The Market Pub

Whenever you hear the word “Pub” the very first thing that you’d associate with that word is “beer.” And yet in Bacolod, there’s this one surprising Pub that specializes more in “dinner” than “drinking”.  It’s the amazing Market Pub!

The Market Pub is Located inside the Market Place near Bacolod’s New Government Center.  It’s a tiny place, tucked away beside Recados and Hat trick sports grill. Its most distinctive feature from the outside is its bright red telephone booth door 

 

A leisurely atmosphere pervades the interior of The Market Pub. The faint lighting makes one feel relaxed and at ease.  This is a place where you can kick off your shoes and relax.

 

There’s a well-curated collection of local and imported beers at The Market Pub. Each beer is carefully selected for its special flavor and uniqueness.

My colleagues were enamored over a local beer sourced from Cebu called “Chocolate Hills Porter.” The beer is a  deliciously rich, dark colored beer flavored with chocolate and caramel.

We were getting hungry so it was time to see what the Market Pub and what Hat Trick Sports Grill had to offer.

We started with the perennial favorite of kids and adults alike – The Cheeseburger. This protein packed burger was topped with a melting slice of cheese and lavished with a rich cheese sauce.  It was a bit messy to eat as each bite sent a spurt of yummy gooey cheese all over our fingers.  The meat is well-seasoned and savory.

We tried out the Nachos – they were drenched in cheese sauce and mayo and topped with ground beef.  The nachos were a teeny bit salty as it came coated with cheese powder.  We were pleasantly surprised to discover that the beef was actually bits of savory ground hamburger! The taste was absolutely amazing.  We had a bit of a scuffle as everybody wanted to scoop up more of the delicious beef onto their nacho chips.

One of the sandwiches that we ordered was the Manc Rib sandwich.  We were initially surprised as to why it was called the Manc Rib but then we finally got it – it was short for “Manchester”. The owners of the bar love sports and they have lived in England for some time.  The Manc Rib is a soft boneless rib patty served with cheese sauce, barbecue rib sauce and lettuce in a bun.

Dining in something as British as a Pub, you’d hardly expect to find SPANISH food, but yes – The Market Pub takes your preconcieved notions of what pub food should be and turns it upisde down with their platters of Paella! It really threw me for a loop!

I love seafood so I ordered their Mixed seafood Paella platter. It came in a big dish with shrimp, chicken, bell peppers and squid. It was a joy to eat.  The flavor of the seafood permeated every grain of rice. Squeezed over the Paella, the lemons gave the seafood a little “zing” and enhanced the flavor.  The best part for me was eating the rice at the very bottom of the pan! Yum!

As a digestif – an after dinner drink, we tried a most remarkable beer from Spain called INEDIT.  I looked at the back of the bottle and my mouth gaped in surprise – this beer was brewed by one of my culinary heroes, Chef Ferran Adria – the chef of the world’s number one restaurant El Bulli!

Staring at me  from the neck of the bottle were the words.  “El Bulli.”

And on the back of the bottle were these words… Oh my God. I was seriously nerding out.

We picked up the courage to taste the beer.  It was clear, crisp and had a light aftertaste. Not too overpowering and not too bitter.   Wow!  It really went with everything that we had ordered.  The beer actually enhanced the flavors of the Paella.  I really felt honored that I was tasting a beer crafted by the maestro Ferran Adria himself.

Check out The Market Pub at the Marketplace by the New Government Center for more amazing surprises and GREAT BEERS and FOOD.  They’re open daily from 11:30 am to 2am saturday and sunday. Contact Number: 0918 979 0699.

I’m still over the moon at having tasted something by Ferran Adria!  See you guys next time!