For the Budgetarian, Carinderia is the One

It's #MarketFriday once again by @dswigle. I hope everyone is enjoying this day before the weekend.

Where do you usually eat for lunch? Me, I usually take the one hour lunch break to go home have my lunch and take a short nap to recharge my energy. My home is just a few meters away from my workplace and I just bike my way there. But today, I was tasked to attend a meeting at the town hall in the town proper. The meeting ended a few minutes before lunch so I decided to have my lunch at a local carinderia. I was already starving and taking a cab home would take a several minutes and I felt like I didn't have that much energy anymore to go through that waiting time.

I went to the market to look for a carinderia. A carinderia is a food stall with a small area, typically in a market or at the roadside. When you are on a tight budget, a carinderia is an ideal place to go rather that other fast food chains and restaurant. They serve several home cooked dishes which you can choose together with rice at an affordable price which will surely satisfy your hunger.

As I was trying to decide where to dine in, a familiar face called my attention. It was my kabarangay (a person who lives in the same community). She owns one of the carinderia in the market. Since, I knew her and her carinderia looks clean and organized, I decided to have my lunch there.

The area was small with only 3 tables for group diners and two long tables for individual diners. Though the place was small, it was organized. The wall was well painted and there are simple decorations that adds to the cozy ambiance of the place. The parallel sides of the carinderia are open making it safer just in case untoward situations could happen.

To make an order, you have to choose first what dish you want. There are a number of home cooked dishes placed in covered containers. It is necessary for these foods to be covered to avoid dust or insects to land into these foods.

When I opened the first container, my eyes opened wide and a smile was painted on my face. It was my favorite dish that I had been craving for a long time already. It was a tasty squid dish in squid ink sauce. Yum!😋. At first, I was hesitant to order it beause it may stain my teeth black. But I remembered I have my mask on to cover my mouth before I get to brush my teeth. 😆 So I ordered it together with rice and a bottle of softdrinks.

_{Yes I love rice. Rice is life.}
Later on, the crew handed me a bowl of soup. Even when I did not ask for it, she gave it to me for free. I was thankful.

I was eating alone but don't take it in the wrong way. I am not sad nor heartbroken. 😆. I even enjoyed the moment alone with myself as I felt on my tastebuds the burst of yummy goodness of my favorite dish. It was satisfying. I finished full and happy.

After finishing my food I was going to pay but there were still many customers and the service crew were busy entertaining their orders so I waited for a while. I got tempted to buy a pizza and spaghetti for snack which was displayed on the counter. But I remembered, I need to stick to my budget. Glad I did.

After the situation settled down, I went to the counter to pay the bills. It only cost me 110 pesos (around 2 dollars)considering that squid dishes are costly. It really is more econimical eating in carinderia. And this is also a way to support local and small businesses in town.

If you come to read until this part, thank you so much for dropping by.