{"id":11052,"date":"2026-01-17T13:50:26","date_gmt":"2026-01-17T05:50:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/?p=11052"},"modified":"2026-01-19T11:21:29","modified_gmt":"2026-01-19T03:21:29","slug":"a-taste-of-bicol-via-small-talk-cafe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/a-taste-of-bicol-via-small-talk-cafe\/","title":{"rendered":"A taste of Bicol via Small Talk Caf\u00e9"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Not all provinces in the Philippines have memorable local cuisines. Some that stand out are Kapampangan, Cebuano, and\u2026 yep, Bicolano. We all know, for instance, that <em>gata<\/em> or coconut milk is widely used in usually-spicy Bicolano food. That\u2019s because many of us have tasted at least some of their offerings, no matter where we may be in the country.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"tiktok-embed\" cite=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/@outragemag\/video\/7596202349815975189\" data-video-id=\"7596202349815975189\" style=\"max-width: 605px;min-width: 325px;\" >\n<section> <a target=\"_blank\" title=\"@outragemag\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/@outragemag?refer=embed\">@outragemag<\/a> In <a title=\"legazpialbay\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/tag\/legazpialbay?refer=embed\">#legazpialbay<\/a> for this <a title=\"lgbt\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/tag\/lgbt?refer=embed\">#LGBT<\/a> wandering, checking out what <a title=\"bicol\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/tag\/bicol?refer=embed\">#Bicol<\/a> <a target=\"_blank\" title=\"\u266c original sound  - Outrage Magazine\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/music\/original-sound-Outrage-Magazine-7596202422448818951?refer=embed\">\u266c original sound  &#8211; Outrage Magazine<\/a> <\/section>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p> <script async src=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And so \u2013 while in Legazpi City \u2013 we headed to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/profile.php?id=100064031284048\">Small Talk Caf\u00e9<\/a>, this known restaurant offering supposedly authentic and deconstructed delicacies from the Bicol region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>How was Small Talk Caf\u00e9 <em>naman<\/em>?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Una<\/em>, the restaurant is easy to find. It helps that people know of it, so you can take public transport and \u2013 yep \u2013 you will be taken there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Ikalawa<\/em>, the actual restaurant is\u2026 antiquated. It actually looks like someone\u2019s provincial house that\u2019s been converted into a dining place, so don\u2019t expect much design-wise. But at least you get ample seating in a not-that-tight space.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Ikatlo<\/em>, most of the people working there are women who know the venue\u2019s offerings. There are some half-truths given (e.g. their version of the sili ice cream not properly explained), but overall, they were helpful <em>naman<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Ika-apat<\/em>, how was the food?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The Pinangat\/Laing (\u20b1110) was properly cooked, with melt-in-your mouth taro leaves blending well with the coconut milk.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The Pasta Mayon (\u20b1275) reminded me of spicy <em>pansit<\/em> in some Chinese restaurant. Not to everyone\u2019s liking, but, even if sauce-less, it was okay <em>naman<\/em> for me.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The Kandingga or Albay Bopis (\u20b1225) was good <em>naman<\/em>, but not extraordinary. If you order <em>bopis<\/em> in some <em>karinderya<\/em> in Mandaluyong or in Kidapawan or in Vigan, the taste would still be the same.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The same can be said about the Sinigang (\u20b1365), which was almost tasteless.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The chicken offerings were sorta dry, including the fried chicken (\u20b1200 per piece, or \u20b1630 per medium serving), and the Adobong Manok sa Gata (\u20b1320). Truth: these weren\u2019t bad <em>naman<\/em>, but what I remember <em>ay ang<\/em> dryness of the chicken.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Must try for me <em>ay ang<\/em> Mayon Stuffed Pizza (\u20b1500), which is, basically, calzone with spicy meat filling. If you\u2019re not into spicy food, ignore those <em>sili<\/em> on top of the pizza; they\u2019re there only as decoration. Filled with cheesy meat, this is very tasty, with the spice level making you want to eat more. This is, definitely, way, way better than the Bicolano (\u20b1475) pizza that, really, is just <em>laing<\/em> on dough.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>For dessert, their version of the \u201c<em>sili<\/em> ice cream\u201d is\u2026 deceptive. Red Hot Lava (\u20b1380) is, basically, scoops of vanilla, chocolate and strawberry ice cream topped with pili nuts and slivers of <em>sili<\/em>. You can make this at home, truth be told.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>If you want to eat local in Legazpi City, try looking for some <em>karinderya<\/em>\u2026 or try the likes of Small Talk Caf\u00e9. You may have issues \u2013 as I did \u2013 with some of what\u2019s there, but it does give you a sense of Bicolano food. No hotel food, I say.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But off we go in search of more <em>lafangan<\/em> venues\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><em>Small Talk Caf\u00e9 is located at 51 Dona Aurora St., Legazpi City. For more information, call 0917 624 9279 or email <\/em><a href=\"mailto:smoltok_cafe@yahoo.com\"><em>smoltok_cafe@yahoo.com<\/em><\/a><em>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In #LegazpiCity for this #LGBT wandering, checking out what #Bicol has to offer via Small Talk Caf\u00e9.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":11053,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,8,7],"tags":[772,650,2548,110],"class_list":["post-11052","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-destinations","category-dining-out","category-travel","tag-foodie","tag-nutrition","tag-small-talk-cafe","tag-travel-2"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11052","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11052"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11052\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11055,"href":"https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11052\/revisions\/11055"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11053"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11052"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11052"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11052"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}