If I thought I was eating too much in Siargao, I totally spun out of control in Manila.
So much so that my body has been threatening collapse since Tuesday. Someone actually asked if I had a food allergy. Yes, I’m not supposed to eat THISMUCHFOOD.
From the time I arrived in Manila last Saturday, it’s been one insane food orgy after another. Without my pre-meal wonder tonic of warm lemon juice and cinnamon, and without any exercise at all, I have turned into a blimp. Well, I’ve put on, at least, three kilos, and I’m a sniveling mess.
This is a chronicle of the week gone by:
Saturday, 21 Sept.
Dinner: Pepita’s Kitchen
Link to Photos
We first met Dedet Santos when Pepita’s Kitchen was still Casa San Pablo. She had just launched her first lechon degustacion menu and we were her first paying guests. This time around, we were, once again, the guinea pigs for her new menu.
Dedet’s lovely table.
Verdict: We were blown away.
While we loved Dedet’s original menu, the new one is more sophisticated and shows a level of maturity gleaned from experience. Courses are now portioned, and are very creatively and beautifully plated.
We felt like proud parents. _Our baby is all grown up!_
Dedet teased our palates with her innovative approach to Filipino cuisine. She impressed us once again with her reinvention of familiar Filipino flavors into new and unusual forms. For instance, she condensed the flavor of _singang na gabi_ into a paste-like “dip”, to be eaten with _chicharon_ (pork rind)_._ For dessert, she bruleed a _ginataan_ (coconut milk) mixture. Very clever. Every course was an exciting, delightful surprise.
Pepita’s Kitchen now has about a dozen different stuffings for their _lechon de leches_. We chose the Manileña (with chorizo and crab roe paella) and one of the Pinoy de leches that we christened “_Lechon na Maalat_ ” (Salty Lechon). It was stuffed with rice, salted egg, garlic and anchovies and was absolutely divine. Dedet knows how to flavor her piggies just right so that the tastes are subtle and complement the lechon rather than overpower it. The mixture of the rice, and salted eggs, and the succulent flesh of the de leche and the crunch of its skin was a most heavenly combination.
Dedet introduces the second lechon, the Manileña, stuffed with chorizo and crab roe rice.
It was gone in 60 seconds.
My suggestions to make this an even better menu:
– The Pepita’s magic potion would have been better (1) with alcohol (- it’s a good thing we brought along the Bombay Sapphire!), and (2) served later on in the meal, perhaps between courses as a palate cleanser. With so many rich dishes, one could always use another palate cleanser.
– The cholesterol sweeper was oatmeal, which I didn’t particularly care for. Plus it was ill timed and served right before the dessert which, in itself, was milky and heavy too. Perhaps the magic potion would have served better in its stead.
– Although I heard good things about the dessert, very few of us actually ate it. It was a bit too heavy after the lechon. Perhaps a much lighter, more citrus-y or even a sweet-sour dessert would have been better after all that rich food.
Sunday, 22 Sept.
Dinner: Arya
It was the opening of their branch at the new wing of the Shangri-La EDSA Plaza Mall, where I just happened to be with my high school BFFs. I had always wanted to eat at Arya, ever since my friend’s Iranian ex-girlfriend told me that they had the best Persian food in Manila. So we did.
The koobideh platter was my favorite. We ordered roti, tabbouleh, the koobideh platter, ghormeh sabzi, shishlik, a ton of basmati rice, a side of yoghurt, and baklava for dessert. (Photo c/o Lisa Suarez.)
Verdict: While it didn’t rate compared to anything I had in Iran, it wasn’t bad either and my friends and I enjoyed ourselves anyway.
Note: Right before dinner, I had two Krispy Kreme doughnuts.
Monday, 23 Sept.
Lunch: Gino’s Brick Oven Pizza
I was eavesdropping on a friend’s conversation on Facebook where she and a mutual friend were swearing up and down her wall that Gino’s still had the best pizza in town. So when another high school BFF wanted me to have lunch with her and my godson, I immediately suggested Gino’s. It was less than ten minutes away from my house and I was curious to try it.
We ordered the Bianca Verde (olive oil, garlic, kesong puti = white cheese made from carabao’s milk, ricotta, parmesan, basil and arugula), with an extra topping of prosciutto. Then my friend had the bolognese and I had the lengua pasta.
Verdict: The pizza wasn’t bad but I’m almost certain I’ve had better. I preferred the fresh pasta. Especially my friend’s bolognese.
For dessert, we tried the Nutella soup, which was liquefied Nutella in a bread bowl. A bit too rich for me, but I finished it anyway. I also ordered their chocolate-dipped chicharon and bacon to try at home.
What was left of the chocolate-covered bacon (top) and chicharon (bottom) before I remembered to take a picture of it. I love the chocolate bacon. I think it would be very good with ice cream.
That evening, I went for drinks at a friend’s apartment and stayed till way past what was reasonable, considering I had a ton of errands to run the next day.
Tuesday, 24 Sept.
Dinner: Mother Dear’s Surprise 70th Birthday Party
The night before the lechon degustacion at Pepita’s Kitchen, I had a dream about the dinner party. It was a pleasant, happy dream – until I realized that I had forgotten to bring my camera and Tupperware (- for the leftover lechon, of course). I woke up with a start. You can be sure that those were the two things I did NOT forget the night of that party.
On the day of my mom’s surprise party (which was on the eve of her birthday), I couldn’t decide if I was hungover or still drunk from the night before.
There were still a lot of things to do and a last-minute crisis flared up. I had to be on the ball – and I was! I was on the ball – in a fog…
I remembered the dream. Camera. Tupperware. Focus, Gai, focus. I called the maid. I instructed her to load my brother’s car with every plastic container that she could find. (We had a dinner catered for 100 and two lechons, I expected a lot of leftovers.) I charged my camera’s battery and put it in a pouch. Then forgot it in my overnight bag in Nicolas’ hotel room.
That was my one and only fuck-up of the day. My mom will have food in her freezer for the rest of her life. And she does have photos of the party from my brothers and the official photographer, which she shall see someday. All it means is that I have no photos of the food to post in my blog. Ah, well… We’ll live.
While the food from the caterer was so-so, the two lechons we ordered from Family Cebu’s Native Lechon Express (formerly known as Cris Native Lechon, which we found on a list of top ten lechons in Manila) were excellent. The skin was thin and crisp, and the flesh was flavorful and not too fatty. The first lechon was devoured before my mom even arrived at the party!
Another hit that night were the Filipino desserts my aunts (my mom’s sisters) brought from Tarlac, their home town. A particular favorite was the tibok-tibok , made from carabao’s milk.
It was a wonderful evening, overflowing with love, good-natured ribbing, and happy tears.
The evening ended with dancing. My mom, who was in a cast after having broken two toes when she rammed them into her bed, boogied with my dad. Titos twirled titas around the floor. But everyone had the shock of their lives when one of their good friends, practically crippled by Parkinson’s, got up to dance – without the aid of his crutch! We all whooped with joy and he had the biggest smile on his face!
Wednesday, 25 Sept.
Lunch: Benefit Lunch for the Association of the Negros Producers, Glorietta Activity Center
Link to Photos
Dinner: Journey Through The Ebro River, Terry’s Segundo Piso
Link to Photos
Wine, chorizo, and cheese OVERLOAD!!!
Thursday, 26 Sept.
Lunch: I went back to the Negros Trade Fair (which, by the way, is ongoing till tomorrow) for the prinitong inasal. That’s twice cooked chicken: first, roasted in the traditional Ilonggo way, and then battered and deep-fried.
I love anything battered and deep-fried.
A friend I bumped into at the fair told me that the original prinitong inasal was from Freakin’ Chicken, so I made a beeline for that booth. A plate of their one-piece chicken with garlic rice was P260, but they only had white meat. I only eat chicken thighs. So I went over to their competitor (Prinasal) which was offering two-piece chicken with garlic rice for only P120 – and they had thighs!
I sat at a table and happily chomped away at my prinasal. Except that the chicken had obviously been sitting out a while. The skin was flavorful, but the flesh was a bit dry and cold.
I was unsatisfied.
I went back to Freakin’ Chicken. Their chicken had just been fished out of the deep fryer. Fine. I’ll have an order of white meat, please.
The chicken turned out to be surprisingly succulent , with a nice, spicy kick to it. I am tempted to go back ot the fair just to try their dark meat. I’m sure it will be sensational.
Non-food items to check out at the fair:
- Mosaics by Gigi Campos.
- Jewelry by ChiEvs. Except that I already bought their best necklace.
- Handwoven bags from Kiculo.
- Jewelry by Gifts Fashion.
- Crocheted pitcher and glass covers. The proceeds go to the Negrense Volunteers for Change Foundation.
Dinner: Goto Monster
Link to Photos
I had been meaning to have designer, Jean Hill, make a dress for me forever, but had never gotten around to it. And then she and hubby, Michael Spliedt, opened Goto Monster and I had been wanting to eat there forever (even if they’ll only be open a year in December).
Well, I still don’t have a Jean Hill dress, but I finally made it to Goto Monster!
I lovelovelove Goto Monster. It’s simple food but it’s obviously made with a lot of passion and pride. The quality is top notch and, with everything on the menu below P100, it’s quite the bargain!
We loved the goto special (with salted egg and tinapa = smoked fish) with bagnet (crispy pork belly).
(Photo c/o Rosan Cruz.)
Other must-haves:
- The adobo and the eggplant fresh spring rolls, with Jean’s special sauces.
- Any of the silogs , but I have my eye on the tapsilog and tinapasilog for next time.
- The banana-ChocNut waffle.
Jean made a cream paste out of Choc-Nut, so that it can be easily spread on the waffle, and then shaped it in a Curly Tops-like mold. Can you say “clever”?
- The Soup of the Day. Most definitely.
The perfect digestif : lambanog! This is the Soup of the Day everyday!
I’m not sure if there is any difference between arroz caldo, lugaw and goto. They’re all basically a rice porridge with a chicken soup base, served with fried garlic and scallions. If I were to venture a guess as to the difference between the three, I’d say that arroz caldo is meant to have chicken pieces in it; lugaw is just plain rice; while goto is traditionally served with tripe and fried tofu. I could be wrong. I’d also hazard to guess that they all originate from – and are variants of – the Chinese congee. **
Friday, 27 Sept.**
Lunch: Green Pastures
Link to Photos
Must haves:
- The two house cheeses.
The ricotta, with onion jam and roasted garlic.
The stracciatella – buffalo milk, pulled fresh daily. Served with extra virgin olive oil and arugula.
- The mushroom on toast.
- The porchetta sandwich.
- The sliders.
- The honeycomb dessert.
Bread overload!
But, seriously, everything else we had (the duck shepherd’s pie, the salpicao, and the pasta) were all good.
The duck shepherd’s pie.
Green Pastures is definitely one of the best newcomers to Manila’s restaurant scene. They just opened though, so don’t expect much of the service.
Merienda: On my home, I dropped by Dunkin’ Donuts and bought four different flavors of their donut croissants – for my sister-in-law and my nephews ( and me) to try!
FYI, apart from all of THAT, I was still eating at home.
Nicolas flew in from Cebu for my mom’s birthday. When he saw me, he asked incredulously, “Have you gained weight?” Bear in mind that it had only been a week since he last saw me. “Yup,” I deadpanned, “And it’s only Tuesday.”
I’ll sort it out when I get back to Siargao.