Food, fashion, fabric and more: The colorful Kamuning Market
When people in Metro Manila need to buy fabric, what first comes to their minds is Divisoria, and perhaps Quiapo for notions—meaning threads, zippers, beads, and all the other supplies needed to complete the creation of garments. Those who don’t want to brave the traffic and the crowds head for the fabric shops in air-conditioned malls like Glorietta, Megamall, and Shoppesville in Greenhills, where the textiles are understandably pricier.
But the savvy designer, sewer, and fashionista all know that Kamuning Market in Quezon City is another source of fabric and notions. While not as complete or as competitively priced as Divisoria, it’s a great alternative if you live in or near Quezon City. And beyond textiles, what draws people from all over the metro to Kamuning are the prevalence of kustureras, tailors, and embroiderers. If you want something made to order and have a specific design in mind, this is where you can get it done. Don’t be surprised to run into society ladies quietly having a fitting away from their regular designers.
In decades past, the textile and sewing section shared the same old building as the produce and wet markets, the costume and handicraft sections, and shops selling pots, pans, and other cooking utensils. Extremely cramped parking could be found in between the main market and a narrow building that housed stalls of sewers whose services were always in great demand.
This difficult parking situation no longer exists, and rising on what used to be the parking lot is a gleaming, three-story building dedicated to fabrics, fashion, and sewers. There are even spacious elevators that take you to the second floor for the fabric shops, and the third floor for the tailoring, kustureras, and shops specializing in uniforms and embroidery services.
(To give credit where credit is due, it needs to be acknowledged that the very popular “pad paper barong” which sports lines as in a pad paper, with childlike embroidered doodles, and which can be found in quite a few shops in Kamuning, is the original design of Daryl Maat. His design is so appealing that it has been imitated, although those who imitate him don’t have his creative ability to keep on coming up with new designs.)
Beyond the fabrics and the fashion, Kamuning is a market, a smallish one that’s easy to navigate. It’s located off Kamuning Road near Tomas Morato. You turn the corner at the Mercury Drugstore, and on the road leading down to the main market, you can already find produce and fruit stalls, plus shops selling pet feed. If you only need a few veggies or fruits, you can purchase them here without having to venture into the main market.
As a result of pandemic times, there is one main entrance at the old building that leads to the produce section. As you go down this relatively short aisle, don’t forget to look at the crisscrossing ones. It could be slightly cheaper there, or an uncommon item like ripe local guavas might turn up. Also, a stall on the left, right before you reach the seafood, is where you find fresh lumpia wrappers being cooked all day. They are cheap, fresh, and good!
Look out also for items you won’t find in the grocery stores, like perishable kalabasa flowers. They won’t survive in the supermarket where their fellow veggies have already been hanging around for so many days. Kalabasa flowers can be added to a pinakbet or stuffed with cheese, breaded, and fried. They should be consumed within the day if possible, certainly not later than the next day.
Beyond the produce is the wet market for seafood, fresh poultry, and meat. Shrimp, squid, shellfish, and fish like bangus, tilapia, and galunggong are yours for the asking. Everything you need for simple, everyday meals can be found here, with a prevalence for veggies needed for Ilocano dishes like pinakbet or dinengdeng.
Apart from the market, the nearby JC Supermarket opens at 8 a.m. and is amazingly well stocked with imported ingredients, but at any hour of the day, there are long queues. Beside it, Fresh Options is an option if you’re not comfortable buying unbranded meats in the palengke. There is also a new D.I.Y. across the old market building, which is a great source for well-priced, disposable aluminum bakeware.
Incidentally, the iconic Kamuning Bakery is nearby, and the House of Empanaditas tucked away at 21 K3rd Street is another gastronomic institution. So many reasons to visit the market, not to mention that when you shop at the palengke, you get freshness, cheapness, goodness… in our troubled times, going back to basics can be the best way to go.
