I am a proud Talisaynon. I got my pre-college diplomas from the two big public schools here. During my growing up years, I literally roamed around the nook and cranny of my hometown. I guess, all the “best” things about my city cannot escape from my prying eyes.
We have the world’s famous, The Ruins, others refer to it as The Lacson Ruins. This is actually a dilapidated remnant of what used to be a grand mansion of the Lacson family built before the war. It was preserved because of its unique architectural designs, which are Italian in origin.
You might also enjoy the annual Minuluan Festival, wherein participants don colorful customs and dance to the beat of the drums and other tribal musical instruments. It is interesting to see performers who sort of dance to a story about the struggles and heroism of the natives a long time ago.
When it comes to food though, we have nothing much to offer, except for this one batchoyan who has the best hot steaming noodle soup since I was a smart street kid.
As far as I can remember, they used to occupy a small stall inside the Talisay Public Market. But recently they transferred to a better location, with ample parking space, along the Magsaysay St. leading to the San Nicolas de Tolentino Parish Church.
Bebang’s Batchoy is a go-to place of Talisaynons who want to have a steaming hot soup made of noodles and pork organs sprinkled with crushed pork cracklings and fried garlic. They serve three variations – plain, special and super special, So, if you want your batchoy with egg or with additional servings of pork organs, you may opt for special or super special.
I guess, they stand out from the rest of the batchoyans in Talisay because they managed to survive despite the economy and competition, so that they were able to perfect the right batchoy ingredients over the years.
We can enjoy our bowl of batchoy in many ways. Most of us consume the soup first and ask for a refill, while others prefer to pair this soupy dish with puto (rice cake) or pandesal (bread roll).
