19/09/2026
The dish Papa cooks when he's missing Bebe.
My Bebe — my grandmother — passed away a few years ago. Papa (her son, my father) still cooks her recipes every day at Bebe's Spice Box. He's been the cook since we opened in 2022. He'll be the cook tomorrow too.
But this one — the beef and potato curry — is the dish he makes on his quiet days. The days when he's not talking much. The days when he's just cooking.
I asked him once why he makes this one on slow days. He said: "This is what your Bebe made when she didn't feel like cooking but still had to feed us. It was her tired-day dish. Now it's mine."
I didn't ask him anything else after that. Some things you don't push.
So here's what's in the bowl: slow-cooked beef that shreds apart with a wooden spoon. Potatoes that drink the gravy whole. Whole spices — cardamom, cinnamon, dried red chili — that Bebe used to keep in a tin older than me.
Pour it over white rice (₱29) or scoop it with paratha (₱34). That's how Papa eats it. That's how Bebe used to eat it. That's how I eat it too, even though I can't cook it.
₱239 for the curry. ₱29 for the rice. ₱268 total — the bowl Papa makes when he's missing his mother.
If you come to Bebe's Spice Box on a slow day, you might see him cooking this one. He won't say much. But the pot will be on.
📍 Bebe's Spice Box — Aloha Avenue Food Park, Tagapo, Santa Rosa, Laguna (3:00 PM – 11:30 PM)
📍 Bebe's Spice Box — Garden Villas 3, Corner of Hyacinth, Sampaguita St, Santa Rosa, Laguna (1:00 PM – 10:00 PM)
📞 Orders: 09175062881 or 091755550915
"Come eat Papa's cooking while he's still in the kitchen. Tag someone who needs to try this. 👇"
