Noel’s BBQ: The Best Barbecue In DLSU

In the Philippines, there are numerous barbecue grill stands scattered in every street corner. In the afternoon, people would flock to buy barbecue, which is popular local street food. By barbecue, we do not only mean grilled chicken and pork meat. Vendors usually sell and grill parts of chicken and pork like pork fat, pig ears, pork blood, pork intestine, chicken intestine, chicken feet, chicken liver and poultry gizzard among others.

In this country full of street barbecues, there’s one brand that Lasallians recognize – Noel’s BBQ. Almost every student of DLSU has heard of Noel’s BBQ. It’s only a small street eatery situated a few steps after the university’s Enrique Razon Sports Complex along Agno Street yet it’s renowned establishment.

When I discovered about the Lasallians’ craze over Noel’s BBQ, I had this thought. Perhaps, these wealthy students have never tried street barbecues so they’re just amused to see and taste grilled meat and innards that are sold outdoors. As a country girl who collects the most leftover sticks after buying and eating street barbecues with the family, I am the one to judge if Noel’s BBQ is really worth the fame. So I grabbed few sticks of each of Noel’s delicacies and decided to have them for lunch at home. 

Pork BBQ | Atay

One factor that makes Noel’s Pork BBQ stand out is its smoky sweet sauce brushed and burnt with the meat. The marinade and the glaze is indeed their signature. I like that the pork meat was tender and was sliced into thin strips so it was not annoying and chewy to eat. There were minimal fats, too. But if there were fats, it added flavor to the barbecue. The same sauce was used for their Atay so the bitterness and umami flavor was balanced with the sweetness. As you can see, there were big chunks of Atay so one can be contented already with one stick.

Isaw Manok | Isaw Baboy

Thankfully, these sticks have long intestines unlike in other barbecue stores that only fill half of the sticks. The intestines are clean. The texture is a mix of chewy and crunchy. However, the bottom part weren’t properly grilled. They were still swollen. It would be good if they charred it a little more. But when we heated it in the microwave, we got its real flavor that is indeed yummy. There was sweetness infused in its swirls. If only served right, I would understand why Noel’s Isaw is famous as well.

Tenga | Balunan

Although the Tenga is composed mostly of fats, I enjoyed eating it since the pig’s ear was incredibly soft and holds the most flavor that’s why we liked it. I was looking for the cartilage part for an added crunch though. The Balunan, on the other, wasn’t fully grilled, especially the bottom part. We can taste something fishy. I know it’s cooked and boiled since they’re very tender. We just wish it was grilled more. It also has inconsistencies in the size. it’s not a problem but it’s bothering to eat a big round cut of innards. 

Pork Liempo | Itlog na Maalat

It’s a good thing that they added Pork Liempo into their menu because it’s their best dish. This was the kind of grill that’s lacking in the meat and innards on sticks. The marinade was delicious. It has sweet and addicting sauce. There are charred areas. I also ordered their Itlog na Maalat and I was surprised with the serving of the salted egg. It only has one egg sliced to two and one tomato sliced to cubes. There’s nothing special. But it’s good to eat with liempo.