Dining Out Filipino-Style

Vacationing in my hometown in the Philippines and subsequent dining out reminds me of how different it is to dine out at cafes and restaurants in Europe. Definitely a good kind of different.

Take this bamboo napkin holder/table number with accompanying soy sauce and vinegar bottles from the Filipino restaurant, Hukad:

And they go together like this, with a small but potent chili, onions and a lemoncito/calamansi (a local lemon) to serve as a dipping sauce:

Or  how about the waiter who serves "bottomless rice" from this pot hanging around his neck, also at Hukad:

Clockwise from upper right, we've got: crispy pata (leg of pig), sizzling squid, baked scallops and stuffed crabs with achara (a local papaya pickle) --- tradtionally served on banana leaves at Chika-an sa Cebu. Deelish!

Then there's the Filipino all-time favorite, lechon. Whole roasted pig. The pig that caught Anthony Bourdain's tastebuds' attention on his visit to Cebu. Nomnom! 

Just ignore my mother's cigarette-adorned fingers in the photo explaining the concept of enjoying lechon to my husband. 

We sure aren't dining in Kansas anymore, Toto! Happy nomnoms!