Elena’s Pancit Batil Patung brings Tuguegarao’s signature noodle dish to Sharjah and Dubai

Angela and Bryan Capili have grown Elena’s Pancit Batil Patung from a night-market stall into a restaurant at Sharjah’s Sahara Atrium and a newly opened Dubai branch, Expat Media reported. The couple want an outlet in every emirate.

Pancit batil patung, the noodle dish of Tuguegarao and the Cagayan Valley, now has its own restaurant in the UAE. Expat Media reported on 2 November 2026 that Angela and Bryan Capili, the founders of Elena’s Pancit Batil Patung, have grown the family-owned business from a flagship restaurant at Sahara Atrium in Sharjah to a newly opened branch at Kings Park Hotel in Dubai.

For the Capilis, Expat Media wrote, the goal is simple but ambitious: to make authentic Tuguegarao-style pancit batil patung a familiar name in the UAE. Angela put it this way:

“We want to open an Elena’s Pancit Batil Patung outlet in every emirate.”

What is on the plate

According to Expat Media, the dish is traditionally made with Chinese-style noodles cooked with meat and vegetables such as carrots, bean sprouts and cabbage. In Cagayan it is traditionally associated with carabao meat (carabeef); at Elena’s the couple use buffalo meat, which they say has a more intense flavour and aroma.

• Batil: a savoury egg-drop soup made from bulalo, served with the noodles
• Patung: a poached egg and chopped onions on top
• Dipping sauce: vinegar, soy sauce, onions and chilli

Bryan told Expat Media that the generous helping of onions is not merely a garnish. “It is what makes it unique,” he said. “The onions enhance the flavour.”

From a night market stall

The couple met as schoolmates in Tuguegarao. Angela arrived in the UAE in 2012 and later worked as a nursing assistant at a hospital in Ras Al Khaimah; Bryan is a nurse who currently works at a government facility in Sharjah. Angela now handles the business full-time, while Bryan helps at the restaurant after his hospital shifts. The restaurant is named after Elena, the couple’s youngest child, who was herself named after Bryan’s late mother.

They officially launched Elena’s on 19 October 2025 at the Al Nahda Night Market, Expat Media reported. Angela had hoped to sell at least 10 plates a day; at the night market they eventually served 75 plates in one night. After the market closed, they operated from various spots in Al Nahda before settling in Basement 2 of Sahara Atrium. Besides Filipino diners, Arabic and Indian customers and tourists from Hong Kong have tried the dish.

Where to find it

Business directory 2GIS lists Elena’s Pansit Batil Patong in Sahara Centre, Al Nahda street, Sharjah, on the B2 floor, open daily from 11am to midnight. The restaurant also takes orders through Talabat, and the Philippine Business Council – Dubai & Northern Emirates has welcomed Elena’s as one of its newest Micro members. Sources spell the name both “Patung” and “Patong”.

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