manila: lunch at cibo.

hm. let's see. i'm avoiding wheat, pizza makes me crazy, pasta is out of the question, i'm particularly feeling my lactose intolerance today, and i'm with someone on the atkins diet. where to eat, where to eat? i know! an italian café specializing in sandwiches and pasta! aaaauuuugggggh



we went to cibo, an informal yet highly stylish italian café chain an italian caff that is very, very, very orange or very, very, very lime green depending on which branch you visit. moment of madness, perhaps, maybe just looking for a challenge.



we started with iced tea shakes (just iced tea blended up with some ice, but very refreshing), spiked with a fresh mint syrup. ah.



moved on to the insalata pacifica--mixed greens topped with a generous amount of fresh shaved tender hearts of palm and parmesan cheese, and dressed with the house vinaigrette. is it me, or are most salad dressings in manila really sweet? even the vinaigrette. not sure i cared for the sweetness of the dressing as the hearts of palm were sweet enough, but at least it wasn't doused with the stuff. next time i'll ask for the dressing on the side.



we ordered the three non-carby items: a lemony roasted chicken (pollo arrosto), osso buco with gremolata (braised beef shanks--as joey points out, veal is difficult to find in the philippines--with a pungent garlic lemon parsley sauce), and porchetta, roasted pork marinated in garlic, rosemary, thyme, and sage (pictured above). i had the porchetta, which came with a very mushroomy long-grained rice, a fresh tomato sauce, an herby brown gravy, and a surprisingly good, very tasty fresh apple compote with mustard seeds. not a particularly large meal, as you can see, but it was really a wonderful group of flavours--the melting, sweet, tender, rosemary-infused pork, the earthy shiitake and eryngii mushrooms, the sweet apples lightly tangy with mustard, and the sweet tomatoes. i ate every bit of it. i assume the chicken and beef were equally as successful, as my companions fell silent, refused to let me taste any of it (in all fairness, i hoarded my meal as well), and finished every last morsel.

i have no idea how the pastas, pizzas, or bruschettas are. i'll let you know.


cibo
phase 1, promenade, greenhills
727.2590

and various other locations throughout the city

quiapo

manila's not all shopping malled out. yet.

manila: lunch at longrain.

i went to powerplant mall in rockwell center because i am in love with a bookstore in there, but i don't really know what else is in there except a rock climbing wall in the carpark, a room for drivers to watch dvds whilst waiting for their drivees (such an awesome idea, btw), and um, that's about it. however, i probably spend at least three hours in the bookshop each time i go in, and by the time i'm done, i'm famished.



we went to longrain, which is in the "food court" section of the mall, but since powerplant is a bit more upscale, the idea that this is fast food is not what you'd expect; the restaurants all have their dedicated spaces, but their respective seating spills out onto a common court. the food is mostly asian, and usually a cut above your mickey d's.

longrain doesn't specialize in any one cuisine, but dabbles in various southeast asian regions, including malaysia, indonesia, the philippines, and india. the decor is funky and relaxed, and the menu is just long enough to keep you interested enough to want to try several things, but not long enough to completely perplex you. to tell you the truth, i really like this place, as do several of my female cousins, but i don't think anyone else does. however, i could be wrong, as it has been here for quite awhile now. but then again, it's one of the only restaurants around that hasn't opened up a second branch in the many malls mushrooming throughout manila. hm. whatever. i'll let you know what i ate.



we started the meal with vegetable samosas (pictured at the beginning of the post), a fried vegetable-filled pastry. and it was both heat hot and spicy hot. the fried shell had just a thin layer of crispness, which gave way to a nicely tender pastry, and the garam masala-spiced potatoes, onions and peas packed in a lot of flavour, and weren't mushy or watery. we also ordered a paratha, a grilled flatbread served with a mild curry sauce.



i thought i would have the laksa, a curry-based noodle dish. the idea of yellow egg noodles with coconut milk, prawns, shallots, galangal, lemongrass, sambal belacan and other spices made my mouth water so much and my brain go into overdrive that when the server asked me what wanted, i blurted out "chicken makhani". wtf??? butter chicken?! i guess i short-circuited and ordered the "delhi dinner" on the menu, which consisted of chicken cooked in clarified butter, tomatoes and spices, saffron rice, yellow lentil dhal, cucumber raita and a poppadum. everything was very good--again, nicely cooked, no stinting of spices--but it was no laksa.



luckily (for me anyway), my cousin ordered mee goreng, yellow egg noodles fried with potatoes, tomatoes, tofu, and prawns in a tasty tomatoey garlicky chili sauce. talk about being pounded over the head with flavour, this dish practically leapt into my mouth, it was so good. spicy, but not so much that it overpowered the dish, perfectly al dente noodles, barely cooked through prawns, tomatoes that tasted like tomatoes, not at all oily.



so why don't people like this place? i've only ever ordered indian, indonesian, and malaysian food from here, but from what i've seen of the filipino dishes, i think i could find them lacking. the servers aren't particularly friendly nor helpful, but they are polite, efficient, and the food tends to arrive when it should. i have limited experience with malaysian and indonesian cuisine, but i do like that the kitchen doesn't hold back on spicing dishes, but obviously doesn't rely on salt (or msg, according to the sign), nor have any of the dishes seemed greasy or oily. one cousin had the complaint that perhaps the food had too much flavour and he had a little trouble with so much going on in his meal. huh. well, more for me then.


longrain
basement, powerplant mall
rockwell center, makati
898.1859

manila: chocolate from the bald man.

binky is a girl, not a doormat

there was NO way you could have told me in all the years i've visited manila, that hanging out on the sidewalk right next to makati avenue would be something i would ever do--and maybe even find enjoyable. but funnily, that's where i found myself one night, at max brenner, a "chocolate bar" and café based in israel, with shops in london, australia, israel, singapore, and manila. go figure. the manila shop is nice--creamy walls, dark woods, warm light, high ceilings, with pipes of hot chocolate running the length of the ceiling (wonkish!). the outdoor seating shares space with the next door coffee bean and tea leaf, and sits right on the very busy makati avenue. i doubt i would sit here in the day, but at the end of the evening, it almost seemed like a good idea.

i don't know if it's like this in the other cafés, but all the male servers are bald. is this a requirement, as the slogan is "chocolate from the bald man" (i assume that's max, that is, but you know, in accordance with the theme and all that)? and they wear sweatshirts, which looks hella uncomfortable in manila heat, even at ten in the evening. maybe that's why they were lethargic and unresponsive. it's a good thing we didn't order food (there is a full menu, along with the chocolate stuff), as it took over half an hour to receive our hot chocolate drinks.



i ordered the equador dark chocolate with orchid flowers oil, in a "hug mug", which is meant to be cradled between your hands (it also looks like a bald head). "hot" is a misnomer as it was just lukewarm, but considering the ambient temperature hovering in 'preheat' mode, it wasn't too much of a concern to me. i am the first to tell you i know nothing about chocolate, except the difference between nasty and not. this was not. i don't know if i could actually taste anything special about the orchid oil, except for considering that vanilla comes from orchids, this had some definite vanilla overtones, but nothing particularly flowery.

since this was the only thing i ordered, i wasn't going to blog about it, but i decided to because of one event: as we were sitting there, a group of people walked by, and an elderly gentleman suddenly collapsed. within seconds, the servers had propped him up, fetched him a chair, and called security. our server was, with us, lethargic, but for the concerned group, calm and steady. in a couple of minutes, two security guards secured the area, and within five minutes from that, an ayala center ambulance (okay, less of an ambulance than a jeepney) worked its way through the traffic and whisked the group away. anyway, i just found it very reassuring that should i drop dead in the middle of greenbelt, the ayala corporation is prepared for it.

and, although i'm not a chocoholic, i did buy quite a few of their treats to take home as i am rather partial to the packaging of max brenner products. kawaiiiii!



max brenner
L1, greenbelt 3, makati
728.8810

hell and spamnation, i've got spamjam recipes!

for you, o luffers of the pinky meat slab in viscous jelly, real live spamjam café recipes. reproduced without permission from "flavors" magazine, vol.4, no. 41, because i love you like i love my luggage.


SPAM melt

3 egg yolks
1 tsp dijon mustard
1 tbsp lemon juice
freshly ground (!) white pepper and salt to taste
1 c olive oil
1 tbsp white sine vinegar
1/2 c grated (white) cheddar cheese
60g SPAM, chopped
french bread sliced on the diagonal

first, make the topping: beat the egg yolks, mustard, lemon juice, pepper and salt until mixture begins to thicken. add olive oil gradually, drizzles at a time, while stirring to let the mixture emulsify. after all the oil is added in the mixture, fold in vinegar. blend grated cheese and SPAM into the mixture.

spread evenly on french bread slice, toast until cheese melts. serve hot.


SPAM hero

1 6-inch length of french bread
SPAM, sliced
mayonnaise, spiked with mustard and honey to taste
lettuce
cheese slices
tomato slices

cut french bread crosswise in half. toast. while tasting bread, fry sPAM on pan or griddle. spread mayonnaise dressing evenly on lower half of french bread. put a bed of lettuce on the bread. arrange SPAM, cheese, and tomato slices on the top. cover with upper half of bread.


SPAM caesar salad

for the croutons:
white bread
oil (unspecified)
minced garlic
grated parmesan cheese
salt and pepper to taste

cut white bread into small cubes. toss in oil, minced garlic, grated cheese, salt and pepper. spread out on baking sheet and toast until light golden brown. let cool.

for the salad:
iceberg lettuce, torn into pieces (what? you were expecting romaine??)
bottled caesar salad dressing
croutongs
SPAM, finely chopped and fried until crispy

toss together lettuce and dressing until evvenly distributed. top with croutons and sprinkle with SPAM bits.

manila: spamjam café.

update january 2007-all restaurants closed

manila is home to the only exclusively SPAM restaurant, the SpamJam café. on the menu: SPAM burgers (with specially made round SPAM!), SPAM hotdogs, SPAM corndogs, SPAM spaghetti, SPAM poppers (popcorn SPAM), SPAM nuggets, SPAM baked macaroni, SPAM caesar salad, SPAM and eggs, SPAM melts, and er, curly fries and something called a "cream stick". they also have two SPAM lunch boxes (bento): sweetened SPAM with garlic rice and a fried egg, or breaded SPAM with garlic rice and a fried egg (with a choice of barbecue or sweet and sour sauce). what's *not* on the menu? sodium nitrite, the preservative found in SPAM in a can. the SPAM at SpamJam is made exclusively for the shop, without preservatives, and with a much lower sodium content--this could possibly be the home of the world's healthiest SPAM. eep.

did i go in? no. would i go in? yeah, sure, why not. but, uh, not today.


spamjam café
2L glorietta 4, makati
752.7294

a moment at market market.

just some photos from around the outdoor "fiesta" market at er, market! market! shopping mall in fort bonifacio....


the king of fruit--durian


apparently the king of mandarines


longan--kinda like lychees, but not


pineapple


handmade tofu and quesong puti


rice and beans


fried food display: lumpia (egg rolls), fish balls, and ukoy (okoy) (papaya and shrimp patties)

didn't buy anything. just came from lunch (burp). next time!


market! market!
fort bonifacio global city, taguig, metro manila

bizu patisserie, pt.2: conspicuous consumption .

i need to take you here. yes, you. even though i hate your politics, your distaste for dry cleaning, and your weird thing about latex paint. i need to take you here, even though the waiters wear purple jeans with green stitching, and yellow oxford shirts that match the decor. i need to take you here because it reminds me of los angeles in the eighties. hong kong in the nineties. paris. the casino, not the city. yeah, okay. the city. un peu.



take your time, let me explain: mango chiboust, that's a light french cheesecake; strawberry chiboust with strawberries from baguio, a mountain city--they also have ones with u.s. strawberries; blueberry chiboust; minuet: valrhona milk chocolate mousse infused with peppermint, in between chocolate cake layers on a hazelnut base; limone: calamansi lemon mousse with a strawberry-raspberry coulis center; and uh...i think the thing with the white ball is the baba: chocolate, hazelnut mousse, caramel cream.



you pick pink. pink. the babylon: raspberry mousse layered with almond-infused sponge cake, and a crème brûlée surprise. the surprise being i can't figure out what crème brûlée has to do with this.



i pick the limone. its violent green clashing with the neon cherry appeals to me. it's strong. the calamansi mousse is almost overbearing, but surprisingly the strawberry-raspberry coulis in its bloody, bloody heart tempers it, despite its own boldness. brash.



we're not done yet. i see you eyeing the chocolate case, bon-bons with names like the cast of "brideshead revisited meets the house of flying daggers"--sebastian (milk chocolate ganache with orange cointreau), isabeau (dark chocolate ganache with cocoa and coffee powder), charlotte (champagne truffles). ai ling, and her sister mei ling, the dark/white chocolate twins infused with green tea. we'll take ching ling, their sugarless dark chocolate infused with ginger, cardmom, vanilla pods and cinnamon. that's right, they're sugarless, and they're spectacular.

we'll discuss the dryer lint thing later.





bizu patisserie
greenbelt 2, makati
757.BIZU(2498)

the promenade, greenhills
724.BIZU(2498)

(and various other locations)

bizu patisserie, pt.1: oh, those macarons.

which shall you choose? (from left to right) chocolate, pistachio, vanilla, rose, mango, raspberry, coffee, lemon or blueberry?



perhaps one of the seasonal specials: the red dark chocolate chili (fire), the white dark chocolate rosemary (earth), or blue mint chocolate (wind)?



or maybe one of each? :)

manila: dinner at my little kitchen.

update january 2007-restaurant closed as of 12/2006 (?)

[note: in the middle of an island-wide power outage, in a rainstorm. if i seem a little...punchy, i'm hot, being bitten by bugs and can't sleep....]



ah, i'll bet you didn't know the blog had a restaurant, did you? well, that's because it really doesn't, but i couldn't help but stop in, as a sort of homage to ms. cathy's kitchen.

i'd never been in before, but it's a very inviting space--mostly white, with apple green walls, blackboards with the day's specials, and (some) slipcovered chairs with either the initials M, Y, L, or K (My Little Kitchen, geddit?) around clean white tables. gave me a bit of a country living vibe, ya dig? edgy martha.



or a really hip see's candies store.

the kitchen really is tiny, but that doesn't stop the menu from being extensive. in fact, we were handed a spiral-bound notebook sized menu, which was really sort of daunting. i honestly don't remember if there was an emphasis on any particular type of dish, which is probably a bad thing. i do recall that a lot of people were ordering pasta and salads, but the menu was all over the map. also, a server sort of hovered over us impatiently, waiting to take our order, so i felt obliged to hurry it along. hovering, in anyone's books, is usually a bad thing, but i had heard that the service sucks here, so actually i was a little relieved to see her there.



we started our meal with ostrich salpicao--strips of lean ostrich meat pan-fried in generous amounts of garlic and olive oil. i've only ever had ostrich once, and it was tender, pale and tasted like chicken livers. this was not nearly as tender, (but in no way tough), dark, and tasted like beef. ? "ostrich--the incredible morphing meat"? i was assured it was ostrich, from a farm in the philippines, so make your own conclusions.



next we had the baked apple salad, which consisted of half an apple filled with cashews and gorgonzola mousse, then baked until golden, and served with a vinaigrette dressed salad. i thought that the gorgonzola would be overwhelming, but in fact it was quite light. the sweetness of the apple blended well with the rich, nutty cashews, and the creamy mousse. overall, though, i was surprised that this salad didn't hit me over the head with flavour. all the flavours were definitely present, but with the volume turned way down. neat trick. no stinky cheese breath for the ladies who lunch.



chicken chimichurri was my cousin's entree, an argentinian-inspired dish of lean grilled chicken breast and an herby, spicy, garlicy olive oil dip. the chicken was grilled perfectly--juicy, tender, and unlike a lot of this sort of thing in the united states, the chicken actually tasted like chicken. the olive oil dip had a lovely balance of flavours, but again, that weird volume level bringing everything down to a 6 (driving level radio, you know? enough so you can still hear the sirens).
the chicken had a very atkins/south beach diet-friendly feel. the chicken isn't served with any sides, so he ordered a side of garlic rice, because in the philippines, they really know how to fry something with garlic. trust me on that one.



i had the braised lamb shank with a mushroom risotto, which was lovely. i order a lot of lamb when i eat out in manila, because the locally-raised lamb is tender, flavourful, and does not taste like old sweaters. this was braised in wine, orange zest, shallots, and just a hint of anise, packing more flavour in there than most of what we ordered; it was also quite a generous portion, compared to the size of the other dishes.

come to think of it, with the 'dainty' but adequate portions, the safely spiced but well-prepared food, the setting, this place is probably quite popular with the ladies-who-lunch crowd. not necessarily a bad thing, but the presentation and service need some work--besides the helicopter hostess, the starters staggered to us, then our entrees were rushed on us as we were still working on the salad. server lady was nice, and kept our water glasses filled, but then disappeared for the rest of our meal. not a bad thing as i was in good company, and the ambiance was relaxed and comfortable, but probably not something i'd want to happen often.


MyLK
L2, greenbelt 3
makati
757.4802.

pampanga: mangan keni!

driving to pampanga, we used to pass this big billboard advertising a local restaurant, with the giant caption "mangan keni!", which is kapampangan for "eat here!" pretty apropos, considering all we ever seem to do when we go back to the province is eat, eat, eat.

farming and fishing are still economic mainstays of the pampangan economy. while the region is almost completely landlocked, there is an extensive river system providing the area. although kapampangans are known for their culinary knowledge and skills, everyday dishes are simply prepared, with humble ingredients that often quite literally nature's bounty: while the crops provide vegetables, fruits, and rice, they also provide a variety of insects, reptiles, and other creatures. depending on how you look at things, these could be pests or pulutan (small snack). back in the day, people ate what was available to them, in times of feast or famine; what you might consider deep-end dining (sorry, eddie!) passed for abundant, nutritious fare.



of course, we're not in the 'olden' times, but in the modern world of krispy kremes (or the local equivalent) and beard papas, so even in the province, everyone's on a diet. i never used to see steamed vegetables or (gasp) a green salad, although i suspect that had partially to do with a cultural belief that a table laden with meat was a sign of prosperity. no one was thinking of clogged arteries at the time.



the square, green packets pictured above are rice-filled banana leaves, which are steamed in a big pot. the banana leaf imparts a lovely aroma to the rice, which is a perfect accompaniment to fried, fat, yellow-fleshed river caught hito (catfish) and hipon (freshwater prawns), simply steamed with local bay leaves.



the beginning of rainy season is the best time for frog catching around the riverbanks and rice paddies. i'm told it's a fairly simple thing: tie a piece of black cloth to a fish rod and string, then wave it around like a mosquito buzzing overhead. the frog catches it, you catch the frog, and dinner is just around the corner.



in this case the tugac was cooked in a tinola-style soup, with chunks of green papaya, loads of chili pepper leaves, and ginger. tastes like chicken, really. a really amphibious sort of chicken.



personally, i prefer snails (susû if you are interested; don't forget that circumflex or you'd really be askin' for it whilst asking for it), cooked simply with lots of ginger and onion. the snails are so tiny that you need a toothpick to pick them out, or possess impressive dyson-like suction abilities.



desserts are as simple and as satisfying as the rest of the meal, usually whatever fruit is at the peak of ripeness; in this case, a bumpercrop of atis, and sweet, golden, succulent mangoes.

name that fruit!: atis

we have a lot of atis trees in pampanga. atis--latin name: annona squamosa, aka custard apple, sugar apple, or sweetsop--is the most widely grown of the annona varieties, which include the well-known cherimoya. its origins are unknown, but the spaniards most likely brought from south america and introduced it to southeast asia sometime before 1590.

the fruit is usually 2-4 inches (6-10 cm) long. it is covered in a dull greenish rind and is composed of knobby segments, which break apart easily when ripe. the pink-around-the-edges creamy white flesh surrounds dark, glossy inedible seeds. the soft, scoopable flesh is often compared to a sweet custard in texture and taste, and is best eaten fully ripe and fresh; however, freezing the fruit will yield an instant, portable, creamy, fruity 'sherbet' that is most welcome on hot summer days.

pampanga: freshly made bibingka

one of the most disconcerting things about arriving in pampanga is that after passing swiftly by idyllic farmland and sleepy towns, once you turn off the main highway, you run smack dab into a california-style mall. it's like a high speed cruise through bali, only to end up in burbank. luckily, our town is a bit further off, so you regain your bearings with each bump and puff-o-dust in the supposedly paved road; the road itself narrows, cars and commercial buildings become a little more scarce, and the trikes and mopeds take over the traffic.

soon, you are greeted by a little stand on the side of the road. that's cecile's, and she makes bibingka.



bibingka is a cake traditionally made from a batter of ground rice flour, eggs and coconut milk. while it is baking, salted duck eggs and quesong puti, a semi-soft white cheese made from carabao's milk (similar to bufala mozzarella) are added; once baked, it is topped with snowy drifts of freshly grated coconut.



baking the bibingka is no small matter. the batter is poured into a clay pot or coconut shell lined with banana leaf--the leaf is there to make it easier to lift the bibingka out, but it also imparts a wonderful aroma to the cake. the pot is placed on small clay coal-fired oven, and then a metal tray covered with more of the hot coal is placed on top of the pot, and the cake is carefully watched for a few minutes until it has gently risen, the cheese has melted, and the top has browned and blistered. once out, the leaf-lined cake is wrapped up in more banana leaves to keep it warm and toasty; then some newspaper, with a generous bag of grated coconut wrapped within, a final bind of twine and you are sent on your merry little way.



there have been a few discussions on message boards as to the origins of bibingka, along with my own musings on foreign influence in baked goods in the philippines, so i won't get too much into it. however, it is clearly a product of the many cultures that have passed through the country--the portuguese have a similar delicacy called bebinca, which is also found in indian region of goa and in the island of timor; the clay ovens were brought to the philippines centuries before by the chinese.

it is one of the very few recipes that i think does not travel well. you can make various substitutions to the main components to some degree of success, but without the banana leaf and clay oven, the elusive alchemy is unachieved, and you are left with a pale imitation of the real thing. once you are lucky enough to taste the springy, mildly sweet cake, with its leafy fragrance, and eggy richness complemented by the crumbly, salty egg, sweet, warm cheese, and fresh, milky coconut all imitations fail. bibingka is not a native specialty to pampanga, but its true self can only be found in the philippines. seek it out if you find yourself here.