Cheap bites around Taft

Let’s face it. La Salle food does not come cheap. Filling our growling empty stomachs always leads to growling empty wallets.

Back in 2008, prior to the commercialization of Agno Carts, Agno was the center of economical eating. Now, they have become almost at par with the mid-priced restaurants and diners in DLSU locale: substantial meals cost at least P70, and with drinks, it almost adds up to a three-digit cost. Economically conservative students now have a hard time finding inexpensive food to fill their stomachs before going back to class.

Are we really lacking that much access to affordable food or budget meals around campus? Are we just not finding the hole-in-the-walls that could alleviate this lunchtime conundrum? Or have we just accepted this dismal truth of Lasallian student life?

To help students with this dilemma, we’ve decided to look for the most convenient and cheapest food joints Taft has to offer.

Noel’s Barbeque

Situated on the far end of Agno Street, Noel’s Barbeque has been renowned for having the cheapest eats in the vicinity of DLSU. With only P8 a barbeque, most get their money’s worth to sate their growling hunger. Other assortments of isaw (pork or chicken chitterlings) can also be had from Noel’s, as well as liempo (pork belly), hotdogs, and an assortment of chicken meats, all cooked and barbequed as you order. If it were a question of quality, you would be getting your money’s worth if not more. When quality and pricing comes into consideration, Noel’s tops the bar.

VSC Building eateries

Though most may have ignored it for the shinier, more attractive bistros across the street at One Archer’s, VSC Building houses a collection of eateries that serve an assortment of meals, from P25 buy-one-take-one burgers and plates of instant pancit canton, to an array of chicken and pork chop meals ranging from P50-P65. It also houses the renowned Eric’s Siomai, which serves as one of the cheapest dumplings in the vicinity of DLSU.

Kenny Ritz’s

Most that go to Sherwood Plaza (across Andrew Building) have drinking in mind, so most often than not, people don’t go here looking for food. Yet just right behind the said plaza and across the street is the carinderia of Kenny Ritz, a small quaint eatery serving home-cooked meals carinderia style. Though another similar establishment is also situated right beside Kenny Ritz’s, we put this on the list simply because it is the cheaper of the two, with both serving almost the same style of home cooked food. At P45 a meal, it’s hard to argue against this being one of the cheapest places you can find around Taft.

Meng’s Tapsilogan

Along Leon Guinto St. stands a fair menagerie of good food. From Chomp Chomp’s savory laksa to Bagnet’s crispy bagnet (obviously), the sensation of taste seldom dies along that narrow street. Yet with flavor comes cost, and of course the cost is money. You can seldom find anything edible hitting below the P90 mark. Relatively affordable carinderias are also present along the stretch of road, like Ate Violy’s, but the most affordable one of them all is Meng’s Tapsilogan. Silog meals here cost around P45 or more and also offer a wide assortment of other rice meals, as well as barbeque meats and isaw a couple of pesos more than Noel’s. If you do not fancy a walk to the far ends of Agno, this would be a good alternative.

Lola Edeng’s

Haven’t heard of it? You wouldn’t believe how close this place is to DLSU.

At the corner of Dagonoy Street and Taft, right across Velasco Gate, this establishment sits in the prime spot for any starving and destitude Lasallian to come by. Yet, due to the lackluster façade of the building of which it resides and the lack of visible signage, it is often ignored for more noticeable food establishments nearby like Sinangag Express and Raps. Lola Edeng’s serves a pretty decent range of meals from tapsilog to pork chops, as well a variety of home cooked style dishes, all ranging from P50 to P65.