Coffee beans from Sonny Belotindos [0918-3895187]. If you want to try how his coffee tastes like, a cup is sold for only P20.

If Makati has its Salcedo and Legaspi markets on weekends and Ortigas has its Banchetta, Quezon City residents do their weekly marketing on Sundays at Market One, at the back of the Lung Center of the Philippines.

Sundays at Market One is family day, and we found parents and their children gathered around tables, sharing a meal bought from vendors who sold prepared food such as beef mechado, laing, morcon. One stall sold lechon from Cebu, while another grilled tilapia before your eyes.

Unlike in Ortigas, where vendors sold mostly cooked food, the bazaar at Lung Center was a market in every sense of the word.

At the wet side of the market, fresh fish, clams, meat, and chicken were sold. Produce from up north such as tomatoes, onions, baguio beans, bell pepper, and other vegetables are also available.

We also found a stall selling bagnet and Ilocano empanada (P35, if I remember right), which they prepare and deep-fry right before your eyes.

We came upon Nene Gamalinda (+63 2 740 9478), who that very moment was frying some eggplant slices. She was not selling those, she told us when we asked, but offered us some churros con tsokolate (P50) and Dagupan boneless bangus (around P230 each). And would you know, she happens to be married to the brother of New York-based writer Eric Gamalinda.

We noticed how some of those who came by addressed their suki with such familiarity, and maybe it’s because many of those who make this their Sunday tambayan have done so for many years.

If you happen to be in Quezon City on a Sunday, do drop by and see for yourself. Market One is open at the Lung Center of the Philippines (along Quezon Avenue) from 6 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Next: Discoveries at the dry section of Market One

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