No need for the menu, we got it

As early as I can remember, I have always loved eating dumplings. Guess it’s no surprise coming from a “Chi-noy” Family. If it’s a choice between pastries & dumplings – I choose dumplings, pasta ? still dumplings, burgers? Still dumplings . . . it’s rather obvious right LOL

During my childhood days, dumplings were only available in downtown Chinatown – lovingly called Ongpin until now. Here a wide array of Chinese food is available in a long lane of an assortment of restaurants. My dad use to take

us there. We’d watch a “Kung Fu” flick & then have dinner afterwards. Ah the good old days. As I grew older, Chinatown had a Branching out of sorts, little by little small restaurants serving Chinese food started blossoming in Banawe - Quezon City. One of the earliest of them is LeChing. 

Present day, whenever we’d get the chance, our family would never miss the  opportunity to eat at Banawe. Besides the distance, traffic in this area is horrifying, there’s no window, it’s 24/7 traffic ! My husband Ben had a short business meeting near LeChing – HORAY ! The people managing (not to mention serving) this restaurant knows us well. They’ve known us since we were dating, take note, we have been married 17 years hehe do the math.

We were immediately greeted by “familiars”, no need for the menu of course, we know by heart what we are ordering : Spareribs Rice, Hakaw, Fried dumplings & Beef Wanton Mami for Benz. CAN’T WAIT ! Let me tell you about the Spareribs rice, it’s a rice topping meal with spareribs cooked so tender they fall off the bones. It’s juicy, not dry and it’s not Saucy. It’s cooked just right with a hint of savory sauce with some tausi beans, not drowning. The Hakaw is popularly known as shrimp dumplings, it’s steamed whole shrimp wrapped in steamed white gelatin like wrappers. Then the fried dumplings, this one is made of (guessing thru eating) some ground pork, shrimp & shitake mushroom, crispy on the outside yet soft on the inside, served with sweet & sour sauce. So, did I get you salivating yet ? All of these are perfect with their very own  chili garlic sauce. It’s fried garlic & red chili peppers + some calamansi + some soy sauce and PRESTO ! I must warn you, this condiment is a hazard to rice, just a little & you can’t help stop eating & eating rice ! Lastly is Benz’s Beef & Wanton Mami, don’t get me wrong, she also loves the Spare ribs rice, this Mami is just her order on the side J It’s hot steamy noodles soup in a perfect beef broth with a couple slices of beef brisket & wanton dumplings. Warm & comforting !

Besides the food, the whole staff is very friendly & accommodating here. They’d give us hopia & soup while waiting for our food, fre of charge mind you. All in all, our very happy tummy only cost us around Php600.00, with lots of left over to bring home. Serving is very generous & we really wouldn’t mind eating & eating everything all over again, even if it’s re-heat ,it’s delicious just the same !

Blast from the past

Manila, manila, I keep coming back to manila, simply no place like manila, I’m coming home to stay – the hotdogs <famous band from the 70s) 

Do you remember the Roxas Boulevard of long ago? The 80s? There beside Malate Church was Aristocrat. It was a place of repose, you can sit in one of it’s rattan tables & chairs, sip hot cocoa, emjoying the tranquility of an early morning. There were very few cars passing by during those times. The air was still unsullied. Joggers go by here & there waving their casual good mornings. Yes folks, it used to be this way, even in manila. 

The restaurant itself was open air, no airconditioning, no doors, no windows. I can still remember how it looked with it’s folding doors. Yes, there were no vendors, nor beggars during those times as well. You can enjoy a meal peacefully, no rush. 

There’s no Chicken BBQ like Aristocrat Chicken BBQ, well atleast during the 80s, and maybe even until the early 2000. And the JAVA rice, WOW ! You wouldn’t need Paella ! I remember how as a child I would drizzle my boneless chicken BBQ with a hearty dose of peanut sauce. Yummy! But I wouldn’t stop there, I would also trickle my Java rice a  hefty serving as well. Then as I fill my mouth a spoonful of this

scrumptious delight, I would follow it thru with a bit of  homemade special Atsara. Ah ! Those were the days! And the Pancit Canton, God forbid I forget. The sauce , the noodles in perfect harmoy. Never soggy, never too salty, just perfect. With just the right amount of vegetables, meat & sea food.

Reality: Today, 2013, I was looking forward to bringing my family to Aristocrat. I couldn’t help but be giddy all the way, talking and talking of the place, the food, the over all ambiance. To my dismay, it was already different. It was traffic all the way, parking was crowded, vendors everywhere. The restaurant itself was already a part of Roxas Boulevard’s progress. It was now closed and fully airconditioned. Tables were shoulder to shoulder. People were shoulder to shoulder. The waiting list alone was so long that you’d begin to wonder if you’d ever gonna get a table. Then I saw a smiling face, she looked familiar. Ben my husband whispered “Mama she’s one of the Reyes, I think we saw her on TV”. She was so gracious & even acknowledged us. After a few seconds we saw her come back with a helper, chairs in hand. Hospitability at it’s best ! It’s so heart warming ! After a tolerable 20 minutes give and take we were seated.

We ordered the house specialty of course, the original, the one & only Chicken BBQ with Java Rice. Unfortunately, as much as we love the Aristocrat, evolution has taken it’s toll. Our once loved boneless chicken BBQ is now like “Inasal”. I know, I Know BBQ is grill cooked. But before,

the chicken were like pork skewered in a stick. They don’t look like chicken! Today it’s mere chicken fillet, very recognizable chicken without  the bones. The Java Rice was ok. The peanut sauce was rationed. Yes, rationed. Before you could have peanut sauce to your hearts content. Now it is given to you, 1 sachet per order. We dared not order for some more fearing we could be charged for it LOL.

The overall experience was ok. The food tasted ok. The ambiance ok. This event cost us Php700. Benz didn’t like the food at all, so it was drive thru on our way home.

No spoon and fork please

1996, my ex-boyfriend told me that he would love to bring me to Roxas Boulevard Seaside Market. Why? I asked. He said that knowing how I love seafoods I would enjoy it immensely cause it was fresh, as in fresh like in the wet market & then cooked as to how you desired. HMMMM fascinating. Example: you can buy 1 kilo of prawns and have them cook it for you 2 ways, ½ kilo garlic & butter, ½ kilo tempura. WOW ! That is a treat ! Regular restaurants won’t do that for you. 

Years have passed and sad to say he never did get to bring me there HMP. On occasions when the stories arise I would remind him. Now a days he is already called “the husband” (thus the earlier title ex-boyfriend LOL). He said that he saw a smaller & cleaner version of the Seaside Market in Libis.  And true to his word (this time) we went. It was indeed closer, and besides the wet market & restaurant there’s even a “Tiangge” – a Flea Market for toys, clothes & everything else, truly a much better place !

Benz was ecstatic upon seeing the Tiangge, “wow mom toys!” . The setting is, you buy your fresh seafood at the wet market. Then there’s a billboard on how much the cooking process will cost depending on how you want it done, the prices varies from grilled, steamed etc etc & the rate for cooking is also measured by a minimum of ½ kilo. Translation: that the cooking rate is “higher” if it’s 1 kilo & so forth. After paying for the cooking charges, you then proceed to the dining area, you can choose from the open air which is the size of a basketball court, breezy or the air conditioned dining area at no additional cost. We chose open air – it’s close to the Tiangge.

After an hour, our food arrived. It was worth the wait ! Warm, freshly cooked right out of the stove sea food delight ! We were having Steamed Lapu-Lapu, Tempura Shrimps & Steamed Crabs. All dishes were served with their corresponding sauce condiments. It was heavenly ! No spoon & fork please. The steamed Lapu-Lapu was so fresh, it’s drippings alone was pure  pleasure! The Tempura ? A heart’s satisfaction ! Made out of whole prawns, not like the ones you eat at buffets or so-so Japanese restaurants where the

shrimp are seemingly sliced in half, 1 shrimp for 2 tempura ,SO SAD. And the crab, let me tell you about the crab, it’s crab fat all yellow & orange, soft & hard at the same time, mouth watering ! The crab meat firm yet soft to the bite, dip it in some specially spiced vinegar & PERFECTO ! The meal was truly heavenly ! 

Unfortunately thou Benz didn’t like any of it, YES she didn’t eat at all. She just contented herself with the toys she bought at the Tiangge. “Can we pass by drive thru later?” Of course - we told her.

This trip was one of many, but the next time we did went, we passed by the drive thru FIRST J Our eating fiesta cost Php1,500 per visit & it always had us leaving with happy tummys. Yes, happy tummys for all 3 of us.

A breakfast for a vacation

It was one of those cool mornings, everybody woke up earlier than usual. You see during public holidays, we usually sleep late the night before & wake up even later. But this time all 3 of us was wide awake by 9am ! Since it was just a 1 day holiday, there was no point packing the bags.

We decided to go to one of our favorite places in the city, Monsees . We discovered this beautiful “bakery” as Benz lovingly calls it, on one of our trips to the hospital. Benz’s pedia was housed at Medical City Ortigas.

Dressed with our usual shorts & t-shirt we gleefully drove out. We live in the Novaliches-Caloocan Boundary, by Zip Code our place is North Caloocan, by layman term we’re at the boundary of Bulacan. So imagine the drive from somewhere near bulacan to whiteplains to go to the bakery LOL.

When we got in, there was already another family having breakfast. We really love Monsees from the inside out. The white paint, the window panes, the pastries, the cakes . . . Benz asked for her usual coffee & peanut butter donut “and coffee please”. Yes, she so bravely orders coffee every time we eat out, acting like one of the grown up. This didn’t go unnoticed by her dad of course, “Hot Chocolate for you, too early for coffee”. We ordered the house specialty Longganisa. It was scrumptious!

It wasn’t like the usual Longganisa we are accustomed to. The one boiled & caramelized. These guys were itsy bitsy & fried to a crisp ! Yes fried like bacon. They were joined happily in our plate with a sunny side up for me and scrambled for Ben, some sliced tomatoes & pickled papaya “atsara”. For condiment, they gave us some spiced vinegar - yummy but they’re hush hush on what they added to that simple cane vinegar. Secret of the house.

Some brewed coffee & hard to resist cheese rolls for dessert was next. This place is really so homey that whenever were here - time flies. We usually stay for a min of 3 hours, maximum was sky’s the limit. Ben was already reading the morning papers, & Benz was chit chatting with the whole restaurant staff, I was simply enjoying

our vacation. This vacation only cost us Php500, and gave all 3 of us a happy tummy J

P.S. we also ordered some take-outs, the Spanish bread, spinach pie & some more donuts for Benz .