888 Chinatown Square: An unofficial guide

Today the Bacolod Food Hunters are bringing to you a special article on the Divisoria of Bacolod, 888 Chinatown square!

 

888 Chinatown square is a mall filled with stalls selling cheap Chinese goods.  This mall is totally bizarre and is worth bringing visitors to Bacolod to take a look.  One of our foreign friends uttered two unforgettable lines after visiting the mall.

“You Filipinos must like Angry birds a lot.”

and the notable:

“But they’re all selling the same thing!!

Once inside, you can’t help but gawk at the sea of humanity thronging around… Gosh, crowded as heck!  Are they even buying anything?

The first floor is where some of the food restaurants are located.  You get your Apollo restaurant, Mang Inasal, Merci, Dunkin Donuts and a lot of other stuff.

At the back area of the mall and also on the second floor, you can find stalls selling your favourite pirated DEE-BEE-DEE..

After exploring the ground floor and getting annoyed at all the angry bird merchandise, lets head to the second floor where even more angry bird and cellphone shops await!  Shoe stores are numerous on the second floor.

On the second floor you can find some stores selling interesting goods.  There are some stores selling novelty shirts (nowhere near the quality you find in greenhills) and a shop that offers customized shirts, mugs and what-nots.

Okay, so you’re probably hungry by now.. Incidentally, the best places to eat if you’re on a budget is also located on the second floor.

Don’t worry about having too little money because 50-100 pesos can already get you a belly busting meal.  Avoid the hotdog stands.  They use old and rancid cooking oil and instead head to the ones offering meals.  Let’s start with two favourites..

1.) Leylam Shawarma

We go to Leylam for its delicious rice in a box and its all meat shawarma.

Protip: Ask for extra white shawarma sauce and ask for spicy sauce!

The best part is mixing up the rice and the shawarma sauce.

2.) Pinoy Pizza (Yehey! Pizza)

This stall is just amazing.  It’s always got a line full of customers queuing to buy a pizza which when we tried it, we found it to be substandard or nothing special in terms of taste.  The cheese is scanty and next to tasteless, the crust is simply a thin layer of hollowed- out bread.  In terms of price, Yehey! Pizza excels. Fifty pesos can buy you a medium sized plate, perfect for a merienda.

3. Potato Corner.

Potato corner has this new product WASABI covered fries which we sort of enjoy.  The fries are sweetish with a mild wasabi kick.  Buy a big bucket and enjoy watching the TV screen of the stall for a bizarre cartoon about a potato who kills himself so everyone can have french fries.

Congratulations!  You’ve successfully navigated and dined at 888!