BALAMBAN LIEMPO: A Critique on the Liempo from the West

Liempo has been an intrigue to me when I resided here in Cebu, since there was no liempo or haven't seen any 'for sale' in my hometown, Dumaguete City for that matter.

The first liempo I tasted was Andoks...and I may say it was delicious at first, but after trying 2-3 times, I noticed that there were inconsistencies on how they make their liempo...and it's so easy for them to do such inconsistencies probably because they don't have any competitor.

Then, Balamban Liempo arises. Together with the Cebu Bloggers Society, we invaded Balamban Liempo which is located directly in front of the University of Southern Philippines (USP) c/o Dhara's Tapsilogan, Salinas Drive, Lahug.

...and now my critique begins...


Bias it may seem, but I always love the idea of a simple yet outstanding quality of goods and services that business could give to its customer no matter how big or small the business is.

They started serving the food together with a basket full of puso and a bottle of vinegar (it was the native vinegar made from coconut).

My mind was slowly put to gear bite after bite...

I noticed 3 unique tastes in their sumptuous liempo of Balamban (good for 3-4 persons):

1. The crispy Balamban liempo skin that shows off its brittleness in your mouth every time you take a bite.
2. The well cooked fat portion of the Balamban liempo extracts a juicy liquid that makes you salivate.
3. The tender meat that plays around your mouth and gives you a never-ending desire to grab more.

...and together with its secret herbs and ingredients , it will definitely blow your minds out!

In addition, we had the chance to have a short chit-chat with Jojo Vergara, the owner of the business while his wife, Honey - the chef, was busy with the liempo...and assured their customers that what they serve is fresh from the grill.

Now, let's see if that promise, or I may say the assurance, of the owner is not just any mambo jumbo. Till the next time we meet.

An update to my never ending urges to eat Balamban Liempo:

December 9, 2009

It was just last week where I had the chance to buy another Balamban liempo and was able to let my siblings taste the food I was flaunting for a very long time...and they threw a positive feedback! They LOVE Liempo from the West!!!

Balamban Liempo is definitely a ring in the ear for most of the people in Cebu now and I'm proud of this food!!!

We will undoubtedly be celebrating our Christmas with BALAMBAN LIEMPO!

(photo by: Prince; Ethelbert)