We will explore Metro Manila for food spots. Here you will get an idea what it is like to dine in one of Asia's oldest modern city. We will both visit well known places as well as small establishments.
Location: 485B, Salas Street, Ermita Manila (Near Mabini Street corner or one block away from Robinson Mall Ermita)
House Specialty: Shawarma and kebabs
Beside the tourist destination and bars, one of the best reason to visit Manila City (despite the notorious traffic and air polution) is its great selection of stand alone food establishment concentrated in the Malate and Ermita districts. The area is home to various restaurants of various type of cuisine because of its cosmopolitan population. This is where visitors from other nations usually hang out.
Two gorgeous towers of roasting meat!!!
Good ol' shawarma place.
I've been visiting this place for quite some time because I grew up and attended school near those districts. And I actually worked in Ermita for many years. This place is indeed a treasure trove of food spots that I myself haven't got the opportunity to eat at all those places! To me this is just an impossible task because there are a lot of establishments there that I find irresistible to visit again and again and humans only have one stomach to fill up and a set time to digest the food hahaha! Not to mention the humongous cost that it will incurr from my modest income. It is with regret that a lot of joints have aready closed shop before I have the opportunity to visit them or regularly patronize.
My fave chicken shawarma!
One of these joints that I keep coming back is the Shawarma Snack Center. Yeah, I find the name corny too. But when it comes to food, it is really not about the name. For example, I have come across a joint called "Stop and Taste" (cornier name right?) in Malate and that's where I tasted the best damn Mutton and Beef Biryani!!! (It is sad that they already closed shop years ago).
Shawarma Snack Center or SSC for short is very successful that they already branched out across the street.They built this elegant restaurant (where you can mess around with shisha) right across the street and set up a hotel beside it but most of the regular patrons still go to their original small mom 'n pop place and that includes me. Why? I don't know about the other guys but I go there because I just want to eat with no fusses. I'm usually an eat and go type of person unless if I have company. I did tried out their new branch almost 9 years ago after a gig night with my band. Its not bad (same food and service duh).
The next door branch (more like an extension). While dining from SSC's original place across the street.
A must try!
SSC's shawarma comes either in beef or chicken. Small costs 60 pesos and Regular costs 75 pesos. I recommend getting the regular unless the shawarma is for dessert or side dish. SSC has one of the best tasting shawarma in Manila. They do not scrimp in ingredients most specially the spices. You get to have real savory meat in every bite. Bursting with middle easter flavor coming from the spices they use. And what I like most is that they use fresh vegetables and pita. Their pita is the best. It is freshly baked by bakers who know how a good tasting pita taste like and delivered to their restaurant by bicyle riding couriers.In addition to their shawarma's awesome taste, their condiment of hot sauce and yoghurt sauce is amazing! It does not taste like it is just a mixture of garlic powder, sugar and mayonaise... uggh.
Aside from their house specialty they also have hummus, yoghurt shake (sweet or salty) beef/chicken/lamb biryani, chelo kabob, mixed kebab plate, salad (tomato and onions), and a lot more that I can't remember because I do not have a copy of their menu haha. They all taste awesome!
The Photo Chop. The best way to illustrate a half chicken order.
What I love about SSC is that they have these 85 peso value meals. It consists of a meat dish bowl, a side of tomato/cucumber salad, lentil soup,and high quality long grain rice. Compare it your favorite fastfood meal and it is obvious that you'll get a lot more bang with your pesos, you get to eat better food, and it is healthier as they obviously do not process their food. The choice for meat dishes vary each day. So far, all value meal dishes tasted great. They usually have beef keema, beef stew (I forgot the name, it's not in the menu), chicken (sort of afritada), and I think there was a chick pea vegetarian dish.
The 85 peso meals!
I can't really complain about their food or service. Their staff is friendly enough to meet anyone (who is not schizo) else's expectation. If you have questions about their food, they will try their best to explain and describe them
.
Salas Street should be renamed Shawarma Street haha. Both branches face to face.
Now here is the downside. But this is actually nit picking. From all those countless times that I have visited SSC, there were only two instances that their food was unsatisfactory. First was almost a decade ago when the elegant place was new and we dined out around 2 AM. The kebabs was too salty. I guess the cook was too sleepy haha. And the second time was just a few years ago when they forgot to add salt to the shawarma. I am not a complainer, and considering the "batting average" of SSC, I can let it slide.
Pita from SSC. Just got home.
One more thing before I conclude this post. They used to have this mini-grocery that sell middle eastern spices, ingredients and canned products but currently they just sell olives (ocassionaly) and their nice pita. They sell it for 60 pesos per pack (small for 10 pcs each and big for 5 pcs each). It is a good deal! If you want to make your own shawarma at home or planning to make hummus, try their pita instead of using the frozen pita type in supermarkets. Fresh bread is way better. Also, I use their pita as crust for making home made toaster pizza! And I will update this post sometime in the near future once I have a picture of their biryani.
My pictures are coming from a PS Vita, hence the resolution quality.
Service:Satisfactory. Clean joint and polite staff.
Menu:Awesome menu. They have vegetarian entrees. Great place to introduce yourself to middle eastern food.
Value: A bit pricey. Most entree goes upwards above 300 pesos but they have big serving. You will definitely get what you pay for. But they do make up for it with their 85 pesos meals and the very affordable shawarmas. They also have a promo where you can buy 3 shawarmas at a reasonably discounted prcie.
What Food Spots say about Shawarma Snack Center: RECOMMENDED We urge everyone to try it out!
Just to spice things up a bit, I want to post something that is in a different format but would definitely be of interest to the readers of this blog.
Picture taken from Parts Unknown Facebook page.
This may be a bit late but I just started this blog. Back in September, we heard that Anthony Bourdain (see news article), the famous host of No Reservations is planning for a second trip to the Philippines for a second time for his new show Parts Unknown. I watched the old show where Mr Bourdain's first visit the country in 2008 and cringed at a few moments in the show. Why the self depreciating description of the awesome beer food Kinilaw na Kambing? And what's up with the deconstructed Sinigang? Why would one of the host call Taho as Tofu??? Or Hopiang Ube as Purple Cakes??? That was weird. Why rob those food of their proper names? We never refer Hamburgers as Ground Beef Sandwiches or Ebi Tempura as Fried Battered Shrimp do we? Calling them like that sort of devalue their prestige and place in our unique culinary culture. And it looks like that we feel our food is inferior so we have to make up a name that a visitor can easily understand and appreciate. Guys, no need for that.
And I am very glad they made him sample Papaitan, Kare Kare, Pinakbet, Sisig, Stuffed Crab, Bulalo, and Lechon (litson). And made him eat at a "Dampa" and "Kambingan". That was awesome! If I were part of the production, I would have made him sample Paksiw na Litson as this dish is usually made up of left over litson from the fiesta and cooked in litson sauce to avoid spoilage and thus extend the storage life of the food. This would have been an interesting side story for the show.
The choice for Augusto, the Filipino-American guide chosen by the show to lead Mr Bourdain through our country's culinary landscape, was PERFECT! Augusto not withstanding the fact that he was born and raised in another country, embodied the typical Filipino psyche that is holding back this country to be a great nation. We are a nation populated mostly by people who can individually surmount odds and be succesful in life but get easily intimidated and tend to shrink back feeling inferior while trying too hard to please others.
As Mr Bourdain said: "I think you (Filipinos) are too damn nice!"
By succesfully hurdling the selection process of No Reservations, Augusto then proceeded in meeting the show's host but come up very short in meeting the audience's expecation to lead Mr Bourdain through his motherland's rich culture and awesome food selection. He could have easily asked a local to guide him and Mr Bourdain through the country with him acting as a medium or translator and it would have been both a wonderful and eye opener experience for him and the show's host. That could have gone very well but I guess Augusto folded up when he realized he might be trying too hard to impress people with something that he himself has not fully taken by heart.
Good work to the Filipino host Joe who was very articulate and knowledgable. His bit was the best part of the show contrary to one online commercial article I read. As the show managed to get inside and analyze our country's psyche through food. People are too nice as Mr Bourdain rightfully pointed out when they discussed why they think Filipino food, for all its vast range of delicious dishes is somewhat just barely there in the world's food radar. Joe's answer was Filipinos just happen to easily assimilate with other culture. That coincidentaly is one of my pet peeves. I don't buy that. Typical Filipinos usually shy away from unfamiliar or real spicy food (Pinoy shawarma that caters to the local taste here is like eating shawarma with a bad case of stuffy nose... yup, lots of missing main ingredients like cardamom, cinnamon, cumin etc... they just use sugar, garlic, pepper and soy sauce as marinade. It really taste different and there is no point still calling it "shawarma").
I think it has something to do with our temperament as a collective people. In some strange way we somehow feel inferior to others. We are always trying to be too polite and accommodating to a fault. Joe also pointed out that our food is not sharply spiced compared to other countries. I do not agree with that either. It is not always about the spice. Take a look at the Japanese sushi and sashimi, the only thing there to season the food is the soy sauce dip and wasabi. You eat the food raw. You do not see Japanese restaurants cooking their fish or sprinkling them with sugar or chopped dill just to accomodate foreign taste do you? That is how you get the world to take notice of your food. I remember in the 80's, Sushi was so exotic that it was the Balot of that time, mostly exploited in news or articles for shock value but look at it right now. Present the dish with confidence as it is without those unecessary modification, self depreciation or name changing gimmicks and the world will love you for it.
A little confidence here and there would help push our culinary culture to new and greater heights instead of forever relying in Adobo, Balot, or even Litson.
So we now come to the part where if I were asked by the show's producers on what dish they can feature in their show. This is my list for Anthony Bourdain to try out. This also goes for the people in other nations if they are curious about the food in this country. I assure you, there is a lot more to it than Adobo and Balot. We really can't pick a single dish that can best represent Filipino food because we have a very rich and diverse selection of dishes available because of our colorful history as an island nation.
Of course I have already taken out those who were already featured in the show and I just limit the selection to a few because of the show's running time. And of course, some of the items here are interchangeble. A lot of times, pansit (noodle dish) is already a main course.
Appetizer
1. Kinilaw na Tanigue (or any ocean fish like Tuna) - Raw fish marinated in coco vinegar (ordinary vinegar is also used), garlic, ginger, onions and served as is. Best with a bottle of pale pilsen.
2. Chicharon Bulaklak - Translated as fried crispy flowers. It is basically prepared like pork rinds but instead of pork skin, we use pork innards and the cooked product resembles a delicious deep fried savory flower haha. Again, best accompanied by a bottle of ice cold pale pilsen hehe. (See here where it comes from)
Chicharon Bulaklak image from marketmanila.com website
3. Tortang Talong - Omelet made from eggplant (Fried still with the top part on) sometimes with ground meat.
Tortang Talong picture taken from pinkmagline.com website
4. Tokwa't Baboy - A wonderful ensemble of fried tofu cubes and boiled (sometimes fried) pork. The pork part usually coming from the face of the pig so you get all those fatty and gelatinous morsels. Served with onions and vinegar-soy sauce.
Main Entree
1. Pares - Savory braised beef paired with a bowl of fried rice and served with a cup of soup. This wonderful combo will blow your mind. (see here for my recent post about pares)
2. Dinuguan - This intimidating grimy black dish made of pork blood with innards served with green sili (chilli) and sometimes white puto is a classic Filipino dish that anyone in Manila without a dietary constriction would have eaten it at least once at some point in their lives.
Image taken from fivestomach.blogspot.com website
3. Inasal Chicken - Coal grilled skewered chicken usually marinated in coco vinegar, achuete (annatto), garlic, ginger and onion. It originated from the Visayas region of the Philippines. Served with the local Sinamak vinegar, soy sauce and achuete with chicken fat oil. It is very popular here in Manila as well.
Image taken from traveling-up.com website
5. Bicol Express - This is a hot spicy food laced generously with siling labuyo (red chilis) or any other sili available. The original version only has vegetables as the main ingredient. But the popular version consists of pork cooked in fresh coconut milk, bagoong (shrimp paste) with sigarilyas ("winged bean" according to wiki but we really do not call it in any other name) which originated in Manila.
Image taken from cuzinacorazon.wordpress.com website
6. Pansit Batil Patong - This is a glorious pansit dish from the northern province of Cagayan. Fried noodles with vinegar and soy sauce topped with beef (carabao beef aka carabeef is also used) meat and innards and crushed pork rinds served with beef broth soup. Might include a fried or soft boiled egg.
Image taken from lakadpilipinas.com website
7. Inihaw na Liempo - Grilled slices of pork belly over hot coals typically marinated with soy sauce, catsup, kalamansi (local lime), and garlic. Sometimes with 7-Up softdrink! Hahaha no kidding.
Dessert
1. Leche Flan - A sweet flan custard served with a dark sweet sauce made up of caramelized sugar.
2. Ube Halaya - For me this dessert is KING! Made from grated and boiled ube yam and cooked painstakenly by stirring constantly the very sticky yam paste together with milk and sugar. There are a lot of watered down versions in the market using only a portion of ube yam and they just use food coloring to make it purple. The good ones is usually expensive but if you can find one, it will be an unforgetable experience. If you can't find a good one, ask a local who knows how to properly cook it to make one for you hehe.
Image taken from flavoursofiloilo.blogspot.com website
3. Fruit Salad - I'm a fan of fruits. One of the reasons why I am thankful I live in a tropical country is that fresh fruits are available anytime and in any season. Whenever you feel like it, just drop by the nearest market and buy some fruits and assemble your customized fruit salad in however which way you would prefer.
Street Food
1. Fried Baga - Literaly "fried lungs". A lot of street vendors cleverly call it "fried baka" (fried cow) and smartly use a strong vinegary marinade to make the taste and aroma more appealing. It resembles a charred pork barbecue which is fried with the stick on. Sort of like a mystery meat skewer.
2. Kwek Kwek and Tokneneng - Hardboiled egg deep fried coated in a tempura like orange batter. Kwekwek use small quail eggs while tokneneg usually use duck's egg. You dip this either in a sweet and sour sauce or spiced vinegar. There is also the variant which is my favorite: Fried Balot. Instead of using hard boiled eggs, they use peeled balot with everything in it.
Image taken from lutuingbahay.blogspot.com website
3. Fried Calamares - Pieces of squid fried with tempura like batter.You can dip it with spiced vinegar. It is a straightforward street food and is popular as just the wonderful aroma of these fried seafood is in itself a big draw.
4.One Day Old Chick - Chicks marinated in a mysterious savory and vinegary orange mix and deep fried. It might get a bit of getting used to it. Ask the vendor to take out the bitter part (intestines).
Image taken from pharmacistontherocks.wordpress.com website
Snack
1. Banana-Q - Fried bananas (Lakatan variety) coated in carameized sugar. Very popular snack anywhere you go. A variant is Turon which is banana-q wrapped in lumpia (spring roll) wrapper, very crispy!
3. Goto - Porridge or congee with pork innards and usually accompanied by a hard boiled chicken egg or tokwa't baboy
.
4. Lomi - A noodle dish that use thick egg noodles served with a very thick egg dropped savory sauce. Other ingredients shrimp, pork or chicken slices with kikiam and fishballs. A very tasty dish and is easy to find in Manila.
Image taken from thepoortraveler.net website
Whew, you don't know how much mental torture I went through trying to trim down my entries. I am now inspired to do a some sort of a food dish special in the future.
Location: 351 B Roosevelt Ave Q.C.
House Specialty: Chicken Barbecue
Standing their ground against the onslaught of well financed mall based competitors, Robina House is a testament to good roast chicken. By the way, this is one of the many entries about chicken places. Here in Manila, people are so fond of chicken (mostly roast or fried) that you will be practically be overwhelmed by the sheer number of choices of chicken joints to try out. I am a native of this city and I haven't got the opportunity to visit all those places that serve or specializes in chicken. But I'm still trying haha.
Near Waltermart Mall. Near EDSA and Roosevelt corner.
The Munoz branch which is located in one of the most busiest major intersection in EDSA is one of their only two branches which I frequent. According to their Facebook page they started in 1978.
I first got a taste of their delicious roast chicken as a kid way back in the 80's. My parents would occasionaly brought home this wonderful chicken as dinner ang I get to enjoy eating while fantasizing about Star Wars, Krull, Excalibur or other equally awesome movies back then. If you grew up eating chicken from awesome restarurants such as Robina House your palate tend to get biased against fast food chicken.
This awesome rotisserie will greet you at the entrance.
Fast forward to October 2015, I visit again this chicken joint for the nth time before lunchtime to avoid the rush and order the half chicken (120 pesos) and two servings of plain rice (15 pesos each). I wait for the order taker to announce in their P.A. system: "isang half chicken paki roast". You see, their chicken are slow roasted in roasters that are encased in see-through glass showcase room in front of their restaurant. Once they are done, they keep it warm by transferring it to the "coldest " part in their roaster and wait for the order. Once you order a roast, they will then expertly torch the cooked bird for several minutes until the skin is well done. That way it is guaranteed that you will get a nice caramelized crispy skin everytime.
Wondering what a good roast chicken in the Philippines would taste like?
They serve it in a plate already chopped for your convenience and you will see the delightful juice oozing out. Right away you will see that the meat is tender and moist. The chicken's taste is on the anise/garlicky side. Very savory and it does not come with the artificial smokey flavor as what you taste in a lot of fastfood roasted products. Also they do not taste something like sweet brine (think of the taste of hamonado) which is my pet peeve, in my opinion that kind of sweet marinade is best with ham. The chicken comes with their version of ketchup which I think is based from plums or something like that. This magical sweet spicy sauce goes really well with the roast chicken without spoiling your taste buds or overwhelming your tongue with sweetness. The two items taste perfect together.
A typical pansitan setting in Manila. Note the wall of boxes that they use to package the chckens for take out. There's a lot of them at the back.
I've never been to their second branch in Makati. But in the Munoz (Roosevelt) branch, the place is worn down (but not too much) and looks like a typical panceteria in the 70's or 80's. One look at their long seats will evoke the famous quip "natulog ka na naman sa pansitan". The place has certainly been through a lot and you can tell by the seats and the retro steel water pitchers that they haven't done much renovation.
This is one of those joints that really specializes in their house specialty. I did tried ordering other items in their menu like the camaron rebosado (battered shrimp) and chopsuey but they don't taste nothing compared to their roast chicken. You are better off just ordering their house specialty if you just have enough to order one meal. It seems their chicken is setting the bar too high that other items in their menu pale in comparison.
Here's to more Robina's barbecue for many years to come. I would love to see this joint out live that establishment masquerading as "inasal chicken" or those roasters using sweet ham marinade in their recipe.
And lastly, the aroma is something else. It does not smell of any artificial flavor. Just a whiff of those roast chickens will let you know that you won't be regretting going out of your way and trying out this homey joint.
Service:You wait for the roast chicken to be served to you within a reasonable time. The same goes when asking for the bill. The place may have seen better days but it just goes to show you how long they have been serving good roast chickens.
Menu:Well... You are better off just ordering their house specialty hehe. But feel free to try the other items in the menu, it might just only be me. Whenever I eat there, someone is always ordering pansit. Hmm... I'll try it next time.
Value: For 135 pesos you get half a chicken and two servings of rice with soup. Compare that to your favorite fastfood and you will just get 1/4 chicken and one rice and a small sofdrink cup. This is a winner!
What Food Spots say about Robina House: RECOMMENDED We urge everyone to try it out!
Reviewed Locations: Congressional Branch near Cherry Foodarama (Quezon City) and Robinson Forum Branch (Mandaluyong City)
House Specialty: Pares
Last Date Visited: October 25, 2015
I feel fortunate to be born at a time where typical filipino food in Manila tastes like the way it should be. If you were born before the 90's and you reside somewhere near the border of Manila and Quezon City in Laloma or Sta. Cruz District chances are that you have tasted this classic dish called Pares in its original form which the Quezon City pares joint Jonas was one of the pioneering restaurant that served this dish in their original Retiro branch.
It is called pares (or "pair") because the dish is served in a pair of bowls each containing the delectable savory braised beef and fried rice. They often use the brisket part with some litid (ligament) and in Jonas, they add plum sauce mixed with the usual spices in their braise sauce to add a deeper and more interesting savory flavor, It is garnished with chopped green onions and fried garlic. And a small bowl of soup is added to form a culinary "holy trinity" for the common man. Pares, in those days were a favorite meal of taxi or cab drivers as attested by their parked cabs forming a sort of taxi fort enclosing the pares joint every lunch time. The meal was cheap, satisfying, and it was delicious.
That was a long time ago. Nowadays Jonas has evolved from a rickety sit-in mom 'n pop karenderia type to a modern airconditioned casual dine-in restaurant which I assume must have alienated their original patrons. Along with the ambience comes the update on their pricing. Their pares meal is now out of reach from the common man. Their new demographics are now well off students, salary workers, and the 80's nostalgic niche market.
Now don't get me wrong, I mean this in a good way. Jonas has managed to avoid dying in a very competitive food/service market here in Manila by doing what they do best. That is to serve their pares dish using their delicious original recipe unlike KFC or Mister Donuts (yup kids, KFC used to taste way better than it should be... another post perhaps). At the risk of being this blog post mistaken for a paid or sponsored article (Foodspots will NEVER do that), I am glad that Jonas management decided to maintain the quality of their food and just adjusted their target market accordingly. Their business will die if they start to water down their recipe for the sake of competitive pricing. Too many competitors that can easily kill them in a pricing war. So what else can they do?
Now back to the food. Aside from their famous house specialty, they also have their well know chicken mami, siopao, and siomai. Several additional items such as fish fillet and chicken spring rolls are also available but I have yet to try them out because everytime I visit their branch I have this unresistable hankering for a meal of pares.
It's not that often that I have the chance to go to Jonas. Last time I ate there (October 2015), their pares still tastes the way it should be. Delicious! My tongue is not spoiled by too many sweet food and softdrinks. I browsed some blogs earlier and it's a pity that some people think that pares should taste something like beef tocino with lots of syrupy sauce. Pares should taste SAVORY with just a hint of natural sweetness due to the braising process not because a ton of sugar and cornstarch was added to the sauce.
The wonderful braised meat had minimal fat, tender and recognizable enough not to be suspected as throw away parts bathing in a dark deep brown hued braise sauce. The fried rice is still awesome with all those wonderful ingredients included in the mix. I also tried their unforgetable siopao which is best eaten together with the chicken mami. The siopao bun was fluffy and tastes good on its own. The dimsum filling was fatty just like old times. On it's own, the meal was very much worth it getting out of your way to go to Jonas if we are just talking about the taste.
Now comes the downside. At 134 pesos for the pares meal (excluding drink), it is too pricey compared to their competitors whose prices range from 70 to below 100 pesos. Not entirely a bad thing considering the quality that you'll get. You get what you pay for. But people looking for something that they can eat while they are waitng for pay day will will just go to the more affordable places. Aside from the price is their serving size, they used to serve pares with a FULL bowl of rice and the beef was a bit more that their current serving size. The serving never fails to kill Food Spots' foodie hard on the moment everytime we see the big bowl half filled with fried rice. You can always buy extra rice or dimsum like what I did. I ordered a siopao but I still need an extra glass of water so my stomach will feel satisfied. But I do get their point that what they are serving is real food compared to the usual fast food establishments. And no mystery meat here. All in, a customer is expected to spend an average of 200 pesos for a satisying meal. Cheap by restaurant standards but too steep for casual fast food types. Therein lies the marketing dilemma of Jonas, their set up is more like a school canteen style fast food joint but their price range is like from an affordable restaurant/ high end fast food. And their house specialty is usually associated with the word affordable. They are somewhat in the gray area in the Manila food scene. And it is a good thing that there are enough people that patronize Metro Manila's quirky foodie gray area.
Service:Very neat pares joint. Anyone can just literally slide in and have lunch with no hassle. Eat and go. As it is a pay as you order restaurant, you do not have to worry about slow waiters when you bail out.
Menu:Everything looks good. Jonas is like a virtual time machine. Curious what real food taste like in the 80's? Order some pares and enjoy the trip.
Value: Too pricey for a casual dine in establishment. Not everyday food for the rest of us.
What Food Spots say about Jonas: RECOMMENDED We urge everyone to try it out!
Location: C and R Bldg, ground floor, Escoda Street. Ermita, Manila.
House Specialty: La Paz Batchoy
La Paz Batchoy is a local noodle soup typically consisting of miki noodles, beef and pork clear broth, topped with slices of beef and pork (meat and liver), chopped green onions and crushed pork rinds. Not to be confused with the Tagalog Batchoy variant in which broth has pig's blood, uses only pork meat and with miswa noodles instead of miki.
A bowl of hot batchoy! Presented as is, no touch ups. I am not much of a food stylist and I am just using a PS Vita camera.
Here in the Ermita district of Manila, I frequent a small eatery named after this well known dish that originally came from the southern province of Iloilo. It is run "mom and pop" style with relatives of the proprietor acting as store manager and cashier at the same time. They first opened the joint way back in the early 80's. My family's business is near the place so we were one of the first customers and I feel lucky having grown up eating their awesome batchoy.
The La Paz Batchoy place is "hidden" in the ground floor of the C and R commercial building. Somewhat like a secret foodie place because of a minimal and homemade signage outside the building that you can easily miss. But ask locals in the area around Pedro Gil LRT station (specially in Escoda st.) and they will right away give you directions. It is a dine in restaurant in a building which is occupied by several clinics, a herbal shop, a flowershop, a photocopy store and a bakery. Their place looks like a typical Karenderia but cleaner. Once you are in there, you will sense how old the establishment is because they are still using the same canteen table and have not done any major renovations in the past four decades since they opened.
Clean and respectable batchoy joint. Their menu and Puto steamer in the background.
Their simple menu consists of special and super batchoy, desserts, and the obligatory softdrinks. Here in the Philippines, a lot of people drink softdrinks like water does not exist hehe. I prefer to drink water instead of high sugar carbonated drinks. For a long time, the price of their batchoy was pegged at a low and affordable price. Every lunch and dinner time their place would be packed to the brim that we just order take out (to go) during those times. But sometime during the mid 2000's they were forced to update their price to reflect the changing times and the decline of walk in customers because one of the jeep terminals in the area was relocated by the local government to a far away street to ease traffic decongestion. Their joint still manages to survive though but not that busy compared to their heydays.
Although the orginal cook already passed away, they still serve a mean bowl of batchoy. It consists of a savory broth, topped with crushed chicharon (pork rinds), green onions, generous meat and liver portions, and miki noodles specifically made for their small restaurant. The noodles are not too salty unlike if you buy it directly from the local market. They taste just right. You also have an option to have a raw chicken egg dropped in your batchoy for an extra 10 pesos to jack up the protein value of your meal. The difference between the "special" and the "super" batchoy is that the super has more meat/liver and and extra innards toppings. for the dessert, they serve these delicious slices of puto (white fluffy rice cakes). At some point they had siopao on their menu but I think they ditched it to simplify inventory (I told you they are a mom and pop establishment). The Ilongo (as what people from Iloilo is called) owner does not want to branch out as what other successful food establishments and instead prefers to be content with taking care of this establishment and handing over the managerial duties to her close relatives. Owner must be doing well in her other businesses.
Price for a bowl of batchoy as of writing is 65 pesos for the special and 75 pesos for the super. 10 pesos for the rice cake and since I really do not want to promote softdrink consumption, just drink their service water or just buy bottled water if you are not from the neigborhood and your stomach is not used to the local tap water.
Authencity? Now as this is my first review, let me tell you about what I think about reviewing or judging food based if it is "authentic" or not. I believe if you want to eat food that is authentic, you go to eat the food at the same location it originated from, same people who made the food, and same source of their ingredients. If you don't do that, you are eating guess what: THE SAME DISH. I don't believe bringing over imported cooks from Japan just so you can label your ramen as "authentic" will make the food more respectable and worthy of your top money. I find it silly when people rave about this food joint being "authentic" because it is owned by foreigners or the ingredients were flown in from abroad or being disappointed because the owner of that french bakery is asian. I do not think it is necessary to check if the food is authentic. As long as the food should taste the way it should be, that's fine with me.
Directions: After getting off at LRT Pedro Gil, just walk north bound along Taft Avenue. Walk past the Aglipay church until you reach Llanes Escoda St. When you see L Carlos flowershop at the corner, just walk along the block until you reach C and R bldg. There will be a small lobby there at the entrance where you can see or smell their house specialty. If you have a car and there is no more parking space left, you can use the nearby Aglipay church pay parking.
Service: A well maintained small casual restaurant. Homey environment. No security problem as the building maintains a roving security force in the premises. Not airconditioned as what most small eateries in Manila.
Menu: Their house specialty is good enough to stand the test of time.
Value: You really can't complain about it. For the same price, you'll just get a small burger meal in a fast food restaurant. And you do not have to drink an extra glass of water just to fill full haha. Serving size is just right for regular appetites.
What Food Spots say about La Paz Batchoy Restaurant:
For those readers not familiar or just confused with local food or terms, here is a page for you if you want the definitiion coming from me. You can make a request if you do not find the word that you are looking for. Also, please read the F. A. Q. list in case you have something in mind to ask about my blog.
I will update this page as much as I can. Thanks for visiting!
F. A. Q.
Q: How frequent do you update this blog?
A: It depends on my free time and how often I eat out. I will do my best to update this blog as much as I can.
Q: How do you choose where you eat for your reviews.
A: I explore the metro in search for good food spots. I also follow leads from friends and news.
Q: Where do you live?
A: I currently reside in Quezon city. I was born, grew up and spent most of my years working in Manila City.
DEFINITIONS Local terms and definitions. Feel free to ask more about it through this blog.
Chopsuey - A medley of vegetables, stir fried with mushrooms, fish balls and slivers of meat. And served drenched with hot brothy thick sauce. Usually served as a meal with either rice or noodles or just a side dish. Karenderia (carenderia) - Also called Turo-turo. A typical small eatery in the Philippines serving local or traditional home cooked food characterized with the already cooked food displayed either still inside kawalis (woks) or a showcase display counter where customers just point what food they want to eat and indicate how many servings of rice they will order. Litson (lechon) - Whole pig skewered in a bamboo spit roasted over charcoal served with a delicious gritty sweet sauce made of liver, bread crumbs and spices. A perennial favorite entry during fiestas or important gatherings. Variations are litson de leche (roasted piglet), litson baka (roasted whole cow) and litson manok (roasted chicken).
Mami - Local term for the usual chinese noodle soup with either chicken, beef or dumplings. Usually topped with vegetables and pork innards.
Pares - A local main dish of savory braised beef paired with fried rice usually served with hot beef broth soup and topped with chopped green onions.
Sinangag na Kanin - Fried rice with garlic, onion, salt and pepper. Usually served at home as a heavy breakfast meal paired with fried eggs or any meat dishes.
Siopao - Steamed chinese sweet bun dumplings usually filled with either asado, bola-bola (meat ball), or bean paste.
Siomai - Steamed (sometimes fried) small chinese dumplings filled with minced meat and vegetables. Served as an appetizer with soy or chili sauce.
Hi! I am Sam. Welcome to Food Spots. In this blog, I will take you to my journeys throughout Metro Manila and share my food trip experience.
Here is a brief background of myself in order to better appreciate what I write here. I was born in the Manila and grew up eating traditional food at home such as tapa, lomi, taho, balot, tocino, sinangag na kanin, sinigang na baboy and my fave fried chicken. As I grew up, food from the nearby districts gave me a much wider pallete of culinary delights to choose from. Litson from the nearby La Loma district in Quezon City; Pansit, chopsuey, asado, kikiam and camaron rebosado from Binodo; Beef pares and siopao from Retiro Ave near Lourdes School Q.C. where I attended grade school (After class pares or mami/siopao is awesome).
Dietary restriction: None.
And since you are reading my blog, it is much better if you have an idea what my taste for food is like. To set expectations and you have been forewarned, I tend to veer away from the mainstream taste in food (for a good reason). I like to explore, I know what I want, and I do not have a "comfort zone" when it comes to food. If I travel to a far away place, I won't eat at McDonald's or Jollibee, that will be too stupid of me not to try out the local food and waste my opportunity to experience what people in other places eat. Here is a short sample of my "Hate and Like" list which is not necessarily in order.
Likes:
Shawarma Snack Center
Manukan sa Maynila
Chuck's Grub
Shou Zhou
Jonas
Happy Creme Puff
Hates:
Mang Inasal
Greenwich
Old Spagetti House
Chowking
Guys, I am fair when it comes to hating. I will actually eat and pay with my own money more than once before I consider including an establishment in my hate list. I'll gradually provide explanations why I put them there in my posts.
When you read this blog, you read what I personally feel about the food establishment. I won't be accepting any sort of discount or food voucher from owners of establishments when I set out to write a review. I value my integrity as an independent food blogger. I am immune to mass marketing from advertising companies because I do not watch T.V. or tune in to F.M. radio anymore and for someone who took advertising in college, I know how ad campaign works. My taste won't be swayed by glossy marketing campaigns and celebrity endorsers employed by food companies.
There are five people that influenced me in appreciating food. Mother, Lola (Grandmother), Tita Ging (Aunt Ging),Kuya (my older brother), and Stephen Yan of the 80's Canadian T.V. show Wok with Yan. More stories from them as I update this blog.
I will review and rate food establishments according to these criteria:
1. Service - You just don't serve customers by shoving food down their throats. Food is something that you ingest inside your body. Care and respect should be given by the one who serves you your food most specially if you are paying for it. Included in this criteria is how apt the actual environment of the food establishment is in relation to the product that they are serving.
2. Menu - Since it is impossible to sample all items in the menu, I will be looking out how they present and conceptualize their menu. This criteria also include the ordered food that I ate. Extra points if they have real vegetarian entries (not token entries). I make it a point to at least do some basic research in order to be knowledgeable about the food so I can better appreciate the cuisine. I won't order chicken kebab and say "I am disappointed because I was expecting it would taste sweet"... wow, haha.
3. Value - It is unfair to give a low rating for a 75 peso bowl of ramen because you compared it to a 450 peso glamorized version from a mall restaurant. In the food industry, you get what you pay for. So I make it a point to include value for money in my reviews since this is a blog about food establishments not exculsively how the food tastes like.
Rating system:
Not Recommended. I will not waste my time and money here again.
Neutral. I will not hesitate to eat here again but I'll watch what I order. And I do not feel strongly about it.
Recommended. I encourage my readers to try it out!!!
I guess the rating system is self explanatory. I avoid rating systems where I give "Excellent" or "Poor". Hahaha, who I am to judge these establishments.
Most entries here will be coming from "affordable" food joints most specially the obscure or "just below the mainstream radar" types. Those who do not have big marketing budget but definitely deserves our attention because of their awesome establishment. While I do splurge sometimes and eat at hotels or expensive restaurants, I'll make sure to document them in this blog.
My next entry will be a terminology and F.A.Q. page in case readers are confused or not familiar with the food I have mentioned. Also watch out for updates, I tend to find typos or errors after publishing posts haha.
