Yummy and cheap paella!

P78 for a serving of paella?

Trust a foodie like Nancy Reyes-Lumen (editor-in-chief, Cook Magazine) to know the greatest food finds around Makati. The few times she talked about this really yummy paella down Dela Rosa Street, near the riles ng tren, I wasn’t really listening. Anything Nancy recommends would surely burn a hole in my pocket, I thought. She did mention that one can have individual orders for less than one hundred pesos, but that didn’t register.

Until, of course, that man com meeting last month when Nancy, who was celebrating her birthday that day, sent us this huge paellera filled with really tempting Paella Valenciana. We all helped ourselves to the wonderful paella, bursting with the most succulent prawns and clams and the freshest veggies, the moment our chairman adjourned the meeting. When Nancy dropped by, we all thanked her for taking the effort to whip up this really delightful paella. But she was quick to say she didn’t have a hand in the preparation of the rice dish. Again, she said, she ordered the paella down Dela Rosa Street, near the riles ng tren, from this hole-in-the-wall where a former Casa Armas chef lives. She couldn’t exactly recall the name of the place, she said, but she just paid P1,400 for that paella that 15 of us wolfed down.

The next day, Nancy treated her staff to paella during their weekly meeting and I was lucky enough to be summoned to the room just as lunch was being served. This time, they had Paella Negra on the table. Again, it was so yummy, the rice cooked to the right softness and bursting with the flavor of the squid ink. I was so absorbed in my paella to understand what the meeting was all about. All I remember was Nancy saying that she got the Paella Negra again for P1,400 thereabouts, from this carinderia down the street.

The following day, I was on a mission. Braving the heat of the sun, I walked down Dela Rosa Street in search of this carinderia. My husband, intrigued by my paella stories the past two days, walked all the way from his office near AIM to join me in my carinderia hunt.

It didn’t take us long to find Paella Atbp. The carinderia, housed on the first floor of an old apartment, was probably just 30 steps from the corner of Dela Rosa and Chino Roces Avenues. Inside were around six small tables and a counter where the chafing dishes containing various dishes – pork liempo, chop suey, grilled tuna, soup -- were arranged. At the center was a big paellera bursting with Paella Valenciana.

We immediately lined up to order paella, a serving of which cost P78. The server told us that we had to order a viand as well if we wanted the paella. We asked how much the other viands would cost, but no, he clarified, that would be part of the P78. How could we complain?

Excited, I opted for the pork liempo while Noel went for grilled tuna. It wasn’t long before we were served our paella with the additional viand. Noel immediately devoured the tuna, which he noted to be fresh and cooked just right. I had to wait a bit longer because the pork liempo was still being cooked, but it sure was worth the wait. The meat was flavorful, tender and went very well with my paella.

All in all, we spent less than P200 (we each bought soft drinks for P14 per bottle) for our lunch that day but we were more satisfied. Sure, the airconditioning wasn’t strong, and the smell of food stuck to our clothes and hair, but this was not what we came for, right?