A taste of good home cooking

Storekeeper and cook Lydia Maldava finds joy when they sell out food items in one day. (Bea Cabrera)

You can spot The Chef’s BBQ along San Jose beside San Jose Supermarket and if you are lucky, the familiar smell of meat on the grill might just reach you and make your tummy rumble. The Chef’s BBQ has built a reputation of preparing dishes that will remind you of home—simple, easy to eat but scrumptious.

Established in November last year, The Chef’s BBQ is considered a newcomer in the food business. “We may be new but we have a rich experience in food preparation and service. My employer is a chef in one of the hotels on island, combined with my passion for cooking since I was child, we create unique flavors in the food we sell that will transport you to home-style taste,” said storekeeper and cook Lydia Maldava.

“Our specialty is barbeque with different meats marinated in our unique sauces. We have pork, chicken, beef intestine, pork ears, and hotdog barbeque, We also have street food for people on the go or just want a quick snack like fishball, kikiam, dumplings, vegetable lumpia, lumpiang shanghai, and siomai,” Maldava added.

The Chef’s BBQ also serves lunch for only $3 that will get you one choice of viand and rice. Pork barbeque sells for only $1 apiece and party orders are a welcome. Party trays of pancit, spaghetti, palabok, grilled fish and squid, fried chicken, and of course, pork barbeque are available.

“Due to COVID-19 concerns, we closed in March and opened up again on May 18. We could stay operational in March but businesses were only allowed to operate from 6am to 1pm which was not feasible for our business because barbeque orders from our customers usually come in the afternoon,” Maldava said.

“We opened in May knowing that we will have to play it by ear because we know that not many people go out and we understand because everyone was still being cautious. Business started to pick up late June,” Maldava added.

Maldava said that a day with everything sold out is the highlight of her day. “Although I am just an employee, I find joy when we sell everything for the day. We do not prepare a lot, just enough for our estimated customers every day. We are happy customers choose to come here over many barbeque places on island.”

“Our customers are assured value for money. We adhere to safety and health protocols,” she added.

The Chef’s BBQ has no dine-in and only has take-out. They are open Monday to Sunday from 9am to 8pm. For orders, call (670) 989-0766 and (670) 789-0599.