Buddy's for your Quezon cuisine cravings

I first blogged about Buddy's five years ago, but my interest in it was rekindled by a visit to the branch on Timog Avenue in 2016, more than four years since the last. And since that July day, I've lost count of how many times I've gone back either with friends or family. Buddy's, to state the obvious, has become one of my favorite restaurants, primarily for the good food offered at pocket-friendly prices to beat.
Buddy's specializes in cuisine native to Lucban, Quezon. All roads lead to this town on the 15th of May each year when the colorful Pahiyas Festival is held, drawing huge crowds of local and foreign tourists. Buddy's first opened there in 1985, 
making this restaurant 32 years already!
Today, there are already 14 stores -- 4 in Quezon province and 10 in  Metro Manila -- proof that traditional dishes from Lucban are such a hit for people in the metropolis. Who could resist pancit habhab, hardenera and longganisang Lucban anyway? Certainly not me! These dishes are on top of my list of favorite foods firstly because I'm a native of Quezon and secondly because they taste really good and are indeed crave-worthy. 
Anyway, these have so far been what we've tried and loved at 
Buddy's Pancit Lucban and Longganisang Lucban:

Pancit Lucban, P209. (good for 2-3 persons)
Hands down, this is the winner at Buddy's. As you can see, there's lots of meat and veggies in there. Unlike in some restaurants, they don't hold back on "sahog" at Buddy's, giving diners maximum eating pleasure. Don't forget to pour in some vinegar onto your plate of pancit Lucban, which is also called pancit habhab in Quezon. This noodle dish is traditionally served on a small piece of banana leaf and one eats it "habhab" style, where he or she gets the food with the mouth.

Longsilog Lucban, P130.
My favorite all-day breakfast! These sausages from Lucban are savory, not sweet; a bit fatty but the yumminess is worth all the cholesterol! Don't worry, there's achara (pickled unripe papaya,) to balance everything out.

                                           

      Hardenera, S, P127.

Lucban's own version of meatloaf is the perfect "ulam" (viand) to go with rice. It's savory but with a  saccharine tinge. Every bit is bursting with flavor but the downside is that it could be cloying after a while so there's the tendency for one to not eat much of hardenera.

                                                 Bulalo, P163.

The food to comfort anyone anytime! Buddy's sure knows how to not only satisfy hunger but to also give rest to the weary and well, some happiness to the lonely, through its bulalo with its comforting hot soup and tender chunks of beef. This one's the perfect order when you're coming in tired and famished.

                                           Pork Sisig w/ rice, P163.

My kids' all-time favorite "ulam". And Buddy's makes it really mean! The smokey and just rightly salty flavor is present in every spoonful. Indulge if you aren't worried 
about blood cholesterol. Hahaha!

                                Sizzling Beef Steak with rice, P193.

Our family is used to the home-cooked Filipino "bistek" which has quite a lot of soy sauce that gives the dish a dark color. Buddy's beef steak, however, comes with a gravy-like sauce, so I would say it's a go-between the Pinoy and Western versions. This one's a great ulam too, with the beef thinly sliced and really tender.

                                        Chicken Barbecue, P165.

My youngest kid, a true blue chicken person, went for this and I wasn't a bit surprised. He liked the plump chicken and its sweet--smokey flavor.

                                          Pork Barbecue, 2 pcs, P170.

Pork barbecue is never wrong at mealtime. Up the enjoyment by pairing it with java rice at Buddy's. Polish the taste buds by eliminating the "sawa" 
factor with the achara on the side.

                                              Lumpiang Ubod, P87.

Lumpiang Sariwa is one of my favorite vegetable dishes and I'm glad it's served at Buddy's, which makes it perfectly. The veggie slices still come with a bit of crunch and served with the right amount of sweet-garlicky sauce.

                          Buddy Pizza with Longganisang Lucban and Kesong Puti, S, P145.

It's quite unlikely for a Filipino restaurant to include pizza on it's menu but there's something laudable at Buddy's​ - the diversity. This pizza is still very much Pinoy, however. And very Quezonian too, mind you, as it has longganisang Lucban as well as kesong puti as toppings.

Spaghetti, S, P70.; L, P95.
I got curious with the poster at the Fisher Mall store saying Buddy's spaghetti tops Spot.ph's list of the Top 10 in the metro so I ordered it one time for my daughter and for my youngest son on another visit. It was really good! It's Pinoy style so it's quite sweet. It's also saucy, meaty and packed with flavor, you won't stop eating till the last bit on your plate. I even also liked the crunchy toasted bread served with the spaghetti.

 Buddy Burger, P57.
My daughter had this with spaghetti. Nothing so special about the burger though she admitted the two went well with each other. The things young ones 
love to stuff themselves with!

 Palabok Special, P95.
This pancit variant is my favorite and on top of my perrenial crave list so I eagerly ordered it for merienda on one afternoon visit. Sadly, I was disappointed by it's dryness. I wasn't going to throw in the towel for my favorite pancit, however, and I ordered it again on one of my succeeding visits. I was glad that this time, there was enough sauce to cover all of my palabok. Talk about redemption!

Pork Barbecue Jr. P45.
I ordered this to go with my palabok. It was really tiny! Well, it only 
lived up to its name extension. Hehe...

Halo-Halo, P85.
My friend's sweet refreshment. Whether it's summer or not, Pinoys love halo-halo and Buddy's knows it very well and wouldn't go without​ it on its menu.

 Budin, P65.

Budin is how we call cassava cake in Quezon. At Buddy's, they serve delicious budin -- not too sweet and perfect for dessert and merienda.

Sago at gulaman, P40.

This is my kids' favorite drink here in Buddy's -- sweet and refreshing!

Buddy's at SM City Lucena

Buddy's at Fisher Mall in Quezon City

Buddy's in Lucban, Quezon Province

Buddy's-Timog Avenue

With all the good food that I keep coming back for at Buddy's, I find one thing missing, though -- my elixir -- brewed coffee! I hope they would serve it soon. They have coffee on the menu, yes, but it's 3-in-1, which I'm not a fan of because I don't put sugar in my cup of joe. 
Still, I highly recommend Buddy's Pancit Lucban and Longganisang Lucban to everyone. I suggest you visit soon so as not to miss out on delicious food, especially those that are originally from Quezon. Buddy's is a great family food  destination, as most items 
on the menu are good for sharing.
Here in Metro Manila, they have branches in Kakarong, Kalayaan, and The Link  in Makati City; in Market! Market! and McKinley Hill in BGC, Taguig City; Tycoon Centre in Ortigas Center, Pasig City; and at Fisher Mall, Timog Avenue and Eastwood in  Quezon City. 
In Quezon Province, there's a Buddy's in Lucban, Tayabas and at SM Mall 
and Pacific Mall, both in Lucena City. 
Happy eating!

Where to eat and stay in Lucban, Quezon

Two weeks ago, I, with my family, went to Lucban town in Quezon province for the second time but it was our first time to witness and join the celebration of Pahiyas Festival. These two opportunities proved to me that a visit to Lucban is such an enriching experience and could make one's sight, tummy and heart full. There's just so many good things to see 
and experience as well as eat! 
If you're planning to go here to visit Kamay ni Jesus, or have an outing in one of the local resorts, or for the Pahiyas Festival that is held every year on the 15th of May, you may want to know what places you could go to to spend the night and eat. Well, I could give some suggestions based on my family's experience and those that we saw while going around the town center.
For the "eats", I'm sharing about three restaurants where we ate during our stay in time for the Pahiyas - Mustiola's, Loop's Pizza and Chito's. Of these, the latter is our 
top favorite and you'll know why.

When we arrived in Lucban that Saturday afternoon, the first restaurant we saw was Mustiola's. It's actually an old house turned into a restaurant and is now one of the most popular in Lucban for the delicious food offered at very affordable prices. What we loved here? The Pancit Lucban (also known as "habhab") and cheesy pizza, not to mention the very affordable prices of the food. Here, we only spent around P600 for all our 
orders that satisfied the six of us. 
Our orders:

Pancit Lucban
I've eaten this kind of pancit several times in the past and I could truthfully say that Mustiola's version is the best I've had. It's a little oily, yes, but it's packed with flavor and has lots of "sahog"  - both meat and veggies. Drizzle with some vinegar as the locals do when they eat this noodle dish and you up the pancit habhab enjoyment a step higher. This is 
definitely a must try at Mustiola's.

Pizza
This is just a solo order but because it's thick, one is already good for two persons specially since we also had pancit. We had 3 orders of this and we weren't left wanting. I mean the pancit and pizza (also some fries) made us full and very satisfied. Mustiola's pizza is delicious and that's an honest verdict. Just look at all those cheese!

French fries
Well, nothing extraordinary about this but the kids always want to have fries.

Mustiola's is on San Luis St. cor Regidor St., Lucban, Quezon

For breakfast on Pahiyas day, we ate at Loop's Pizza where the Lucban longganisa silog and buffalo wings stood out among our orders. 

Our brekky:

Fried chicken with rice

Chicken buffalo wings

Carbonara 

Blue lemonade

Inside Loop's Pizza

Longganisang Lucban silog

All our orders at Loop's was good and satisfying but as I said, it was the buffalo wings and the Lucban longganisa that we liked best. For dinner that Sunday, we went back to Loop's and bought pizza which we took "home" to our rented room but there wasn't much to say about it except that it was "okay". But their prices were low just like in Mustiola's, and we only spent around P600 for our breakfast (or P100/person including drinks). The two boxes of pizza, on the other hand, cost less than P500.

For late lunch/afternoon snacks on Sunday, we went to Chito's - where a beautiful display of multi-colored umbrellas gave us great photo ops. Haha! 

 Chito's on Plaridel St., Lucban, Quezon

Inside Chito's

But those umbrellas weren't really the main star here but the food! We enjoyed the food so much that we ate here twice. The second time was really not by choice but it 
turned out to be a "blessing in disguise". 
Our orders on our first visit:

Pancit Chami sa toyo (there's another variety which is "sa ketchup")

Spaghetti with cheeseburger 

Fries

Tapsilog

Longganisang Lucban silog

Black gulaman

Blue lemonade 

For breakfast just before we left Lucban on Monday, May 16, we went first to Abcede's Restaurant but it was still closed. We then went to Dealo Koffee Klatch. It was open but it seemed they were "half-closed" because only two items on the menu were available yet. We walked around the town center but couldn't find any other place to eat so we tried Chito's which, fortunately, was open and already having quite a lot of customers. I said this was a "blessing in disguise" because I found a foodie gem in their "hardinera", which is a meatloaf dish that originated from Quezon. I can say that it's comparable to the embutido, only it's not tubular in shape like the latter, but more like a leche flan as it is 
also molded in a "llanera". 
Also, the meat comes in chunks and not ground.

Anyway, here were our orders 
for breakfast:
 

Hardinera with rice

Pancit Chami sa toyo

Longganisang Lucban silog

Fries

Mojo potatoes 

Blue lemonade 

By the way, there are two Chito's stores in Lucban but the one that's on Quezon Ave. does not have the umbrella"roof". As for prices of the food, Chito's won't make you feel "robbed" as everything is very affordable. Hardinera with rice, for instance, is P70. Prepare a budget of P100/person, including drinks.
Well, there's some other restaurants that we saw in Lucban and only two are franchises - Dunkin Donuts and Famous Belgian Waffles. As I've mentioned, there's also Abcede's and Dealo Koffee Klatch, the latter being a popular one as it can also be found in others places in Quezon province and even in Legazpi and Baguio cities. It also has a branch inside the SM Mall in Lucena City. 

Dealo Koffee Klatch at #72 Quezon Ave., La Dona Ana Building, Lucban

Of course, there is Buddy's which is the most well-known restaurant here in Lucban, so much so that it has "invaded" Metro Manila as well, with three branches in the metropolis that I know of - in Pasig City, Tomas Morato in Quezon City and at the Fisher Mall also in QC. Our family ate at the Pasig branch four years ago and at SM-Lucena two years ago, the reason we didn't patronize Buddy's in Lucban anymore. I wanted to try what other restaurants here had to offer.

Buddy's at #99 Avenida Rizal, Lucban

By the way, just a few steps away from Chito's on Plaridel St. is Shank & Slurry Mami House which is in the same establishment as Famous Belgian Waffles.

Tables and chairs outside Shank & Slurry

Meanwhile,  as mentioned in my previous post, we stayed 

at Oreña's Inn Hotel & Resort.

Oreña's Inn at Sitio Kalbaryo, Barangay Tinamnan, Lucban, Quezon

Our room was good for four persons and priced at P2,800. The price is lower by P1,000 if you're not visiting during Pahiyas. Extra bed or mattress would be charged P200. Not much can be expected from Orena's Inn as it is quite old but our room was clean enough, had a private bathroom with hot and cold shower and we were provided with 4 hygiene kits that each contained tissue, soap, a toothbrush, toothpaste, and shampoo. The inn also has an adult swimming pool and a kiddie pool. - plus points! If you're interested with Oreña's Inn, you may visit their Facebook page and send them a message. They do respond, thankfully. You may also text/call them thru 
the numbers 09088157928.  
Oreña's Inn, is, however, outside the town proper and you would need to walk about 15-20 minutes going to the church and other destinations in the center of Lucban. Well, you can ride a tricycle but not on the very day of Pahiyas Festival when this (tricycle) and all other vehicles are not allowed entry to the town center.
Anyway, other establishments where you may want to stay are:  

Patio Rizal Hotel & Restaurant at #77 Quezon Ave., St., Lucban, Quezon

Kalesa Inn on Racelis St., Lucban

For room rates and other information on these two establishments, 
please visit their website or Facebook page.

Well, I hope this post is of some help to future visitors to Lucban, which is a beautiful town in Quezon province that's situated near the mystic Mt. Banahaw.
Have a happy stay and a bleesed life!