Makati Jolly Jeep Guide
If you are new in Makati you might be wondering where to grab cheap and good food for your day, of course 49ers and 59ers of fast food chains won’t do, have it every day and I’m very certain you’ll get fed up with it. As a Makati dweller, I decided to write a Food Guide about Makati’s Jollijeep Industry, grey food carts you’ll find in every corner of the streets of Salcedo and Legaspi village that offers different food viands.
At first you might think; it’s dirty and since there are a lot of people who are lining up during lunch, ypu might say it’s too crowded to have your lunch there, but don’t get deceived by what you see as I talk to each jollijeep owners, I was surprised that most of them were in the business for almost 20 to 30 years and was able to establish their own brand and network of loyal customers, serving the majority of Makati’s working population. The jollijeeps listed are famous for their own branding, taste, quality and of course the price per meal.
40K Pork Chop (C. Palanca st. in front of Family Mart)
Located at C. Palanca st. this Jolijeep is just so famous for their Pork Chop, selling 50 to 60 Kilos of Liempo every single day imagine how many Pork Chop is that, regularly they open around 11:30am, you wouldn’t have a hard time searching for this since you’ll see the long line of people waiting to have their own for lunch, sold at minimum of P40 to P100, includes the famous Filipino condiments of toyomansisili; “soy sauce with calamansi and Chili pepper”. Once you have a bite of this savory, tender yet crunchy and sinful piece of meat there would be days you’ll crave for it and end up falling in line for it. Rice is at P5 each, set of paper plate and utensils at P5, they also sell vegetables like; Pinakbet, Ginataang Langka etc. and other home-cooked Filipino meals. One of my other favorite here is their Spring Rolls. The price will fit your daily budget and you’ll get good food in return, a complete meal to fuel the rest of your working day.
Mercury (Valero st. beside Mercury Drug)
Since 1998, Mamsi has been catering Kapampangan dishes, like most Jollijeeps before they became a food cart and legalized by the municipality of Makati by 2005, they were literally in Jeeps or Ford Fiera’s, serving food to Makati’s working population. Since then, they established a household brand for Makati’s food cart industry, their best-selling viand is their white sisig I don’t know they did this having a thick consistency and it has a sour to savory kick and it’s fairly crunchy, if you’re a sisig fanatic it will certainly be part of your favorite list. Price per meal is ranging from P50 to P60; the price in exchange for the quality of food you will get is fair enough, another good thing about them is they offer half order for a viand worth P30 and full order for P40, not bad if you are saving. Aside from their white sisig there are a variety of choices since every day they change their menu, like their Kare-Kare, the serving is so many with their own mix of bagoong, and you’ll love this too. If you don’t like pork dishes, they have beef, broccoli, ampalaya con carne and saucy beef tapa. Usually in other food carts prices of beef dishes were higher but with them you can get in the same price as pork and chicken dishes. No wonder why they have been in the industry for quite some time.
Longganisa (Nieva st.)
In a very competitive environment like Makati CBD, breakfast is the most important meal, it is very essential to start your day with a heavy breakfast to keep you going and for you to face the challenges at work with enough energy to be efficient and productive, I never skip breakfast, it provides me capacity to think and strategize well and if you had breakfast you would actually don’t get hungry easily. Local Garlic Fried Rice or sinangag with longganisa, tocino, hotdogs and sunny side up eggs has been a staple for Filipino breakfast. In Makati a lot of jollijeep cooks breakfast meals but for me there is this one that stands out. For over a decade now, this Jollijeep located at Nieva st. offers traditional breakfast, their very own home made longganisa is what makes the Makati crowd go back each morning, you just can’t get enough of this as if you would prefer this as your every day breakfast, they also have other viands like embotido, hotdog and cheesedog. It comes with a generous serving of garlic fried rice and a choice of eggs. You can enjoy this meal from P40 to P50. If you would consider this jollijeep I suggest you come earlier around 8 AM because they run out of stocks easily.
Rada Sisig (Rada st. infront of 7/11)
For some Sisig is a staple pulutan something you partnered with a cold bottle of beer, while for most it’s a famous Kapampangan delicacy tracing down its roots since 1732. Sisig means to snack on something sour. Usually composed of pig’s face, chicken liver, ox brains and some spices, some variations add mayonnaise and eggs too. As for this food guide, there is this one jollijeep in Makati that became famous for their own brand of sisig; Rada Sisig, came from the name of the street Rada in Legaspi Village where they are located it has been a favorite of Makati’s working population and even for those who came from the other side of Makati CBD Salcedo Village walking all the way the down to satisfy their craving for this mouth watery viand, being in the industry for over 2 decades the also offer other brands like Pares and Beef tapa, serving with quality and reasonable price of P55 per meal with utensils for take outs they selling an average of 60 Kilos of Sisig per day, wow. I couldn’t describe this Sisig, I would suggest that you try it on your own.
Gourmet (C. Palanca st. Near Plantation)
Based on this review, most Jollijeeps offers affordable meals but there is one that became famous and staple in Makati’s Jollijeep scene by serving Quality Gourmet viands like Sausage and eggs for breakfast, Fish Fillet with tartar sauce served with choice of vegetables like; Buttered Corn, peas and carrots or Stir Fry veggies for lunch and German potato salad for dessert. It’s actually complete course. They also serve pastas and different sandwiches like Ham & Cheese, Tuna and Hoagie which is my favorite. I heard that Mr. Lirio the owner of this Jollijeep is a former chef on a cruise ship, no wonder why their viands are served Gourmet style. Meals offered from P90 to P100 per meal, a bit pricy for some but this is reasonable for good food. Enjoy!
