Are you looking for cheap yet filling food that are readily available in Tanay?  Well, brace yourselves for what you will find here!

In the town plaza, especially along Catambay Street, is a stretch of food stalls that sell a variety of street food.  Some stalls open early in the morning while others wait until the late afternoon where more people come out from school or work.  Some stalls have fixed pwesto (position) while others are mobile and travel around the town to cater those who have no easy access to these appetizing food.

The most common street food that is popular among the locals are the different processed food that are deep fried and eaten with thick sweet or hot sauce.  These include fishball (50 cents each), kikiam (3 pesos) hotdog (6 pesos for regular and 7 for cheesedogs), and squidball and chickenball (2 pesos each).  All these are either skewered in bamboo sticks and then dipped directly in the sauce or placed in paper plates and then poured over with the sauce.  This is the great thing about street food; street vendors are friendly enough to allow you to create your own order!  Another nice thing is the healthy competition among the vendors especially with the sauces.  One stall has mixed pickles in what could’ve been just a plain cornstarch-sugar-vinegar sauce while another stall has included pineapple juice and liver spread for that very tasty flavor.  You can have a food trip adventure here: try out different street food and the different sauces and you won’t get disappointed!

Meanwhile, if you are used to eating kwek-kwek, you may not be surprised to see similar ones in Tanay.  However, instead of quail eggs which are smaller, chicken eggs are used.  Thus came the name “pop egg” or tokneneng in other places.  These are chicken eggs, either sliced to pieces to make smaller ones (1 peso) or whole eggs for bigger ones (8 pesos).  Pop eggs partner with vinegar dips for that perfect combination.  Explore other streets of Tanay and you may even find pop eggs made of the exotic balut (boiled poultry egg with embryo) or penoy (boiled poultry egg without embryo).  Another fried food that is covered in flour and deep fried is the favorite calamares (3 pesos).  It is made of squid marinated in calamansi, vetsin and ginisa mix.

A tropical fruit and a root crop that are abundant are also sold in the streets.  Banana cue (10 pesos) and turon (5 to 6 pesos) are bananas cooked in sugar and covered in lumpia respectively while Kamote cue (10 pesos) are sliced kamote (sweet potato), cooked in sugar and skewered in bamboo sticks.  These make great merienda (snack) in the afternoon. 

Other favorites usually found in fast food restaurants get their way in the streets of Tanay.  In Yuico street, a burger stand not only sells a variety of burgers but also French fries, noodles, siomai (Chinese dumpling), spaghetti, and hot beverages like coffee and chocolate.  These items are sold at as low as 8 pesos to 30 pesos each.  This particular street food stall is open 24 hours so you’re sure not to go hungry and broke in Tanay!

More street food mushroom around Tanay at dusk until night.  You can enjoy barbecued parts and laman-loob (innards) including isaw (chicken and pig intestines), betamax (pig’s blood), adidas (chicken feet), helmet (chicken head), and tenga (pig’s ears).  If you’re not into these kinds of food, there is always the sweet pork barbeque that is grilled to your preference.  There are also the all year-round available puto bumbong and bibingka!

Food tripping won’t be complete without any drink at hand.  Gulaman and palamig (5 pesos) or coolers with different flavors such as pineapple, vanilla and buko are abundant left and right so you are certain not to go thirsty.

If you’re a tourist and commuting is your cup of tea, you will discover more street food in the town’s terminal.  Not only will you be overwhelmed by fruits, buko pie, quail eggs, chicharon, chips and kakanin (snacks made of rice); you can also have a quick trip to the town’s market located just behind the terminal and what an array of choices you will discover!

If reading this fills you already, wait until you get to taste these street food; and when you do, enjoy each bite, each sip and every experience!