I've heard and read so much about Balbi's dinuguan being very good that if people rave about a dinugan of a small and almost hidden snackshop, then it really must be good. I've had many chances of satisfying my curiosity before but I doubt if it really is what people say it is. Add to that, a (small) bowl of their dinuguan costs around 75 pesos, much more expensive than the biggest bowl of La Paz batchoy.
But finally I gave in and got rewarded big time. It was really true, Balbi's pork blood stew is among the best, if not the best, dinuguan in town. It's dark colored and a bit sour, my preferred dinuguan and it's all meat - no entrails whatsoever not even pork fat. That makes it even on the "healthy side".
I was so overwhelmed and excited that time that I didn't realize a mismatch side order of cheeseroll and ensaimada - lol. But nonetheless these two breads are also Balbi's specialty, just like their dinuguan and pancit palabok, that it didn't matter. Though I wished I got rice instead of these breads and puto manapla. That would have made my balbi's dinuguan experience even better. But there's always a next time ...