all the bagnet.

Would I invite you if it were my party? Oh, yes I will!! Except for the wait staff who obviously were not trained on proper waiting, and were selectively blind and deaf on all of my visits, this place knocks you off your feet, even with the grungy ambience.

How cheap is it? Cheap enough for you to shout out that you will treat the whole barkada! Taya ko ito! On my second visit there, we were just two, and we ordered all of the stuff I mentioned in this article and it was just around 500 pesos. Not bad....the price of two big mac meals upgraded to large comes close to its price, but I would choose the bagnet fare anytime.

5 stars for taste. I must warn you though, to slow down if you are on heart medication.
5 stars for price!!! It's so cheap, I can eat there everyday! I want to, but I shouldn't. It's good that my cardiologist does not subscribe to my blog.

Come to this place. You just have to go out of your way to get there but it's worth it! And it's open till really late night.

bigboy promises to get back to you soon with new news! nunus!