Backpacking Philippines: Chami "Festival" in Lucena

Chami "Festival" in Lucena

People say you've never been to a place if you've never seen the sights, imbibed the culture and ate the food of the place you visited. With this in mind on a recent visit to Lucena City, a highly-urbanized city in Quezon Province about 120 kilometers south of Manila, was highlighted by a sampling of the city's signature dish: the chami, the local version of pancit, the ubiquitous Filipino comfort food.

Armed with tips from fellow frugal food trippers, Tutubi hied off to Lucena City and searched for Granja Panciteria, Restaurant and Fastfood at the corner of Granja St and Leon Guinto, a corner away from Buddy's Lucena branch, and hastily ordered the famous dish wherein a festival, held every merry month of May to celebrate the thriving industry spawned by the dish, called Pasayahan sa Lucena.

sign of Granja Panciteria with telephone number displayed

chami, a single order for just P35, a small price to pay for a satisfying, filling meal with sinful chicharon

If nearby Lucban town is famous for the pancit habhab, sometimes called pancit Lucban, lomi in Batangas, then chami is it for Lucena.

Chami is made from locally made noodles cooked the usual pancit ways added with condiments and spices. Granja's version comes with chicharon toppings, a single serving, cost of P35, is too much for Tutubi who had just finished a hearty lunch.

How to get to Lucena City, Quezon:

Commute: Buses to Lucena City are available at Lucena Lines, N dela Rosa and Jac Liner with terminals on EDSA Cubao, Quezon City or Taft Avenue near corner Gil Puyat (LRT) in Pasay City. Travel time is about 3.5 hours to 5hrs depending on traffic.

Driving directions to Lucena City

From Makati, head towards SLEX and take Batangas exit (second to the last one of SLEX). Along the way you'll see Shell Turbina, Angel's Nest Drive-inn Hotel, Carmelray, Rose and Grace. Turn left tt the junction in Sto. Tomas and pass by Laguna town of Alaminos, the city of seven lakes in San Pablo then Quezon province starting with Tiaong (to the left after the boundary arch is the entrance of Villa Escudero, now called Hacienda Escudero), Candelaria, Sariaya. You will see another junction where you turn right (straight ahead leads to Tayabas) then finally Lucena City. Lucena is about 120 kms from Manila.

There are alternate routes via StarToll and Lipa and the route via Rizal and Laguna via the Manila East Road.

Labels: Calabarzon, Filipino Food, Lucena City, Quezon, Quezon Restaurants, Southern Tagalog

posted by GingGoy @ 9:44 PM,

27 Comments:

At Sep 3, 2008, 5:58:00 AM, Anonymous said...: I do agree with you: one has to seen the sights, imbibed the culture and especially eat the food! Therefore I say: thanks for taking us with - reading this and watching the pics, makes us feel at least a touch of it :-)
At Sep 3, 2008, 8:25:00 AM, Photo Cache said...: Mukha ngang masarap ah. May chicharon pa.
At Sep 5, 2008, 8:45:00 AM, Anonymous said...: masarap talaga ang chami sa lucena
At Sep 5, 2008, 9:44:00 PM, GingGoy said...: rennyBA, hope you get the chance to taste it here someday

photo cache, msarap nga...chicharon is just the topping much like lechon bites on top of pancit habhab

anonymous, yep :P
At Sep 6, 2008, 12:52:00 PM, tin-tin said...: food trip! hehehe. sorry, but am not a pancit fan. hehehe ;p
At Sep 6, 2008, 2:44:00 PM, x said...: you made me hungry and crave REAL food again!
At Sep 6, 2008, 10:03:00 PM, Nanaybelen said...: picture pa lang.. mukhang ang sarap na..hmmm
At Sep 7, 2008, 6:47:00 AM, Anonymous said...: Oh boy, Yes I can still vividly recall the smell and taste of Lomi in Lucena.I like best the sweet and spice flavor.Year 2004 when I was assigned in Lucena City.Kapag fiesta,daming nagluluto sa kalye and it;s free.And of course the Buddy's Pizza.Kakagutom
At Sep 8, 2008, 7:47:00 PM, Anonymous said...: Tutubi,

Did you know that Cha-mi comes from the Hokkien Chinese word meaning 'Cha'(炒) 'Mi'(麵) meaning 'stir-fried noodles'? In Cantonese, its pronounced as Chow Mein which is what they would in America. You can also find this dish in some Chinese restaurants in Manila especially the old ones in Chinatown.

Just for food for the though. ;o)
At Sep 8, 2008, 8:59:00 PM, GingGoy said...: tintin, not a pancit fan? pity :P

acey, yeah. much better than fastfood

nanaybelen, di lang po sa picture, pati sa totoong buhay

fatherlyyours, you're referring to the annual fiesta, pasiyahan of simply chami festival :P

ivan, yes, i'm aware of it. A chinese friend of mine told me aboout it. with the difference between chami, lomi, mami et al. wasn't able to post it here. thanks for reminding
At Sep 12, 2008, 6:31:00 AM, Anonymous said...: The food is very different from traditional Swedish food of course, but we have some Asian food even here, but I guess it's not quite the same as in the origin country!

Though I'm not sure that I'd like to try everything, there is certainly some dishes that looks very interesting.
At Sep 20, 2008, 3:39:00 PM, Anonymous said...: I'm from that city and I attest to you that chami is really delicious. There are so many viriety of "pansit" in Lucena, to name a few there is white chami (no soy sauce or a little), balibag sa toyo, chami sa tasa, Pansit Peking (Sweet & Spicy)etc...
At Sep 20, 2008, 4:10:00 PM, GingGoy said...: anonymous, will sample those dishes when i return there in the near future :P
At Oct 15, 2008, 12:02:00 AM, David B Katague said...: Tutubi, Have you been to Marinduque? If not try hiking and backpacking our Mt. Malindig. Also, attend the Moriones Festival. In spite of the big crowds and tourists, the Festival on Easter week is now attracting tourist worldwide.
At Oct 18, 2008, 8:47:00 AM, GingGoy said...: david, haven't been there. I have an officemate who has a house there and i'm "inviting" myself there in holy Week for the moriones. :P
At Jan 21, 2009, 4:47:00 PM, Anonymous said...: I tried that granja panciteria once or twice. My disappointment is that the owner seems to look at customers as if someone will steal the tablewares.
At Mar 22, 2009, 11:48:00 PM, Anonymous said...: I remember when I was a child , me and mom used to eat chami in Lucena . I think Dim Sum restaurant and Antigua . When I visit Phil next year, definitely I will go to lucena to eat Chami , dimsum and in Lukban to eat pancit habhab , Sarap
At Jan 16, 2010, 11:20:00 PM, mandy said...: i have the same observation with anony here - the owner of granja panciteria is an obvious eagle eyed lady, very observant that will ruin your appetite ... but, there is really something in their chami that will make you crave for it especially in the wee hours of the afternoon ... chami love na love kita
At Jan 16, 2010, 11:21:00 PM, Anonymous said...: sarap ng chami sa lucena
At May 26, 2010, 3:45:00 PM, edelweiza said...: ow ito pala yung chami na naririnig ko. mukhang masarap, lalo na at may chicharon palang topping. :)
At May 26, 2010, 4:15:00 PM, GingGoy said...: edelweiza, i recently got re-acquianted too with Lomi of batangas but i wasn't able to take good pictures since it was too dark :(
At Mar 21, 2011, 1:50:00 PM, Mona said...: masarap talaga chami naman dito hehe :)
At Apr 29, 2011, 9:38:00 AM, Anonymous said...: Tutubi thanks for this wonderful blog! have you been in Lucban,Quezon? there's a lot of interesting places and foods you can try and posts here like pancit habhab, longanisa,ven's puto seko, hardinera for the foods and Imelda falls,Kamay ni Hesus,Batis Aramin,and even mountain climb in the SLSU's Mt.Banahaw de Lucban with mountain ranger guides and spend the night on their campsite. May 15 is near which is the most awaited time of the year to go to Lucban-it is the San Isidro Pahiyas Festival which you can add to your long list of famous festivals!I will tour you if you can come, just send me a message :my email fm_qnhs@hotmail.com or call me (42)-540-2923
At May 1, 2011, 6:35:00 PM, GingGoy said...: anonymous, yes, i've been to lucban a couple of times. i have several posts on your town, just about an hour from my hometown paete, laguna.
At Dec 28, 2011, 5:30:00 PM, Anonymous said...: makes me hungry reading all your comments. just ate chami yesterday in antigua restaurant. next time your here in lucena why not try their chami.. yum yum :)
At Jan 20, 2012, 12:47:00 AM, waldzrenales said...: When going to Lucena, never ride the red DLTB Bus, you'll be in trouble..

read more here:
http://waldzrenales.blogspot.com/2012/01/dltb-bus-sucks.html
At Apr 23, 2012, 10:28:00 PM, Anonymous said...: I'm planning to go there to see someone, and is 1,5k budget enough to go back and forth?maybe,overnight or, I will go home later when I got there. I'm from manila, thanks!

Chami "Festival" in Lucena

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