Let's Go Sango!

With the opening in the past few years of specialty burger joints like Brothers, Hotshots, Bite Club, and Wham!, not to mention the McDonald'ses, Jollibees, BKs, and Wendy'ses (did I do my possessive plurals right?), I thought this city had no more room for another burger joint. But Sango! is a welcome addition because it isn't like anything I've ever come across in Manila.

Sango! - don't forget the exclamation point - is a Japanese style burger restaurant that prides itself on cooking your food as you order. If you were to compare it to another burger chain, I think it would be pretty close to MOS Burger. The inside is bright and spotless and you can see the burger grill, with Mr. Kobayashi flipping the patties, through a glass pane. For food that's cooked as you order, the burgers are ready surprisingly fast (although it was a slow day).

Now to the food. You can get the regular "Hamburger Burger" or be adventurous and order the Master Burger in any of its variations (Double Master Burger, Triple Master Burger, with or without cheese). The difference between the Master Burger and the Hamburger Burger is the presence of chili con carne and a tomato slice in the Master. The burgers are juicy but not that special. Their French fries are excellent - big pieces, not the frozen kind. If you order a Master, you'll notice that you have some excess chili after finishing the burger. We were taught to scoop up the chili using the fries. Nice.

The real draws here are the rice burgers. They have two varieties: Kimpira and Yakiniku. The Kimpira - which is bacon, dried seaweed, and stir-fried burdock root - was just wonderful. The Yakiniku looked good too but I'm saving that for my next trip, when I'll also order their Tonkatsu and Teriyaki burgers. Their cold green tea goes well with the Asian flavors of the rice burgers and any of their milkshakes would be a good cap to the meal.

Sango!'s prices are very reasonable. From P50 for the barest burger to P148 for the Triple Master Cheeseburger.

Sango! Hamburgers
Room 5 Ground Floor Creekside Mall
Amorsolo corner Legaspi Streets
Makati City

Sango! is right beside CO-OP, a nice Japanese grocery where almost everything costs P75. It's worth a visit in its own right.

Sunday lunch at Cafe Juanita

If you’re craving for the good ol’ Pinoy dining experience without the fastfood feel of Triple V, or with an ambiance that’s richer and quainter than Kamay Kainan, you might want to head over to Pasig and check out Café Juanita.

Eating in Café Juanita is just like eating at your lola’s house. The food is just as great, and the interiors are... well, just like Lola’s house. In a hyper real sort of way. The place is chockfull of old china, antique chairs, tables, cabinets, and other sorts of Filipiñana-themed clutter. And true to our national heritage, there’s also a lot of Spanish, Chinese, Americana bits and pieces scattered about. They have elaborate chandeliers made of little Chinese lanterns hanging from the ceiling, Coke paraphernalia mounted on the walls, and kitschy little European ceramic figurines all around.

But, even if it is possible to let your mind wander just staring at all the charming clutter, you’re there for the food. I’ve only eaten there on Sundays, and that’s the only day when they prepare their sumptuous lunch buffet. You can start off with their molo soup. It looks really great, and they say it’s really delicious. I’ve never tried though because right beside it is their lechon kawali (sorry, I ate it before I took a picture). It’s cooked just right, the meat kept tender and juicy while the skin is deep fried to crispy perfection. So for my first round, it’s usually the lechon kawali, the tasty Bicol Express (gata rocks), the fried tilapia, and the nutty kare-kare.

After getting my basic food groups over and done with, I head back to their cute little round buffet table to sample the other traditional Filipino fare. They’ve got caldereta, inihaw na liempo, adobo, adobong pusit, menudo, okoy, and all the other foodstuff that any Noypi worth his/her rock salt grew up with. I sometimes feel, though, that there’s a bit of redundancy in the buffet menu, but who cares. Filipinos know that when it comes to eating, there’s no such thing as an overkill.


Anyway, personally, I try to pass on the rice on my second trip to the buffet line. Only because I firmly believe that one must always leave room for dessert. At Café Juanita, they have the usual minatamis na saging saba and DIY halo-halo with very fresh ingredients. But I usually skip those too because I like to zero in on the sweet foods of my childhood. I eat Café Juanita’s homemade (I presume) puto because it reminds me of the breakfasts I’d have as a kid in my Lola’s house. Lola would buy them off the lady who goes from house to house selling puto, kutsinta, palitaw and sapin sapin out of her banana leaf wrapped bilao. I eat their ginatan because it reminds me of the warm merienda I’d use to have when I’d come back from an afternoon of playing hard with the kids on our street.

Dining at Café Juanita not only transports you back to the time when you were five and things were good and simple. For your trip down memory lane, they feed you with all these delicious, great and timeless dishes that remind you that, really, there’s no place like home.


Cafe Juanita is at No.2 United Street corner West Capitol Street, Brgy Kapitolyo, Pasig. 632-0357.

Sunday lunch buffets go for Php 375.00++. Slightly pricey since I remember that it only used to be around 300 bucks. But it's well worth the good food and ambiance (apparently, something we pay for).

Izakaya Kikufuji

You're in Kikufuji and you just ordered California Maki? Shame on you.

I'm no food snob and I like my kani-mayo-mango roll just as much as you but there are better things to order in this bustling Japanese bistro - things they don't serve in Tokyo Tokyo.

Start with some edamame (parang nilagang mani pero soya beans) and order a nama (they have some of the freshest draft beer in town). The ika wasabi is also pretty good, especially with the nama. For sashimi, forget the usual suspects. Try the nigitoro - finely chopped tuna belly mixed with onions and chives, or the aji tataki - salay-salay chopped up with ginger and chives. Then try their beef nikomi soup - tripe and other innards boiled in a miso, ginger, and garlic broth. Make sure you pre-order some grilled stuff - yakimono. Nankotsu (chicken cartilage) and gyutan (beef tongue) are my favorites. For variety, order some grilled green chilies and mushrooms too. Feeling sated? Don't quit now - just order a salad. The maguro daikon helps clear the palate. When you're ready, order the grilled salmon head and don't forget to suck on the gooey cheeks. Another nama will go down really well just about now. While waiting for the salmon, get some uni temaki - a nice generous scoop of sea urchin in a seaweed cone.

For more food ideas, call over your server and order what the Japanese salaryman seated at the next table just ordered. Don't point with your finger - that's rude. Be discreet and point with your lips. Oh, and order another nama while you're at it.

Izakaya Kikufuji
2277 Pasong Tamo
Makati
(just outside Little Tokyo)

The Market in Salcedo (but not the Salcedo Market)

Among the things I like about Salcedo Village are the small streetside shops you can find around the area. One of these is The Market, which is a charming little place along Leviste (Alfaro) Street. It's a deli/restaurant with around six tables (half outside, half inside). They serve sandwiches, pizzas, and salads within the 130 to 200 peso range.

I've tried the Cuban (P190), a hearty sandwich with three deli meats and mozzarella; the Tuna Bagna Cauda (P135), a sandwich with tuna, egg, and olives in achovy sauce, an the Steak and Cheese sandwich (P175), which is roast beef, gruyere, and caramelized onions; and the Grilled Hungarian Sausage (P150).The salads are also ok, but not enough to fill me up. Other things that might be worth trying are the pizzas (P115-140) and the Raclette Toasts (P175). The Market sells beer in can and wine by the bottle and will provide you with wine glasses if you ask (but you can only drink until 9 pm). They also sell deli meats and cheeses, salad greens, fruits, japanese groceries, milk, ice cream, cereals, etc. The Market 156 L.P. Leviste Street Makati City Tel. 887 2993 Delivery available within the area

leche talaga...

When I was five, we’d spend Sunday mornings biking inside Elliptical Circle and having brunch at Aristocrat. They had the best BLT, and I remember getting upset when, in one visit, it was out of stock. I may have been five but I knew that not having bacon, lettuce and tomato in stock was unforgivable.

Anyway, as I got older and got over my fear of orange rice, I developed a real appreciation for Aristocrat’s Pork/Boneless Chicken BBQ with Java Rice. And let’s not forget, it came with the only atchara (pickled… stuff) I ever bothered to eat.

Years and countless branch closings later, I’ve found a new reason to visit any of the two remaining Aristocrat outlets (there’s the original resto in Malate, the one in Jupiter, and another one, soon to rise, in T. Morato).

Get out! Get out now and get your hands on Aristocrat’s Mucha Leche cake.

It’s best served straight from the freezer so that eating it will be like eating leche flan and pastillas de leche in rich, creamy, soft ice cream form. I'm no expert but something tells me it's made of milk.

By the way, this is Miguel, your bogchinoypi chikiting reporter from the North.

Call 8995035 (Aristocrat Bakeshop, Jupiter St. branch) first to check if they have it in stock. P370 for the whole cake. A pittance for a cake that’s de calidad

Chowking chow

Run, skip and hop to the Chowking branch nearest you! Try the Mongo Pao for just P15. Soft siopao bread with sweet mongo filling. Not bad at all. My favorite merienda munchie of the moment. And while you're there, samahan mo na ng Nai Cha, similar to the milk tea they have in Hong Kong, may gulaman lang. A bit pricey for me at P33 for a small glass, pero di hamak na mas sulit sa kape sa Starbucks. Oh, and unless may kasama kang marunong magHeimlich Maneuver, best to order the Nai Cha sans gulaman. It's a bit tricky sucking the jello-like morsels up the thick straw without going into a coughing fit. Mas sulit this way anyway as you'll get more milk tea for your buck.

Oh, and they've also started selling fortune cookies at P5 each. Syempre wise-old Chinese sayings yung tono nung fortunes. But if I had my way, I'd stick Inquirer Libre horoscope-type predictions in there. Waaaay funnier. Although dapat may malaking warning na-- Do not read while drinking Nai Cha (with gulaman).

Best 4-cheese pizza ever! (at least in Makati)

For the best 4-cheese pizza ever, visit Timpla at the 2nd floor of Paseo Center. Quesong puti, parmesan, mozzarella and some other kind of cheese, on ultra-thin crust. It's so good and so light, you almost don't want to share it with your dining companions. It's the type of pizza where there is no hesitation when it comes to the last slice. Walang hiya-hiyaan. Unahan!

Other must-tries are the camaron mango salad, adobo-cheese-green mango spring rolls, Timpla pancit, boneless fried chicken and, I've heard, their boneless crispy pata. The desserts are also supposed to be yummy but I have yet to be able to muster enough self-control to leave room for them.

According to Google, the geniuses behind Timpla are the same ones responsible for Kulinarya and Cascada (which, incidentally, has the best BBQ prawn salad ever!). They're a husband and wife team. So imagine what the food must be like at their house! Grabe. Pwede kayang magpa-ampon? Or better yet, I wonder if, in between putting up fabulous pinoy-fusion restaurants, the couple also managed to have yummy-looking, now-aged-twentysomething kids. Hhmm...

Beer in Vietnam

One of the things which we really enjoyed about Vietnam was the beer. Almost every major town/city we passed through had its home brew. Some even had two or more. Beer is cheap too, from as low as 2,000 VND to around 10,000 VND (Php 6.50 to Php 35).

Here's a picture of our beer being enjoyed on a lazy afternoon by the river in Hoi An.

The cheaper beer is called Bia Hoi (which I think means draft beer) and it is served in establishments called Bia Hoi. These Bia Hoi (the place) range from a couple of stools on the sidewalk to beer hall style places which can seat up to 500 people. In the more quaint places, Bia Hoi is served fresh from a keg without a canister of CO2. The proprietor sucks it out using a mouth-powered siphon. That's strange looking foam on my beer! Yumm.

Some even have take-home beer. One time, we went up to a Bia Hoi with an empty bottle of Coke and had it filled with beer to drink back at the hostel.

Hanoi is the home of Bia Hoi. I've heard of people having it for breakfast. To the left is a picture taken at a cheap sidewalk place in Hanoi.

I miss Vietnam.

Pick Me Up, Bring Me Down

Good espresso is hard to find. I used to take it for granted until I went with my cousins to Cantinetta and had what I now think is the best espresso in Manila. My cousin says it's because Illy's office is located just behind the restaurant. That means that the Cantinetta coffee crew gets regular training.

Training, you ask? Pulling an espresso apparently is art. From the beans to the grind to the pressure to I don't know what I'm talking about. I'm happy to leave it to the experts or the coffeegeeks.

But there are some who serve espresso without the art component. You know who you are.

Let this be our first espresso review: Cantinetta - Pick me up!

Mini Stop Munchies

Baka gutom lang ako or naghahanap ng silver lining to being stuck at the office on a perfectly nice Saturday but...

Medyo masarap ang Boy Bawang Chili and Cheese. And it surprisingly has less saturated fat than the garlic flavored version. Ok din yung Mr.Bean. MSG overload :).

Mini Stop's Asado siopao is also supposed to be good. Can't vouch for it myself, but my ultra-Chinese officemate highly recommends it.

For dessert, you can have chilled chocolate pudding. I forget what brand exactly. Either Kraft or Hunt's single packs. Current flavors available are chocolate and chocolate caramel. You can also have good soft-serve ice cream in big waffle cones for P14. P18 with chocolate syrup. Their Belgian chocolate flavor was really good, but alas, they've discontinued it.

Tita Cely

If you're in Makati and want good old Pinoy comfort food, check out Tita Cely's Sinigang Bar at the open foodcourt of Market Market. They have really good adobo swimming in sauce na malinamnam. Perfect pang kain-karpintero.

Also try the Escargot in Coconut Milk a.k.a Ginataang Kuhol. I've always been wary of kuhol and gata in general (except in desserts), but I must admit na masarap pala yung dubious combination. At least at Tita Cely's. They give you oversized toothpicks to help you pry the mollusk out of its shell. It's great fun, I tell you. Messy too, as the kuhols tend to slip from your grip as you wrestle with them. I highly recommend ordering this on a first date. At least malalaman mo na kaagad kung OC, corny o high maintenance yung date mo.

Another reason to go to the Sinigang Bar is Tita Cely herself. She's very hands on. Like an over-eager, gracious hostess. You get an earful as she tells you what to order and how you should eat it. She even follows you to your table to make sure you get settled in okay, showing you how to arrange your tray so as not to spill anything. She's adorable. Sobrang maasikaso na by the time you leave there, feeling mo tita mo na talaga siya.

Tapos Na Ang Boksing

With no time to try out new places on a regular basis, there's just no point continuing this blog. Unless, dear reader, you'd be interested in reading everyday about the fare in the Citibank cafeteria or in Top of the City. And that would just be sad. Now, I just look to wysgal for food suggestions around my area.

Weird that I post this farewell today, when I just had dimsum and Chinese seafood at Golden Fortune in Soler Street and picked-up some take-out at Assad's along U.N. avenue.

P.S. - If anyone out there wants to contribute, then maybe this thing can keep going. Anyone?

'Nam: (Food)Tour of Duty

Two weeks ago, we got back from a month-long vacation in Vietnam and Cambodia. Oh, the food, the food, the beer. While most travellers arm themselves with a Lonely Planet Travel Guide, we just took LP's World Food Guide on Vietnam and arrived hungry and thirsty.

To all those who are planning a cheap vacation, this is it. Eat and drink all you want for as little as $15/day. Accommodations included! We plan to feature a few food/drink highlights at a time so stay tuned.

Min Sok Korean

A new staple of ours in Makati, Min Sok serves lutong-bahay (home-cooked) Korean food in a house-turned restaurant. MDEB turned us onto this restaurant after squash one night and we unanimously agreed that it was a find. We have been back at least five times since then.

A reliable measure of authenticity is the glaring Korean-ness of the place. There's a TV showing Korean soaps/variety shows. Plus, I've never seen another pinoy in the joint.

Our favorite dish is Sam Gyeup Sal (P200) - slices of what I think is liempo (pork belly) grilled right on your table and eaten in cups of lettuce with rice and about a hundred other Korean side dishes the names of which I have no hope of remembering.

When we first looked at the menu, we were a bit disappointed because we were expecting lower prices. But this was all forgotten once we ordered, because immediately, the yummy side dishes were brought out - and they were refillable to boot. Some of the better ones are large bean sprouts (soy?), radish kimchi, cucumber kimchi, and these little squares of fishcake.

The proprietess is a swell lady. She'll teach you how to eat the dishes and what condiments to add. Sometimes, she'll even throw in a dish for free. When we were first there, we drew some mild rebukes from her for eating the condiments as appetizers.

Other highlights: We've tried two of their soups (P180) - kimchi jigae (spicy and tasty) and djang jeang jigae (less spicy and as tasty). If you're thinking that my spelling is atrocious, I'll have you know that even Koreans don't agree on how to spell their words with Roman letters. You also have to order some Soju - a rice-based whisky. A bottle of Jinro goes for P175 - a bit pricey, I know, but worth trying. If you do order it, never pour your own shot. Unless you're alone, of course. In which case, drink away.

P200 per person should fill you up. Add another P100 if having soju.

5655 Don Pedro Street corner Jacobo. Don Pedro is perpendicular to, and on the Rockwell side of Kalayaan Avenue.

Hell Month

To the three readers of this blog. Please forgive us for the absence of nonsense these past few weeks. All the contributors are currently, err.. touring Africa. Please come back in October.

Wagyu Burgers

Just like pizza, burgers are the perfect food. You’ve got your dairy, bread, veggies, and meat, all in one package. But a really good burger is hard to find. If you’re looking for more than a tummy-filler, don’t mess with the fast foods. The relatively new burger restaurants – Brothers, Hotshots, Bite Club, etc., are pretty good. Chili’s is a few notches higher. But, if you want to eat an honest-to-goodness, stuff your face burger (here in Manila), try to get your hands on some Wagyu patties.

Wagyu is a breed of cattle, maybe more well known as Kobe beef when raised in Kobe, Japan. You can find some Wagyu beef here in the Philippines and we were able to get our hands on some one-pound patties.

Used in burgers, these Wagyu patties can transform a so-so burger into a juicy, dripping-down-your-arm, meatfest. We tried four different kinds of burgers: the classic - with lettuce, onions, tomatoes, ketchup, mustard, and provolone; the blue cheese burger – a classic with blue cheese; and Michael Schlow’s famous Schlowburger – a classic without ketchup and mustard but with a horseradish mayo sauce and crispy onions; and finally, with everything, plus bacon. Serve with French fries (frozen Frenchies are pretty good).

Take care grilling these Wagyu patties because overcooking them will just ruin everything. Err on the side of undercooking, even if you don’t usually like your beef this way. E. Coli, you say? *&%#$ it! And don’t forget to chill a few beers before preparing.

Cheesecake

Good cheesecake is hard to find. I like it firm, tart, and stick-to-the-top-of-your-mouth creamy. None of that soft and jiggly gelatinous waste of stomach space that most restaurants and hotels serve. Some places that serve pretty good cheesecake are Burgoo (below P200) and Italianni's (over P200). I don't remember if Cheesecake, etc. is any good but with a name like that, it better have something yummy to offer.

But why go out to have when you can make some righteous cheesecake at home in less than 30 minutes (not including bake time). Here is a recipe for plain cheesecake which I've tweaked a bit to my own taste.

For crust: Mix together 1.5 cups crushed graham crackers, 0.25 cup melted butter, and 0.25 cup brown sugar. Press into baking dish and refrigerate while making cheesecake.

For cheesecake: Mix together two bars softened cream cheese (Magnolia is fine), 4 eggs, 1 cup white sugar, and the juice of 1 lemon. Beat until fluffy then pour into baking dish with crust. Bake for one hour at 350˚. Freeze for half a day and enjoy.

Countryside: Chicken Ass Nirvana

I think I've found the place to get my chicken ass fix. At Countryside Grill, P30 will get you a skewer of five small chicken asses. Your order will come with a bowl of spicy vinegar, into which you can dump all the chicken asses. If you're really hungry, ask for a spoon and start shoveling ass into your mouth like you would breakfast cereal. You won't find the need to spit out the bones because they're small enough to chew up and swallow. If something gets stuck in your throat, don't worry, a P25 beer will dislodge it quite nicely. If you're not into chicken ass, you can also get good old pork barbecue and tenga.

Get your fix along Katipunan, on the Ateneo-bound side, just before the fly-over. Dress comfortably (shorts and flip-flops).

Mien San Noodle House

Looking for noodles in the San Juan area and tired of the usual North Park / Hap Chan fare? Introduced to me by my Taiwanese friend, Mien San serves cheap and honest (Taiwanese?) food. Since you won't find the usual Cantonese dishes most Filipinos are familiar with, take the opportunity to try out new things. Start with the Tofu with Century Egg, which pairs well with fried Mantou. Get some dumplings while you're at it; they come cheap, at around P50 per eight-piece order. Don't bother looking for soy-sauce with calamansi. In Mien San, they serve the dumplings with a dipping sauce made of black vinegar and soy sauce (my best guess). And then the noodles. Either dry or with soup, the noodles go for a bit more than P100 for a large order. I usually request that the noodles be split into two or three bowls. I always get the Sour Pepper Noodle Soup or dry Spicy Cha-chang Noodles. It's hard to spend more than P150 per person at Mien San. Find it along Ortigas, to your right when traveling from EDSA to E. Rodriguez, after crossing Santolan. It's a bit hard to spot so keep your eyes open for "Feet 'R Us" foot spa, which is right next door.

Yakimono

Japanese restaurants in the Philippines commonly offer yakimono (grilled stuff) done in two different ways: plain salted or with teriyaki sauce. In my favorite Japanese restaurant, Izakaya Kikufuji, the plain salted yakimono is so intensely flavorful, you'd think they added something aside from salt. And after a bit of sleuthing, I may have stumbled upon the answer. In a Japanese store in Cartimar, where you can get Japanese ingredients for cheap, I saw a bottle of aji-shio or ajinomoto-salt. Now, I'm not accusing Kikufuji of using vetsin but when I tried out the aji-shio at home, the results were very pleasing. We grilled some chicken wings, aspara bacon, beef sirloin, siling pangsigang, pork with leeks, and good old yakitori. Everything was seasoned with the aji-shio, or, as we now call it, magic salt, and the meats transformed from just good to bursting with flavor. That's cheating, purists will probably say. And I would agree almost every time.