I am an accidental foodie: I used to write a food column for a local paper, and have written extensively about the Dumaguete food scene for national magazines and newspapers — until I decided to discontinue the enterprise about four years ago.
Still, people I know who visit Dumaguete keep asking me about the best places to go to eat, and I’ve found I no longer quite know the scene. A lot can change in half a decade.
So I’ve decided to try a new approach this year, and go about sampling the local food culture once more, and document everything online in the course of 12 months.
The City has grown and expanded enough in the years since 2011, and a significant part of what’s happening, food-wise, has become unfamiliar to me. Consider this a personal adventure.
The Rollin’ Pin, located along Katada St. (beside Opeñas), is arguably the surprise success of the past two years — a no-frills cake shop and cafe that has, for some reason, attracted a steady clientele who loves its pastries, or its bread. (I know friends who come regularly for its baguettes, and for its croissants.)
I come for the Mediterranean Chicken, a tasty morsel of chicken leg dipped and fried in basil goodness.
For its price, however, I’d love to have a meal with a fuller proportion of meat, but it’s a beguiling concoction, one that I find ordering again and again despite myself.
The cakes are a delight, some more than the others.
But the space is quite small, the tables often filled to capacity — and the wifi is notoriously lamentable.
But that hasn’t stopped me and many others from going.
The Mediterranean Chicken is priced at P195.
Placed my order at 12:05 pm. Order received at 12:20 pm. (Ian Rosales Casocot)
