Buboy’s Carinderia is the new Third Place

I am writing about Buboy today not because it was a new discovery, but rather because it was a rediscovery. Let me explain.

Buboy is a filipino restaurant which was originally located in NDG, but which recently moved to a new spot in Chinatown. Think hole in the wall, old school mall which goes completely unnoticed unless a spot like Buboy pulls you in.

The first time I went to Buboy was in NDG, for an all-you-can-eat brunch they were having. I remember great service, great food and a cute location, but I forgot about it soon after, until Sunday. My best friend and I were feeling hungry after a few hours of trip planning and decided to look for some spots nearby. When Buboy showed up, we knew we had to give their new location a try.

Luckily my best friend was there to guide the way because when I said the mall goes unnoticed, I meant it. There is no way for you to know of its existence unless you really look for it, like Alice in Wonderland when she falls down the rabbit hole. What we discovered was a small food counter reminiscent of those found in Asia, as if Buboy had been teleported directly from the motherland.

I didn’t know why in the moment, but I felt a sense of comfort at the mere sight of the bamboo roll-up blinds and the contrasting dark wood stools against the white ceramic.

Perhaps what contributed to this feeling is that we were welcomed warmly, without the fluff of a customer service voice, as though the staff working there was expecting us. Like walking into someone’s home, we were greeted into the Carinderia like family.

While waiting for our chicken pancit and lechon bowl with garlic rice, we chatted away with two of the men working, as though we were friends, and naturally at that. I can’t say for certain whether that says a lot about my best friend and I’s personalities or about the kindness of Buboy’s employees, but I for one am only chatty when I feel at ease.

Now if you’ve read me before you know I am a fan of open kitchens, and this one felt like we were literally in the kitchen with them. From the sound of pork skin being chopped to the hypnotizing movement of the juice machine making waves in the cantaloupe juice, it was like watching a perfectly orchestrated symphony.

Enter the food, which was not only fresh but incredibly flavourful. I cannot say enough about how delectable the sauce for the pancit was and how tender and melt-in-your-mouth the lechon proved to be. The noodles are also house-made and their texture confirmed that. We of course had to end the meal with Halo-Halo, which I had never tried before and turned out to be a pleasant surprise. Clearly, I have not one bad thing to say about Buboy’s food.

Pancit with Chicken

Lechon Bowl with Garlic Rice

Halo Halo

After we downed our meals like hungry teenage boys I could not help but notice that I felt the urge to stay a little while longer on my stool, basking in the comfort of the space. It was only later that it hit me and I realized that with their new location, Buboy had managed to creat a third place. In case this term is unfamiliar to you, a third place is a gathering spot outside of work and home where you go to interact with others, a place whose purpose is to foster a sense of community and belonging.

This is something Starbucks focused on for years in the 2010s before they decided to renovate many of their stores and reduce seating areas. Third places are also increasingly rare, with the growing presence of social media in our lives and how easy it is to get a false sense of community from the virtual world.

What Buboy gave me that day, whether intentionally or not, was a reminder of what it feels like to be a part of a community, and to have a space to go to where you can be yourself. I can’t tell you why they changed their location, but what I can tell you is that I think it was a damn good move. There is nothing people lack more these days than a sense of in-person community and I think Buboy’s Carinderia provides just that, with delicious food no less. I, for one, will gladly make it my Third Space.