⌛ best steak in town?

As far as I know (I frequent the wet market from time to time...probably once every 2 weeks....when I'm in the mood for seafood) , the wet market has meat products but IMO, I'd rather buy beef, pork, and other meat products from the local meat shops like monterey, etc.. They don't have great meat (who in Dumaguete has?) but they have decent local rib eyes, t-bones, etc. often and sometimes imported lamb cuts. It's not mind blowing but it certainly beats the heck out of the meat sold by the wet market. Trouble is, most of the time, the good cuts are already paid for and reserved by most restaurants. So if you pass by good pieces of steak and lamb and are a meat lover living in Dumaguete, grab it and pay for it with the quickness. If we're talking about seafood though, the wet market is a totally different place. I'd go for it any day of the week rather than most grocery stores.

 

Agree completely with Connoisseur's assessment. Seafood at the wet market can sometimes be less than an hour from having been transported from the beach. Fish, on the other hand, arrive in iced crates from Zamboangita and other neighboring towns, aside from the few that are caught along the Dumaguete coast.

You'll never be able to find good cuts for steak at the wet market. It's just not part of the local diet. The local version of the western steak, though, is quite good in its own right: broiled pork (aka, "s'noog-bang-babuy"). It's made with slices from the stomach area, thrown on a makeshift grate/grill over burning coals, and basted with a mixture of soy sauce, vinegar, and key lime juice (calamansi). This is then enjoyed with sauce of the same constitution as the marinade (often with crushed red pepper, aka "sili"), though prepared fresh for obvious sanitary reasons.

I used to enjoy this particular dish with freshly cooked rice. Another dish to try, though a little bit more fancier to prepare, is "Lechon Kawali", aka, "Lechon de Carahai". All of the above go perfectly well with a bowl of "B'nak-Hao". It's made of fresh tuna (or similar fish meat) cut in cubes and soaked in a sauce of vinegar, bakhao bark extract (for tartness) (or Dongon extract as alternative), and freshly squeezed calamansi juice.

The B'nak-Hao may not sound appealing to westerners not used to eating raw fish (aside perhaps for the Japanese sushi), but I tell you, IT IS GOOD. That, if well prepared. It is sometimes confused for the less sophisticated "Kinilao", but it's leagues better than the former. The difference is in the choice of the fish meat (B'nak-Hao uses more expensive deep sea fishes), and the addition of crushed pork rind (chicharron) or chicken skin.

Sorry for going offtopic but these are alternatives I thought would be worth trying when in Dumaguete.

Just remember: B'nak-Hao (translation: made with Bak-hao), not K'Nilao (translation: done raw).

 

Well, because I'm unfortunately still here in the states, maybe I can start a business along with Kettle Club member #2 and he and i can sell good ol' quality streaks over the internet, to expats in the Philippines. Us western folks need the fancy artery clogging red meat ( probably not the advertising moto we should go with). Nonetheless, seems as though there are enough expats in the Philippines that want to make a po dunk like me rich, so all I need is ....well, everything,... dang it, forget it,... that's just too much work for a retiree besides, you' all can eat yer fish and chicken, it's better for ya anyway and what would I do with all those millions of pesos anyhow...lol.