When you speak of street food, you can’t not mention fishballs. They are normally sold through pushcarts along the sidewalk.

We have a lot of them around the UP, and each student or anyone part of the community would probably tell you where their favorite fishball stand is. Mine would be the one at Vinzons, just because as students, that’s where my friends and I would normally have them before heading home. It is not at all unusual to hear of friends who would talk about meeting up and having fishballs at the UP, years after they’ve graduated. Many would attest though that the best ones are either near the Shopping Center, or just outside the College of Music.

This photo was taken on the same day the creek outside overflowed and our street was flooded. We weren’t eating out on the street though, getting ourselved drenched in the rain. My cousin Ton has ventured into a small business. She has two pushcarts that go out to sell fishballs, squidballs, chicken balls (this one’s fairly new), and kikiam. Because it was raining and we were flooded in, her carts could not go out – we were her customers instead.

The fishballs in this photo are not doused in sauce. And people will tell you that the secret to bestselling fishballs, is in the sauce. After all, all those balls taste the same way. But the perfect mix of their sweet/sour/spicy sauce is what patrons will keep coming back for.

Having street food at the comfort of your own yard – what could be better than that? Haha.