The many flavors of bagnet

The central business district in Makati is pretty congested, and commercial establishments have taken to setting up shop along the sleepy residential side roads. The result is an assortment of laidback neighborhood hangouts, perfect for walking home from unwinding after a day at the mines. Bagnet 8065 is one such hangout. Since it opened last year, I'd seen it often enough on my way home. But being vegetarian, the doors proclaiming their house specials were less than inviting, to put it lightly. Kare-Kareng Bagnet, Bagnet Curry, Sisig Bagnet, and Spicy Ginataang Bagnet. Wow. is there anything you can't do with bagnet? I was left to ponder the possibilities for months, until I finally got my favorite dining companion to accompany me and enter the gates of (vegetarian) doom.

We did a quick menu check and were pleased to discover they sold beer by the bucket (180 pesos). Once that detail was out of the way, we proceeded to study the menu. They weren't kidding when they named their place 8065 Bagnet. No mysteries there. It's 8065 on Estrella Avenue, and they serve bagnet. Boy do they serve bagnet. Apart from the specials on the door, they also had Binagoongan Bagnet, Bagnet Sisig, Pork Ribs, and Crispy Chicken. Their regular servings (170-190 pesos) are supposedly good for sharing, but if you're a table for one diner, they have budget meals of bagnet served with rice and soup from 100 to 110 pesos. Oddly enough, many items on the menu were masking taped over and marked 'not available.' Fortunately for me, the vegetable dishes were masking tape-free. Also available were bagoong rice (30 pesos) and plain rice (20 pesos). I had to choose from Ensaladang Talong, Okra with Bagoong, and the latest addition to the rhyming trio of tried and tested side dishes - Tortang Talong. Price was no issue, as they were all 35 pesos. Tempted as I was to pick the Tortang Talong, just to be able to sing Parokya ni Edgar's Picha Pie while waiting, I decided the Ensaladang Talong would be better. My complementary companion (liked his meat, leaves the leaves to me) had already zoned in on the safest dish on the menu: the original Bagnet. I objected and suggested he try something a bit more interesting, but he stood his ground, saying if anything was sure to be yummy, it would be the original bagnet. It is, after all, the main ingredient in 99 per cent of everything else on the menu. We entertained ourselves by spotting the arbitrarily placed toys - Sully from Monsters Inc., Kermit the Frog, a generic monkey, and Shrek. We also watched the fish in the pond, and wondered if we might get dengue. The food arrived shortly, and after a prudent bite - the first taste - my complementary companion attacked his food like he hadn't eaten in days. This was not the case, as we had, in fact, eaten just a few hours before. I remarked that I had never seen him so glad to do his job (eat meat and tell me what it tastes like), and he mumbled something, but he was too busy chewing to pronounce anything intelligible. I figured the bagnet was too good for words, and it was useless trying to get anything out of him, so I dug in to my Ensaladang Talong. Now, there isn't much to say about Ensaladang Talong. It's predictable, and unless the eggplant they use is rotten - it tastes pretty much the same anywhere you go. What I can say about their Ensaladang Talong is it's huge. For 35 pesos, you get enough to last you for three bottles of beer. The beer in itself is also pretty standard, but the fact that it was served ice cold at 3 in the afternoon - that's something. Also, that it wasn't overpriced in Makati is also a very good thing. Eventually, a trip to the washroom was in order, which required me to venture into the air-conditioned area. The place looked like a mini-museum with shelves with books and little things, and a chalkboard proclaiming a tally of Quiz Night scores. Yellow lights, wooden furniture and kiddie drawings on the wall make you feel like you're in your lola's house - until you see the entire wall of graffiti by the entrance to the washroom. The washroom was pretty clean and stocked with tissue paper. When I returned to our Tic-Tac-Toe table, the generous serving of original bagnet seemed to have disappeared in 60 seconds. Despite this, my complementary companion perked up when I suggested we try another. This was a modern-day miracle, as he has the stomach capacity of a one year-old. After five minutes of considering the options, we decided we had best save being adventurous for another time. Hopefully, it will be soon. And if you know what's good for you (well, you excluding your cholesterol level), we may just see you there. - GMANews.TV 8065 Bagnet is on Estrella Street in San Antonio Village, Makati. Reservations and inquiries may be made at 508-1807.