(Makati, Philippines) - I rarely get lost. In fact, the few accounts that I do get lost is because of bad direction given to me or the sheer difficulty of finding the destination. But being lost can be sometimes frustrating especially when you are in a hurry, hungry, being ripped off by a cabbie and is on the brink of losing your patience. That was our status when one of us, Julie to be specific, decided to use her GPS app for aid.

The destination is dinner at 8065 Bagnet in Estrella Street (sic. We later found out that it’s actually in Estrella Avenue), Makati. Julie saw an article about the place online and we all agreed to check it out and ditch the original plan of eating buffalo wings at Bonchon. I like the sound of the name of the restaurant. It has an artistic swagger to it like most numbered novels with kickass titles; 1984 and Catch-22 to name a few.

Using the GPS only acerbated our frustration for when Julie clicked the address she saw on the website, it pulled up Bing maps to give us directions to a street somewhere in San Antonio, Texas. WTH?! My companions, Geoff and Julie, along with the cabbie knew where the short Estrella Street was so we decided to take our chances and go there to look for 8065. We circled the street from the Kalayaan side of EDSA to the other side near Rockwell to no avail. That was when we decided to phone the place and we found out that they were actually situated near the Pasong Tamo and Buendia intersection. From that information, going there was a walk in the park.

 

 


“You will not miss the place with the big signs it has”

 

Bagnet is an Ilocano delicacy that involves drying pork under the sun, slicing it into smaller pieces, boiling it, deep frying it and repeating the last step after letting it dry for at least 20 minutes. Traditionally, after the second frying, you may serve it with vinegar, shrimp paste and garlic but 8065 Bagnet thought of more ingenious ways of reinventing the dish.

 


“Some of their unique offerings all made from Bagnet”

 


“Kare-kare being one of the special Filipino dishes, one might wonder what it would taste like when fused with bagnet. In a word: heaven.”

 

“Binagoongang bagnet. I know, we just could not get enough of the good old bagoong”

 

“Ensaladang talong. Still with bagoong”

 

“Steamed fish in spicy coconut sauce”

 

“Pastillas”

 

“Cinnamon rolls”

There was a booth for the dessert. Take what you want but honestly declare the count to the waiters when you get the bill.

 

“WiFi Password: 8065bag.1? Better interact with the wait staff and ask for the password. Our menu was a photocopy and the last 3 characters of the password was cut out accidentally by the photocopier operator.”

 


“They have quiz night!”

 


“Lots of things on the wall to touch read and play with.”

 

“I think that’s BAGNET in graffiti”

 


“Condoned artistic vandalism on the walls”

 


“Second floor gallery”

 

“The clothing shop upstairs”

 

 “They recognize the possibility of theft but nobody really mans this clothing shop. You have to find one of the wait staff to know how you can purchase the things that you like.”

8065 Bagnet is at 8065 Estrella Avenue, Makati City.

Directions: From the famous intersection of Buendia (aka Gil Puyat) and Pasong Tamo Street in Makati (where Exportbank Plaza can be found), go along Pasong Tamo to the direction of PRC. The fourth street to the left is Estrella Avenue. Going deeper into Estella, you will not miss 8065 on the left. You know for sure that you are at the right place if you smell the aroma of coffee as there is a nearby coffee factory.