The Three Little Pigs Went to...

One Sunday, the three little pigs—Babe for Food, Baktin, and Pigstachio—got on a jeep and went to...

Colon

They alighted near 138 Mall in Colon Street. They went in the mall, not to go shopping, but to make a shortcut to the parallel street called...

V Gullas Street

...where "Cebu's Original Best Pancit Canton" is said to be found: in Visayan Restaurant. It was already past noon and the restaurant was empty save for two other customers—one was just finishing up his lunch and the other was waiting for her take out. The one who was just finishing up, the pigs were told, was Visayan Restaurant's most loyal customer, a gentleman in his 70s, twenty years older than the current owner (the son of the founder, I am guessing) of Visayan Restaurant.

Visayan Restaurant

V Gullas Street (behind Colonnade), Cebu City

(032) 253 8631

Monday to Saturday 9AM to 8PM

Sunday 9AM to 1PM

Click to enlarge menu

Hams down, special pancit canton (Php 110) for lunch—this is what the pigs came to Visayan Restaurant for. Further study of the menu led to the decision to carbo load: fried Shanghai rice (Php 110). And because rice, the pigs reasoned, should go with meat, they added lemon chicken (Php 155). And, at the last minute, added some vegetables (chou pat chin, Php 155).

As soon as the food was served and photographed, the pigs dug in and offered their opinions. Except for Pigstachio who is no food expert and could only say "mmm..." After tasting "Cebu's Original Best Pancit Canton", Pig #1 wanted to cross out the restaurant's sign...she would still pick Mingnan's pancit over Visayan's. All three pigs, though, agreed that the fried Shanghai rice and the lemon chicken were delicious, though they thought the lemon chicken's sauce was too runny. These three pigs are carnivorous, and the chou pat chin, was there, well, not to wow their taste buds, but to erase the guilt of not having the lowermost part of the food pyramid.

Will the pigs eat there again? Warning: Pig #1 found a short strand of hair on the pancit...so, uhh, Pig #1? Pig #2 said he'd order some take out next time. Pig #3, the most thrifty of the bunch, thought Visayan Restaurant has good Chinese food for a very affordable price. 

Pigs will be pigs. And hair does not and will never make them lose their appetite. It was a hot Sunday and the blazing summer sun prompted Pig #1 to suggest halo-halo for dessert. "Let's have Melton's Halo-halo in Talisay!" Pig #1 said half jokingly (Talisay's about 13 km from the pigs' current location). Pig #2 and Pig #3, always up for food, took the other half of the suggestion—the not joking half—and off they went with nary a clear idea where this Melton's Halo-Halo was (Pig #1 just said she saw it on the side of the road somewhere in Talisay). Out of Visayan Restaurant they marched, looking for a jeepney going south. As luck would have it, the first jeepney driver the pigs approached knew where Melton's was and it was on his route:

Pardo

The jeepney driver dropped the three little pigs off at Kingsmen, just before the Pardo church, and pointed them to the yellow sign down the road:

Melton's Halo-Halo

52 I Tabura St, Poblacion, Pardo, Cebu City

 Daily 12NN to 12MN

A few minutes after the pigs arrived, the 30 seats of Melton quickly got taken. And inside, it got warmer—Melton's has no airconditioning. No AC? Ah, so customers can appreciate the cold of their specialty: halo-halo.

Each of the pigs ordered a super special halo-halo (Php 60)—super special has two small scoops of ice cream, while special has no ice cream at all. What's in Melton's halo-halo? Coconut, banana, jackfruit, cornflakes, kaong (sugar palm), no beans (to the delight of Pig #2), no leche flan (to the dismay of Pig #1), and peanuts (to the surprise of Pig #3).

Halo-halo is a perfect dessert for summer. The pigs were satisfied, but dreaded going out in the sun again, where they and their halo-halo-filled bellies will melt. Being a long way from home, the pigs might need another dose of halo-halo when they get home. Hmm... Halo-halo for take out, perhaps?