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Dining | Long Time No See Buddy - Buddy's Market Market Branch


I can remember it was 1990s that I first learned of this restaurant in Kalayaan Street in Makati.  I liked the pansit habhab a very popular noodle dish from Lucban Quezon.  They renamed it as Pancit Lucban.  A very tasty local pansit there brought to Makati which was new to a modern individual.

Since finding this one out, I really dropby this place when there is a party or something.  People were always intrigued and they liked this so much that they always ask this from me when we do get together.

Years later, this small restaurant in Kalayaan soon branched out and it is located in different areas of Metro Manila and with a expansive menu.  For our review of Buddy's, we shall taste their other dish, the Chicken Inasal or Grilled Chicken.  Costing between Php150-200 (Sorry forgot to write down the actual cost) that's without a drink.


The Buddy's branch is located in Market Market and it's in mall's open air food court.  They have a wide frontage, you won't miss them.  Since its a food court, one will have to make a queue at the cashier to order and pay for your order.  During our visit, it was late lunch already so there was no line.

Order and payment was fast but my only tip is, before going up to the cashier, make sure you look at their massive menu and select your order before ordering.  Its rude to take much of the cashier's time asking questions before ordering.

After payment, the waiting begins.  Although they ask you if you can wait for 15 minutes for your order.  15 minutes is forever for a hungry diner like me.  Still I said its okay so I waited.  They will not call your number but instead they will deliver it to your table in the food court.  For our review here, our wait went beyond 15 minutes and when the server came over my table, they delivered the wrong order.  I had to wait a few more minutes before they finally delivered the order.

My order came with a orange colored cup of rice and some pickled papaya (achara). I don't know why its orange so I won't explain anymore.  Now lets go into our food review.


Taste wise.  The rice was just plain rice I think.  I expected some strange taste due to the color but for my experience, it was just color.  The herb on top was the taste. LOL.  The achara was still achara.  I don't know how the greatest achara in the world tastes like, but theirs is the typical achara you get from everywhere.  Now about the chicken?  It tasted like it had ketchup on them.  I think this is the reason why the chicken was colored red in the first place.  For the time of waiting I expected more from the chicken but sadly it was a let down.

The chicken wasn't juicy, it was dry and chewy.  Had a hard time eating through my order.  I should have ordered a softdrink to make it juicy and easy to chew.  The chicken tasted like catsup and nothing else.  There might be some herbs or condiments in them but the flavor of catsup was overwhelming.  I expected a lot from them as my memory of their pancit lucban still holds true to my heart. 

Serving wise. For the price, offering a quarter chicken (almost half) its a good deal.  For a regular diner, this is a huge plate.  They might share it with a friend.  The cup of rice was huge.  They used a big cup for this and I can't complain more.  Ample serving of achara will take the umay out of your system after eating this meal.  

Price point. For Php150-Php200 price range, this is a good meal considering the serving size.  The only problem I had was the taste.  I was not hungry after it but still I was left looking for the taste.  The achara didn't help in the end.  We suggest you buy a softdrink or juice with this meal so that you can have a hearty meal.

We do hope when you do decide to eat here you will have a far more greater experience than we had.

For more information on them, we suggest looking them up in facebook.

Buddy's Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato