COCONUTS HOT SPOT—Tucked away in a side street in Makati’s colorful (because of the lights) Padre Burgos area is El Chupacabra, an open-air affair that serves the best street tacos and the best-priced beer in that expensive city.
If your idea of a taco—and it was mine, too—is that mess of ground beef, lettuce, cheese, and tomatoes in a crisp corn shell served in your high school cafeteria, know that that taco is a lie.
El Chupacabra’s street tacos are made of soft corn tortillas and your choice of filling. El Chupacabra has carne asada, carnitas, lengua, pollo, pescado, camaron, chorizo, barbacoa, and tripa but, as it promises on its Facebook page, “no lettuce, no cheese, no gringo-style ground beef.”
I had the carne asada taco (PHP80) and promptly changed my mind about tacos and the cultural value of Makati’s red light district. “I have never had meat this good before,” is an actual quote from that night. It was charred enough to give the strands of meat a little bite, but it wasn’t dry or tough at all.
The taco was a a bit smaller than I expected, but then again, tacos are supposed to be light snacks. A couple of tacos paired with 35-peso beers would make for a fuller meal and a great opportunity to try the different kinds.
El Chupacabra also offers pork barbecue at P20 a stick and lean pork sisig if you’re looking for more familiar pulutan.
You don’t need to make reservations but the place does get full, so coming early would be a good idea.
Another good idea is to keep an eye on your valuables. A friend who’s a regular said someone had their laptop stolen there recently. Things like that can happen anywhere in Manila, though, so don’t let that put you off from checking out El Chupacabra (or being in Manila in general).
5782 Felipe St, Bgy Poblacion, Makati; +63 2 8951919. Daily 11am-2am.
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