“’Dong, point your camera my way and post my picture on Facebook. That’s right — tell me when you’re ready to click so I can give you my best smile, maybe get some foreigner to marry me. Big, small, I don’t care either way. On three? Okay. Make me look good.”
That’s Ekit, of the eponymous food joint in Mabolo in uptown Cebu. If you haven’t heard of her, it’s because her eatery is as hidden from view as she is in-your-face gregarious. From F. Cabahug St., turn onto Quirino (beside Sarossa Hotel), then take a right at Magsaysay. The next corner is Tandang Sora, and if you miss the signage, look for the telltale smoke, or, better yet, a heavy concentration of parked vehicles. That’s Ekit’s.
From the street, we enter a shuttered storefront, then turn left. The first sight that greets us is of two male assistants, one brushing offal and the other shucking corn, the last obviously for the pochero — beef soup, called bulaló elsewhere — Ekit’s prides itself in. Behind them is the main kitchen, with a row of vats bubbling away over wood-fire. “Perk up, boys,” Ekit bellowed. “You’re gonna be on Facebook, maybe catch some girl’s eye! You—” this to the corn-shucker, “get out of sir’s way; he’ll be taking pictures of the kitchen.” I had not even asked. The woman knows the power of social media, even if she somehow thinks that FB is a venue for meeting prospective partners, not to mention strangers.
The dining area is to the right, with the food displayed up front. Whatever inch isn’t occupied by tables and chairs is given over to Ekit’s collection of kitsch: figurines, dolls, and religious statuary (an altar takes up the center of the room). The place is a zoo, and yes — there are monkeys (caged) near the driveway.
It’s ten in the morning and the place is fast filling up. A group of Chinese mestizos order pochero and is told they’ll have to wait a while. They wait. We’re in a bit of a hurry so we choose from the buffet: linarang nga pagi (stingray in hot and sour broth), humongous meatballs, grilled sweet and fatty chorizo, battered chicken, and ganás (sweet potato top) salad.
All in all, it’s a very satisfying and filling brunch, helped along by generous portions of #16 bugas mais (corn grits). I can not in all honesty say that the food is exceptionally good (the chicken, in particular, has a hard crunch, no doubt from cornstarch), but as far as home cooking goes, I can’t complain. Besides, Ekit singlehandedly makes up for it by sheer force of personality. Loud but unruffled, she rallies her troop of cooks and servers, goes out of the way to greet each customer who ventures into her busily decorated lair, and, oddly enough, keeps the whole place calm. If she is indeed single, you have to wonder why.
The whole meal comes in at around ₱300, or half of what we paid for our disappointing tuslob buwâ experience. As we make for the door, Ekit looks up from her pan. “Get me on Facebook, okay?” she reminds me. I just did — and more. Anyone interested? The lady can cook. And if everything pans out, tell her she owes me a lifetime of free pochero.
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