Restaurant Review
23 Jul 2008

Mang Inasal

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After our awesome day-trip to Tagatay, we arrived back in Manila beat, stinky, dirty and hungry, so we didn’t stray far from our hotel for dinner. The Astronomer, Nina and I dined at a fast food-style joint called Mang Inasal on Makati, while Cathy took her meal back to the hotel. Here’s a heartwarming blurb from the restaurant’s website.

Mang Inasal endeavors to adhere to elements that bear a distinctively Pinoy stamp—grilling with charcoal, rice wrapped in banana leaves, a marinade concocted out of local spices and herbs, bamboo sticks for skewers, and the ambience that encourages kinamot (the Ilonggo term in eating with the hands) whenever chicken inasal is served. All these evoke a rush of nostalgia for tradition, culture, and most of all, Home.

The protocol here is order at the counter, pay, take a number and the food is delivered when it’s ready. Just like at Rubio’s!

Nina ordered Paa with Rice—grilled chicken (leg and thigh) with white rice and a kalamnsi. This is referred to as a Paborito Meal on the menu, which I assume is comparable to a Western value meal.

The Astronomer also ordered a Paborito Meal—Pork Inasal with Rice. The meat wasn’t super-tender, but it was very satisfying and well-seasoned. The flavors reminded me of Korean barbecue. Charcoal grilling imparts of a lovely smoky taste upon the meat.

The best perk of the Paborito Meals is unlimited rice! One was enough for Nina, but The Astronomer demanded seconds. There is an employee at Mang Inasal whose sole job is to provide rice refills. After he scooped a fresh ball of rice onto The Astronomer’s plate, he said something like, “here is your second rice, and it is free!” He cracked us up.

The Astronomer and Nina shared a side of Krispy Kangkong—deep fried river spinach with a mayonnaise dip. Definitely not up my alley (I prefer my vegetables honest), but The Astronomer and Nina seemed to like it fine.

In the mood for something sweet, I decided to try one of Mang Inasal’s dessert offerings. After grilling the woman working behind the counter on her favorite sweet on the menu, I settled on the Saging Melt. The Saging Melt, which was comprised of shaved ice, topped with bananas and a scoop of vanilla ice cream, was a huge let down. The ice cream was good enough, but the bananas’ texture was horrendous (I’m pretty sure they were frozen for months prior to being served) and the shaved ice was just strange. Boo.

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Mang Inasal
Villa Building, Jupiter Street, Makati City 1207
Phone: (632) 890-2442

Restaurant Review
22 Jul 2008

A Day in Tagaytay

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On our second day in Manila, we took a day trip to Tagatay—home of the Taal Volcano. Taal Volcano is active (eee!) and has a large crater lake in the middle. It’s located 1.5 to 3 hours from Manila depending on which mode of transportation one takes. We took a semi-public bus, so it took 2 hours.

The Astronomer started his day with an “adobo” steamed bun from 7-11. Even though he was a fan, all I could do was shake my head and frown in disapproval. I hope that tourists visiting America don’t eat at 7-11. Not even for a Slurpee.

Here’s a billboard we saw on our cab ride from the hotel to the bus station to catch a ride to Tagatay. The Philippines favor the type of “cool”/”in your face” Christianity that my high school classmates really dug. WWJD? He would most definitely advertise on a billboard.

The unhelpful taxi driver dropped us off at the wrong bus station. Luckily, we met a sweet local who took us under her wing (and eventually to the right one). Thank goodness she was around! We were all really stoked to hop aboard a jeepney—“the most popular means of public transportation in the Philippines. They were originally made from US military jeeps left over from World War II and are well known for their flamboyant decoration and crowded seating.” Photo by Nina.

Here’s a view of Lake Taal from Leslie’s Restaurant (Aguinaldo Highway) in Tagatay where we had lunch. This picture by James Deakin captures the gorgeousness of the surroundings much better.

Nina and Cathy. So much personality in one happy snap.

Lunch started off with a mountain of garlic rice. A meal in the Philippines just wouldn’t be complete without heaps of garlic rice. By the way, this is a “family” size order (210 PP).

For all fans of pork, this one’s for you! Lechon (299 PP) is the Spanish word for suckling pig. In the Philippines, it connotes a whole roasted pig. The process of lechón involves the whole pig/piglet slowly roasted over charcoal. The result of this slow cooking is an amazingly crispy crust/skin and tender lovely innards.

The lechon was served with a thick, sweet sauce made of liver, apple cider vinegar, brown sugar, salt and pepper. The sauce paired amazingly well with the pork. Mmm!

Here’s a close-up of the goodness. OMG. So very decadent. We each had three pieces and it was plenty.

Grilled Tawilis (210 PP). These freshwater sardines were simply grilled without adornments. Too many bones and not enough flavor—not a hit with diners.

Banana blossom in coconut milk. The texture of this fruit/vegetable is very much like that of artichoke hearts, while the coconut sauce is slightly sweet. Here’s a recipe I found on Lafang: a Pinoy food blog.

We met this little guy at Leslie’s. Looks like a leaf, no? Camouflage is cool.

After lunch we hopped aboard a tricycle and zoomed down to the waterfront. The Astronomer and Nina squeezed into the attachment, while Cathy and I rode behind the driver. It was a tight, but acceptable squeeze. Or so I thought.

A close up of Nina and The Astronomer. The Astronomer’s back hurt like mad at the end of this ride. On the ride back up the mountain, we switched places. I rather liked riding in the attachment.

Ready for some volcano action. I can’t believe they made us wear life jackets. In Vietnam, there would have been no such nonsense.

The balancers on both sides of the slender boat really saved us, especially when it started raining on our trip back.

The crew cruising out to the volcano.

We could have hired some ponies to take us to the top of the Taal Volcano, but we thought the 1,700 meter hike was totally do-able. North Americans are built tough. Here I am waving adios to the ponies.

The lake inside the crater.

Nina took this picture of The Astronomer, Cathy and me from the shaky lookout tower.

After we hiked down the volcano, we boarded the boat and sailed back to the shores of Lake Taal. Then we boarded our tricycle, putted up the hill and caught a bus back to Manila. Here’s our tricycle driver “reinforcing” the attachment to the motorbike using an old towel. I LOVE Asia.

Prior to take off, a buko pie vendor boarded the bus to hawk his goods. No one had any idea what a buko pie was, but we took a chance because it sounded mighty intriguing.

It turned out that buko means coconut. The coconut meat pie was one-dimensionally sweet, a little soggy and probably would’ve tasted loads better fresh. No regrets here though. When it comes to street food, you’ve got to try the rest to find the best.

Restaurant Review
21 Jul 2008

Sentro @ Greenbelt Mall

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After lunch at Chicken Bacalod, we shopped at Glorietta and booked our flights to Palawan at a travel agency located inside the mall. We waited until the last minute to book our beach destination in order to view the most up-to-date weather reports. Even though it was officially rainy season in Palawan, things were looking sunny for the moment, so we bit the bullet.

After being mall rats for a couple of hours, I was really feeling the ill effects of the late-night flight and opted to rest in the hotel, while Nina and Cathy continued to shop. Canadians are so much tougher than Americans. Afterwards, The Astronomer and I went on a super-short run. Manila is not a great place to be a long-distance runner. After our brief workout, we met up with the gals for dinner at Sentro, a place that claims to be “First in Modern Filipino Cuisine.”

Like Chicken Bacalod, Sentro is located in a mall (next to Bubba Gump’s to be exact). Greenbelt appeared to be much higher-end and modern compared to Glorietta.

We started off with the Sizzling Tofu (220 PP), which arrived as billed on a cast iron skillet. The tofu was of the silken variety and seasoned with shallots, soy sauce and mayonnaise. Although it sounds a bit strange, especially the mayonnaise bit, we all really enjoyed it, especially with a squeeze of kalamansi juice. I was particularly fond of the browned edges on the soft tofu.

Nina’s favorite dish of the evening was the Maya Maya Escabeche (280 PP)—silver snapper filets, pan fried and cooked in a sweet vinegar sauce with mild garlic ginger flavor. The sauce was what made this dish really special. We analyzed the contents of the sauce for quite a while and thought it tasted like honey mustard and curry even though neither ingredients were present.

For our requisite vegetable side, we chose the okra with garlic chives (180 PP), which came topped with slices of salted eggs. Once again, a seemingly strange combination of flavors, but it totally worked. Prior to arriving in Manila, I did a little bit of research on local foods and was oftentimes turned off by the descriptions. Pinoy cuisine is best tasted firsthand.

We each enjoyed a portion of garlic rice (70 PP per portion) on the side as well. I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again—garlic rice is pure genius.

The restaurant’s specialty Sinigang (420 PP), a sour soup with corned beef short ribs and boneless shanks in a tamarind broth with native vegetables, was a must-order item. Our waiter brought us a sample of the soup’s standard broth to taste before preparing our portion so we could specify whether we desired it more or less sour. We wanted it sourer!

The soup arrived bubbling on a burner. Sinigang tasted like St. Patrick’s Day fused with Vietnamese canh chua. We all agreed that it was lovely hearty sour soup. Corned beef is so good, why do we only eat it once a year?

And lastly, we indulged in some Portuguese egg tarts from Lord Stow’s Bakery that Nina picked up during her shopping spree. Thanks, Nina! According to the box, Lord Stow’s was established in Macau in 1989. The custard filling was definitely more crème brulee than quiche Lorraine, which The Astronomer appreciated greatly.