Dubai: Get Filipino street food for Dh10 in this winter night market

From Iloilo province’s famous beef shanks sour stew with jackfruit known as kansi; to the north’s exotic papaitan, a spicy beef or goat bile soup; to bulalo (beef stew) from Batangas, to balbacua (a stew of collagen-rich beef parts) of southern and central Philippines, and Manila’s unique street foods, one can find them all freshly served nightly at affordable prices in one place: Al Rigga in Deira, Dubai.

Al Rigga, like Satwa, is a lively community with a large concentration of Filipinos. “This place makes me feel happy...parang perya (like a fair or festival),” Czarina Garcia, 23, who came to Dubai just a year ago, told Khaleej Times in her vernacular.

She added: “I don’t feel homesick anymore. It’s like you’re in the Philippines. So many Filipinos come here to have dinner and enjoy Filipino food with their friends and families.”

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The young woman, who is originally from Antipolo, Rizal, a city east of the capital Manila, works as a cashier at the night market that opened in Al Rigga last month. She said the place is a good way to promote the unique Filipino cuisine, which has a rich history and diverse cultural influences.

“I see a lot of foreigners come here with their Filipino friends to have a taste of food from different parts of the Philippines,” said Garcia with a smile.

Pinoy bestsellers at Dh10 each

Filipina Santos, 42, who works part-time as a seller at a food stall at the Winter Night Market, said street food is among their bestsellers, even among other nationalities.

Their store sells skewers such proben or proven – part of a chicken’s proventiculus or stomach (digestive system), hence the name – mixed with cornstarch or flour and deep fried. There is also Isaw (grilled, marinated chicken intestines), calamari (battered and deep-friend squid), corndog with mozzarella (hotdog on a stick coated with cornmeal batter and deep fried), and many more. And the best part is: Everything sells for just Dh10 each or per order.

Santos told Khaleej Times: “We get a lot of foreign nationals trying Filipino street foods for the first time. Most of them like proben. Arab nationals, however, prefer the corndog because it has mozzarella. I sell about Dh2,500 of these street foods on ordinary weeknights and even better during weekends.”

Serving best dishes

Virginia Padilla, 51, owner of Lutong Bale, a restaurant that sells traditional cuisine, said she’s delighted to serve Filipino food to Filipinos and foreigners alike. She used to work at a bank, but turned restaurateur about 18 years ago.

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