Saturday, August 23, 2008

A Peek Into Manila's Food Scene



Pancake House's Halo Halo, a truly Pinoy delicacy that most people love, except actor-crooner Harry Connick, Jr. who dished out a hilarious spiel during his last concert at the PICC.




BREAKING THE TEDIUM – A PEEK INTO THE MANILA FOOD SCENE


As another excuse to veer away from the tedious documentation of my “journey”, here’s a post that showcases Manila food scene as a response to some emails saying, and I quote, “Is it rather ironic for you to live in vibrant Manila and not have any features on it? It would be a waste to highlight the other beautiful cities in Asia, except the Philippines.”


This blogsite has several features on different places in the Philippines. But this site was basically put up to document my travels, not as a travel feature blogsite. And when I am in the country, I rarely carry a camera, if at all. Nevertheless, I’ve set aside a full week documenting my gastronomic encounters for the sake of, errr… completion. For the most part, it feels odd to be carrying a camera in my home town. I am not a photographer, thus the camera is not a part of my daily appendage. But hey, this post is for those friendly emails looking for local food. You crazy people! (Especially for Minnie and delasoul)


Herewith is a week's worth of my gastronomic encounters. Bon appetit!


Asian Salad, Pancake House, regular serving PhP168 ($3.65), a mix of shrimps, tofu, pomelo, lettuce, turnip (singkamas), cucumber, coriander leaves with Asian vinaigrette.


Adobo Sulipan, loosely shredded pork and chicken with hard boiled egg and pickled water spinach (kangkong), PhP188 ($4) at Pancake House. House Iced Tea at PhP48 ($1.05).



Chicken Tonkatsu, Tropical Hut, PhP69 ($1.50)


Lechon manok (Roast chicken) at PhP150 ($3.25) a piece


Tofu anyone?


A good friend's mom who lives in good ole London would come home for a visit every 5 years or so, and she would go straight to Chowking for their pansit. Though Chowking may have sanitary issues of late, I would think that most of their mall branches would still be safe and worthy of a patronage. Just check out their Sweet and Sour Pork Lauriat below.


Sweet and Sour Pork Lauriat, PhP115 ($2.50)



The following photos are taken from a new place called Slice n Dice Steakhouse (Mandaluyong City), located along Shaw Boulevard, just beside Cherry Foodarama and Wack Wack Road Extension. It's a relatively small place with cool interiors and a very limited parking space in front. Just across the street is one of the hundreds of incarnations of Starbucks. The good thing is that this place boasts of succulent and delicious food and at an equally inexpensive price. House Iced Tea is PhP33, add PhP10 for bottomless. Extra rice of PhP17 and garlic rice of PhP24.


Pork Sisig with egg (the big order), PhP139 ($3)



Stir fried water spinach (kangkong), medium order with rice, PhP69 ($1.50). I am not a vegetable person, but boy, oh boy, this dish is heavenly!


Cheesy Garlic Mussels, the big order, PhP139 ($3) 20 pieces. As good as it looks.



Slice n Dice Steakhouse, absolutely worth a try.




Here are the comparative charts of the country share 1 month, 2 weeks and a few days ago:







This is the Eye in the Sky!


Up next: Images of Manila!Up next part 2: Food Trip in DavaoComing Soon: The Journey Continues: Off to Savannakhet, Laos





9 comments:

Cathy Pena said...

came by to say i've finally, begrudgingly, ended my "block"! thanks for the mention - that's so sweet and makes me blush!

gosh! everything on those photos look delicious!

Anonymous said...

wow, the adobo bfats plate and the sisig made me want to grab a flight to manila and gorge myself. hahaha! thanks for this nice post ;-)

Twin said...

eye, enlighten us about the different varieties of durian...come on!

eye in the sky said...

@ cathy: yes, cathy, i just read it. i have a copy of that movie too. keep writing ok?


@ caryn: i have to admit that i salivate while looking at those photos myself. haha. i love the mussels. am glad you liked this post. :->

@ rica: when it comes to food, i am best eating them than describing them or their ingredients or guess on how they are being cooked or prepared. am not culinary savvy. my best trait with regards to food - durians, included - is its consumption. i do know that with regards to durian, there is the native durian and the hybrids, and under hybrids are several more classifications according to their new given names. thats about it!

if you want, i can discuss in detail the differential diagnosis of a "red eye" or the different methods of operating a cataract. i can do that. ;->

escape said...

kakagutom talaga ang mga ganitong pictures. paborito ko dyan ang sisig.

Twin said...

kasi eye, when you brought us to the durian resto, i was amazed that there were different varieties, may kasama pang pictures and they have different tastes! all the while, isa lang tingin ko sa kanila. ang dami-dami pa lang types nyan. also, that was the first time i ate it fresh, kasi sanay ako na frozen. eh iba ang dating pag "freshly cut," mas unforgettable ang taste! kakaiba!
i know for a fact that either one loves or hates eating durian and i kinda acquired the taste so once in awhile i try looking for it kahit san lupalop :)

eye in the sky said...

@ dong: its a personal favorite too. :->

@ rica: yes, the fresh ones are the best there is. that visit at the durian "restaurant" was only my 3rd time there i think. durian is always an acquired taste. no one gets to smell it and love it right away.

Anonymous said...

i love baked tahong! :)

eye in the sky said...

hey acey, they're top of my list too, at least in this bunch! :->