The Elusive Bulcachong Part 2

I had attempted to cook Davao-based Bulcachong before but it ended up like kare-kare as I narrated in my previous blog. Having no time and moolah, I sent my sister to go to the place where Bulcachong was created to check out the restaurant and food and to let me know how was it.

I'll let her blog this one for me :)

Bulcachong is a small old fashioned house turned into a simple restaurant.  It's known for its bulcachong, which is where it got its name.

This place isn't so hard to find since it's located at the heart of the city.  Just few steps away from JS Gaisano, you could spot this small resto.

Ok, first thing I noticed was that it really has this homey feel. 

 

 The worn down benches and chairs and simple checkered curtain, and all those probably contributed to it.  Aside form that, it's air conditioned so it's very comfortable.  

So a waiter welcomed me, as I walked inside, trying to look for a good spot to have my meal. It wasn't a hard decision, I chose the one near the window, overlooking a small pond they have with a number of carps;  opposite to my table was a tv that was tuned to HBO.  And so I thought: hmmm... not bad at all, in fact, this is lovely. 

Everything was going well so far, so the waiter handed me the menu.  I knew I would be getting the bulcachong(the main reason I was there in the first place), but I nevertheless, asked the waiter about the special bulalo that they have.  He said it's made up of 3 big slices of beef and some veggies and it's good for 3.  

So I told him what I wanted, and got back to me 5 minutes with a bowl of bulcachong and another smaller bowl for the soup and a cup of rice.  That was pretty fast.  Probably they have already made some and they just scoop it in whenever there's order.

So the portion of meat was fairly big, I must say.  Thing is, that's the only thing inside it.  3 cuts of meet and plenty of soup.  The meat however was very delicate and really tender.  The soup tasted like bulalo but just a tad saltier.  Difference with this one and a bulalo, is the color(probably due to the tomato sauce) and that it doesn't have veggies in it.  Apart from that I see no other difference.

Is this worth eating? Well if you want to taste something different and if you want to relax after a busy day in town, I suggest for you to taste this.  Also heads up for people who have hypertension or anyone who has heart problems, this dish is definitely not healthy.  The soup is thick because of the fat of the carabao.  It's good to eat it once in awhile, but not recommended to be as often as when you go to McDo or anything like that.