Buglas Isla Cafe, which has become a beloved go-to place in the seaside capital of Negros Oriental, has been serving Dumaguete City’s best dishes since opening its doors at ArcoVia City in Pasig in May.
“I miss the food that’s why I decided to bring the restaurant here,” said owner Carmen Lhuillier. “The dishes are really delicious, and I can’t find them anywhere here in Metro Manila.”
And while Lhuillier’s decision to open a branch of Buglas Isla Cafe was for personal reasons, it proved to be a good business decision – so much so that they are opening their second branch in the metro at Westgate, Alabang in Muntinlupa City in December.
Foodies from both north and south have been frequenting the branch in Pasig City to have a taste of the Dumagueteño fare.
“The most challenging part was replicating the authenticity and humbleness of service that is so typical in Dumaguete, bringing it to Metro Manila, and sustaining it. But that’s part of the charm of Dumaguete, and we really want Buglas Isla Cafe to carry that,” said Anthony Raymond, Chief Operating Officer of Riesa Management, Inc. the company behind Buglas Isla Cafe.
Old wood for the pillars, and gently curved balusters to line the bar were shipped to Metro Manila from Dumaguete. The use of rattan, capiz shells, softly glowing yellow lights, and cement finish walls pulled together the look of a hacienda home.
There’s a section for breakfast and brunch with ube pandesal, budbud kabug (a Negros Oriental specialty suman made from millet), eggs benedict, tapa, chicken and waffles, smoothie bowls, and a not-to-be-missed smashed burger.
The pizza section has classics like margherita and pepperoni, but also offers Buglas Signature with Cebu longganisa, Dumaguete chorizo, bacon, and pineapple.
And of course, the iconic tocino.
“It’s the heart of our cuisine. Sinugba, food grilled over charcoal,” said Raymond. In Dumaguete City, pork BBQ is tocino—grilled till the edges turn smoky and toasty. Tocino is not limited to pork BBQ alone – there are chicken tails, chicken intestines and gizzards, crispy chicken skin, and Cebu longganisa.
The restaurant also prepares its own chicken oil as an accompaniment for the tocino, and sukang sinamak – a perfect pair to Dumaguete Lechon.
Beef Kansi is also on the menu – often described as the Negrense version of sinigang, but in reality has an identity of its own. Slow-cooked beef shanks and meaty young jackfruit are served in a gently-sour broth that uses batwan, a fruit that grows in Negros Island.
There is also the famous Dumaguete chorizo or chorizo bungkag. Quite a number of families in Negros Oriental are of Spanish descent, and most have their own heirloom recipe for chorizo that is garlicky, laced with Spanish paprika, and cooked without a casing or bungkag (a Cebuano word for fallen apart or disintegrated).
And of course, the desserts are not to be missed. Sans Rival and Silvanas, two sweets Dumaguete is famous for, are on the menu. The Silvanas are Buglas Isla style—several inches thick and filled with buttercream but not cloyingly sweet. There’s also the intriguing Taho Cheesecake and Puto Maya with Sikwate (purple rice suman paired with native chocolate).
(Buglas Isla Cafe is located at The View Deck, ArcoVia City, Eulogio Rodriguez Jr. Avenue, Pasig, Metro Manila. For reservations call 0919 0709900 (mobile) and 02-8735 3339)
