Odd but delicious: A rare combo

Food commonly associated with the Filipino culture includes adobo, lechon, bulalo, and the never forgotten sinigang. What most people are unaware of, including some Filipinos themselves, is what is called cansi—a hot and sour soup of the Ilonggo region in the Philippines.
Cansi is the specialty of Oink Café, a newly-opened, 12-seat Filipino restaurant that specializes in Ilonggo cuisine, a region in the Philippines that loves their batchoy, chicken inasal, and cansi. Fortunately, for those interested in these food, Oink Café is a café-restaurant that serves all three dishes as their specialty, among many others.

Contrary to what its name suggests, Oink Café does not only serve pork but also beef, chicken, fish, and the occasional vegetable dish.

According to couple Windy and Patrick Fernandez, cansi could be considered a combination of bulalo and sinigang—a combination that not many Filipinos have even heard of. Bulalo is a savory Filipino stew that involves long hours of cooking and beef shank marrow. The flavor of the marrow, combined with the slight sourness of sinigang, allows for a flavorful experience that is one-of-a-kind and even more appetizing as one digs in.

“We plan to expand our menu as time goes by, but, as of now, since we prepare a meal for the day, we’d like to see how it goes,” said Patrick.

Oink Café’s other two specialties—batchoy and chicken inasal—are both popular food in the Philippines. Batchoy consists of pig innards in a special broth with egg noodles topped with onion chives and chicharon (pork rinds)—a perfect snack for those on the go. Chicken inasal is the Ilonggo version of grilled chicken that is usually marinated in a mixture of lime, pepper, vinegar, and annatto.

When asked about permanent vegetarian-friendly menu items, Patrick said that Oink Café has no plans yet. Oink Café does plan to introduce the CNMI to Amadeo coffee, a coffee bean harvested from a municipality of the same name in the Philippines.

The five-staff café is also proud to pronounce that they are currently one of the few restaurants on island that delivers food for free within Garapan. Oink Café charges a $1 fee for locations outside of Garapan while negotiations may be in order for farther places such as Kagman.

Oink Café is situated directly across LBC in Garapan. The secluded place will remain so until the café is able to attract more customers, according to Patrick.

For the less adventurous, Oink Café offers popular Filipino dishes as well such as beef tapa, pork adobo, pork sisig, chicken adobo, fried milkfish, pork barbecue, pork longganisa, embutido, pork tocino, spam, corned beef, and lumpiang shanghai, with each order coming in at less that $5 without rice. For an additional $1, one has the option to go for plain, garlic, or java rice as a side.

Desserts are also available while supplies last. Oink Café boasts of freshly made leche flan and Brazo de Mercedes for no more than $3 per serving.

Oink Café offers a popular Filipino sweet beverage called gulaman. Oink Café’s twist adds a pinkish hue to the sweet beverage, making it more appealing. It also has coffee and a variety of canned soda.

Though Oink Café is not ready to start catering, it is open to parties despite its small capacity. Oink Café serves more of a personal experience through their small area of operation, making it a great place for personal gatherings and small parties.

For more information and for deliveries, call Oink Café at 989-8638.