Tapsi Quel
Tapsi Quel is a tiny eatery located on the corner of Sinag and Libertad Streets, Mandaluyong City. If you’re Filipino, then you most probably have an idea what the first part of the name means. If not, then allow me to enlighten you. Tapsi is short for “tapsilog,” a portmanteau word resulting from the combination of the Tagalog words for three items that make up a typical Filipino breakfast: “tapa” (jerked beef), “sinangag” (garlic rice) and “itlog” (fried egg). The second part of the establishment’s name, however, is a mystery. Neither I nor the next guy is exactly sure what Quel means. I’m guessing it’s the name of the family-owned ox whose meat helped build the place. Or the owners thought it’d be clever if they made the name sound like “popsicle.” In any case, Tapsi Quel is home to my favorite greasy spoon.
Aside from the world-famous tapsilog, Tapsi Quel, like most diners and restaurants that offer it, also serves other “-silog” meals, all with garlic rice and fried egg, of course, as their names suggest.
Chiksilog (chicken). Hotsilog (hotdog). Bangsilog (“bangus,” milkfish). Longsilog (“longganiza,” Philippine chorizo). Liemposilog (“liempo,” pork belly). Tuyolog (“tuyo,” dried herring). Tocilog (“tocino,” cured pork). Cornsilog (corned beef). Porksilog (pork chop). Masilog (Ma Ling, a brand of luncheon meat). If you fancy a greasy plate of any of these delectable dishes, make sure you have more or less P50 in your pocket, head to the small diner fronting Ministop and Bugong Roast Chicken, grab a monoblock stool and make yourself comfortable at the tiled counter.
Tonight for dinner I had my favorite, fortified-with-cholesterol liemposilog. I absolutely enjoyed chomping on the delicious meat, which, judging by its curiously dark appearance, was clearly fried in three-day-old cooking oil. Yummy.
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