On our trip to Iloilo last year, we navigated the marketplace of La Paz district to visit two classic holes-in-the-wall which played a significant role in the social life and food history of the Ilonggos, namely, Madge Cafe (where we had our afternoon pick-me-up as mentioned on my previous post) and Netong’s.
Netong’s is known and beloved by the Ilonggos for their batchoy, an unpretentious and comforting noodle soup made with meat scraps.
Leonito “Netong” Guillergan, the namesake of the eatery and great-grandfather of the present day owner, was married to a butcher’s daughter. He took discarded slivers of meat and used them to create the batchoy that we know of today. Legend has it that this dish is of Chinese origin and the word batchoy is allegedly derived from 肉粹 (ba-chui) which literally translates to “meat water”.
Netong’s maintained the original recipe of batchoy since they first introduced it to the public in the 1930s. It was meant to be a simple, lowbrow grub but it got so popular that it eventually became Iloilo’s landmark dish and pride.
What is seemingly a simple dish actually has a complex depth of flavor that comes from the slowly cooked bone broth, spices, pork meat, pork offals (kidney, liver, and spleen), Ilonggo ginamos (salted, fermented shrimp) and miki (oriental egg noodles). It is then topped with chopped scallions, crushed chicharon (pork cracklings), ground black pepper, fried garlic bits and an optional cracked egg. The contrasts of flavors and textures make it a unique and delicious meal.
This hearty, historical dish is affordably priced – 80 PHP for Super Special, 100 PHP for Extra Special and 120 PHP for Mega Bowl. Puto (steamed rice cake wrapped in banana leaves) makes a superb accompaniment to this dish and it is best-enjoyed piping hot. Soup refills are available upon request.
Netong’s is only a few steps away from Madge Cafe which is absolutely convenient for us tourists who want to hit two birds with one stone. I was pleasantly surprised that Netong’s is fully air-conditioned which makes for a more comfortable atmosphere and their service is lightning fast. They also have branched out in Mandurriao at Iloilo’s newest lifestyle hub, The Shops at Atria.