Category: ISLANDHOPPER

Cuisine: Middle Eastern
Location: Salas St., Ermita, Manila

This is a default stop when we’re in Manila and we’re too lazy to think of a restaurant. The food is good, and that’s really the bottom line criteria. Because all other aspects, except for the reasonable price, might not make the grade.

To get there, you have to bring my friend Tisha with you, because I can never figure out the one-way streets. There is chancy street parking, and there is a walled parking area close by, neither of them make you feel 100% secure. The street, even when it’s summer is always awash with puddles; let’s not even imagine what’s in the water. Just lift your jeans a little to keep the hems dry.

They have 2 restaurants, the original one is shabby, not quite chic, carinderiaesque, which I prefer for the authentic feel. The newer version across the street is resplendent in fluorescent lighting, has clean white tiles as floors, offers hooka pipes, and has a TV that shows middle-eastern entertainment – gorgeous women with kilometer long eyelashes and undulating bodies.

But I really should talk about the food. I cannot claim that this is the best shawarma in town, but it’s surely in the top 5. And it’s value for your money too. The regular goes for 55 pesos, and the special for 75. Sometimes, though, I find the pita bread too thick.

In the carinderia line-up are kalderos of interesting, scrumptious dishes. My favorite, which goes out of stock often, is ox brain. I feel fearless and adventure eating it, but the taste is not exotic at all – a softer, more lemony bopis. They serve good chicken tikka, kebobs, hummus (75 pesos), moutabal (75 p), and taboule as well. There’s all you can eat yogurt garlic for free. Plus delicious tea. There are some vegetarian options as well, but who cares? 😉

I will never get tired of this restaurant.

Cuisine: Delicatessen
Location: Jupiter cor. Orbit St. Bel Air Makati

The aesthetics of the place sure sets the tone for this deli. Warm, welcoming even though every thing is spanking with quality. The wood-fire grill has a lot to do with the ambiance. It’s like a hearth to which people gravitate. The deli merchandise along the walls and windows serve as decor to entice you to come in and when you’re inside make you feel like you’re in a huge, happy, homey pantry.

Unfortunately, we went there after a week of non-stop eating, so our stomachs only had space for the Grilled Sausage Sampler (P717.60) and the bread basket. Both dishes are very good. Of the sausages which include white sausage, all-beef, and chicken, tops in flavor was the Nuremberger Bratwurst Pork sausage, which is their specialty. The breads come from their bakery, Lartizan and are served with herb butter and liver pate. (P82.20) They were so good, or we weren’t as full as we thought, we ordered seconds. Next time, we have to try the cheeses; their brochure says they have 40 varieties to choose from.

They serve german beers as well as San Miguel. The men with me, predictable and boring, went for Pale Pilsen. I experimented with Murphy’s Irish Stout — black, dry, and malty. Something about the flavor reminded me of a bygone alcoholic era when my workmates and I would wind down at Glorietta’s The Brewery every chance we get.

The bummer to this meal was the excitement build up for dessert — Trio of Brulee with exotic flavors like chili-chocolate and citronella, only to be told they didn’t have it on stock. Major, heartbreaking, fun-bubble-deplating disappointment. But also a good reason to come back. They better have it next time.

The last two times I was in Cebu, I was billeted (I say this word with more than a hint of sarcasm) in a hotel in an area that is uhm, let’s just say it’s aroma wafting distance from the Tabuan danggit market. So when my friend Chito brought

me to The Gustavian, it felt a bit surreal to be in a fine dining place. So forgive me if I rave a little about the classy interiors, not too formal to be off-putting, but just delicious to the eye. Gorgeous white walls, dim lighting, plantation/hacienda/country club style furnishings.

For the food, I only have the dish I ordered as my basis for the high rating. The Salmon Steak with Onion Leek and White Truffle Sauce (P560) was eyes-closed-orgasm-look-I’m-in-heaven good. The salmon was on a bed of risoni, pasta that resembled risotto in look and taste.

Chito’s Gustavian Spicy Spaghetti Alioli (P340) was good, but bordering on ordinary.

The dessert was probably good, but not memorable enough for me to remember now that I’m blogging several months after the fact.

Whew! I’ve been busy moving posts from my multiply sites to blogspot. Am working on 2 other blogs aside from this one. Plus a googlesite, which I’ve just discovered today. I’m learning about things like gadgets and gizmos a-plenty and widgets and whatzits galore (try to get the song out of your mind now). In the past couple of days, I’ve met the blog doctor and learned about expandable posts, discovered the sitemeter, and have had to resurrect my rusty html skills. I’m overwhelmed. I need to shower. I need to sleep. But yes, like my friend and blogging guru ed predicted, I’ve been enjoying myself. But whew, the self promotion is a lot of work.

It is weird that the best thing about a restaurant called Bagoong Club is the dessert – the Pastillas de Leche cheesecake is eyes-closed, fork-wagging, i-don’t-want-to-share-with-anyone-get-your-fork-out-of-my-cake delicious.

We loved the singkamas with bagoong appetizer. The fact that it is on the house adds much to the enjoyment. Testing Again

As for the meals, hmmm, I think if we were less than bowled over by the food as I expected after hearing two raving recos from two separate connections, it would be our fault for not ordering well or not ordering enough.

We ordered the Club Binagoongan Special, which is worthy of carrying the restaurant name. It is a right blend of spicy, salty, and sweet. It is actually quite good.

Now, ordering the vegetable kare-kare for me was a little short of seizing the day. We should have gone for the seafood kare kare since that would have vegetables anyway. The sauce is just okay, but maybe that’s because my mother-in-law’s kare kare is such a high bar to meet.

Normally, saucy, tasty viands such as above would require plain steamed rice. But we couldn’t resist the bagoong rice, which was subtly flavored anyway, not overwhelming with its bagoong, and it went well with the other dishes.

And of course, we ended with that above mentioned dessert, a good reason to come back. The extensive menu is another compelling reason to try this resto again. Next time, I’ll try the Bagoong Club Binagoongan Combi and more of the seafood selections.

The place looks warm and attractive inside and out. Though they were nice enough to move us to the empty second floor when we were bothered by the noise of the other diners, the service could still be improved much.

I’m so rarely in the Tomas Morato area, but I want to go back here the next time I’m passing by.

(An article that won me second best travel writer slot in Philippine Star’s travel writing contest in 2004.)

The middle-aged man with no teeth did not know where the lighthouse was. The mid-morning mahjongg players did not know where the lighthouse was. In a town where the ubiquitous welcome arch was replaced by a pair of lighthouse replicas, the townspeople lived, toiled and played mahjongg not knowing that their town housed not one, but two of those romantic antique sentinels. The few who knew did not know how, nor how long it took, to get there. Their guesstimates, two hours to half a day, were not helpful. Directions were vague and conflicting. The descriptions of extremely rough dirt roads were not very encouraging. For the less than determined, it was almost enough to give up.

We were on our second day of our lighthouse hunt. The long-term goal was to visit the more than 50 Spanish-time lighthouses in the country. For this two-day jaunt, we were going to visit two – Faro de Isla de Gran Capon at Capones Island of Zambales and Faro de Punta Patar, which overlooks Cape Bolinao in Pangasinan. If we were to be technical about it, the one in Bolinao shouldn’t count because it was actually built during the American time. But we did not know that before we set off for our trip, did we?

Our party of three got to San Antonio, Zambales midmorning. We parked our van by the seashore and arranged for a boat to bring us to the island. The boatman took us on a futile search for the lighthouse keeper who could have been at three possible places – his house, the Coast Guard station or the lighthouse itself. We did not find him in the first two places so we took the boat straight towards Capones Island.

We were first dropped off by a short stretch of a pebbly white sand beach where an imposing craggy wall of rock made a perfect photo-op background. We subdued our urge to loll and wade. We had a lighthouse keeper to find. We walked along the beach, my gym-wary, cramp-prone legs straining from walking on uneven sand and complaining with every step. Yes, still no lighthouse keeper sighting.

The boatman called us to board the boat again so we could go around the island and be dropped off where it was easier to reach the lighthouse.

Easy is a word I should use cautiously to describe the experience of getting from the boat onto the island. Because of huge rocks guarding the island, the boat could not come close to shore. What was I thinking that morning? Lighthouse equals seawater, sand, and feet getting wet. Why was I then wearing leather sandals instead of my trusted Teva’s? With no time to dwell on the inappropriateness of my footwear, I jumped into the water. It seemed a manageable knee-high level. It was knee-high all right, yet I still managed to get wet from head to foot. With the waves crashing against the rocks and my sorry non-athletic form, it was extremely challenging keeping my balance. Even after taking off my silly shoes to rely on my feet’s natural gripping abilities, I still slipped a number of times. How terrified I was of breaking my nails…er, bones. It was a shameless sight as I practically crawled on all fours to reach the beach.

The fearsome crawl was forgotten as we got onto dry land and saw an amazing sight. We struck pay dirt and found tsinelas heaven. If you happen to be missing a rubber slipper, it is almost certain it has found its way to Capones Island where flip-flops, which have outlived their utility, come home to retire.

To get to the top of the island, we climbed some concrete steps. Yes, the climb was exhausting. Yes, it was steep. But the real challenge was how to avoid those cute little landmines on the way up. Welcome to the Capones goat dung festival, where goats outnumber the people and where every step is an adventure.

Some part of the steps had eroded so we had to walk through rocks. Being the health buff that I am (insert sarcastic sneer here) I breezed, or rather wheezed, through the steep climb and was out of breath when we reached the top. Then I had to catch my breath again to gasp at the view. The panoramic view of the ocean was awesome. The word magnificent was invented for moments and places like this.

We climbed a little further to get to the lighthouse. This lighthouse was inaugurated in 1890 and it obviously did not age gracefully. The lighthouse itself seemed well-preserved and boasted a fresh coat of white paint. Two bright red stripes around its girth lent it a smart, dignified look. From what we’ve heard it was maintained by the Coast Guard to keep it functioning as a sea vessel guide. The maintenance, however, was not extended to the other structures surrounding the lighthouse. Everything was in a sad state of disrepair. Ravaged by the elements, the house looked like the next typhoon could level it onto the ground. We had to use our imagination to visualize how it looked back during its glory days. Our imagination also made us start daydreaming of the many ways we can restore this lighthouse.

It would be nice to convert it into a museum. Or a café. Or a bed and breakfast. Or my own private hideaway. We conjured up visions of restoration, of sprucing it up with antique furniture, living there with books and goats as company, friends coming to visit, and serving them herbal tea which we cultivated right at the foot of the lighthouse. We dreamed, and we sighed, and we took all the snapshots our film and memory sticks could store.

We could not stay longer than half an hour. We had to go back to the boat before the tide got higher. The boat brought us back to the van. We had lunch at a nearby resort, continuing to dream out loud of lighthouse cafés and hideaways. Then, we were off to Pangasinan for lighthouse number two.

The drive to Pangasinan took the rest of the day. It was nightfall by the time we checked in at a resort in Alaminos. After breakfast the next day, we set off for Barangay Pitar in the town of Bolinao where we met the clueless, toothless man and the navigation-challenged mahjongg players.

We eventually found a man who was more knowledgeable about the lighthouses. It happened that one of the lighthouses was within finger-pointing distance. It looked old and charming from where we stood, but it was too inland to be the one we were looking for. The other lighthouse, which overlooked Cape Bolinao, was a drive away. As we had been warned, there were patches of rough bumpy roads. Undeterred, we drove on and we eventually found the place in less than an hour. The road leading to the lighthouse was lined with beach resorts. We made mental notes of good lodging options for the next time we go on another lighthouse adventure. Just as we were wondering if we were on the right path, we finally caught site of the Faro de Punta Patar. A wall, a gate and a thick patch of trees surrounded it. We knocked on the gate and screamed “Tao po” but no one came to let us in. We pushed open the unlocked gate and were welcomed by the sight of the stately lighthouse, said to be the second tallest in the country, the tallest being Cape Bojeador in Burgos, Ilocos Norte.

We walked around the property, struck by the eerie loneliness of the abandoned structures, awed by the breathtaking view of the ocean, compelled to capture everything in photos. Best we document them for who knew if these structures would stay around forever.

Like the one in Capones Island, this lighthouse was well preserved. The surrounding buildings, however, were even more decrepit than those in Capones mainly because of the materials used. The older lighthouse in Zambales was partially made of rock while the Bolinao lighthouse was almost entirely made of wood so even if the latter was a more recent structure, it had been more badly damaged by time and the elements.

Trees were growing not just outside the house but inside as well since parts of the flooring have decayed to a point where one can no longer walk on them allowing vegetation to creep into the structure. Graffiti adorned the walls. Capiz windowpanes no longer served the purpose of covering the windows. Again, we had to use our imagination to visualize how beautiful these structures must have looked back in 1905 when they were just completed.

It is difficult to imagine how much work, and how much funding it would take to rehabilitate these relics of the past to their original glory. The realists in us realize that in the grand scheme of economics and national development, there are other more pressing priorities than quixotic plans of lighthouse restorations. But when we think of the possibilities, of the tourism potentials, of the sad alternative of someday losing these structures of amazing beauty, we cannot help but dream of lighthouse museums, of gift shops and seaside cafés, of romantic hideaways and lighthouse-hopping cruises. And of our next lighthouse adventure.

Backpacker? Moi? I can name at least 7 people who will laugh at the thought. That includes me.I just love my creature comforts too much, need to know with certainty where I’m sleeping that night, and would be the laugh of backpackers when they see my industrial sized Lysol spray.

But now, I have the gear. Okay, I exaggerate. I only have this nifty backpacking start-up kit. It contains Robert Alejandro’s book on backpacking, a practical yet pretty guidebook that somebody more adventurous and less scared of germs than I am can learn from. The information is culled from a true-to-life 2 1/2 month adventure Robert and four other friends took around south east Asia. It lists down backpacker friendly places for lodging, cost information, and transportation suggestions. Robert’s sketches add so much punch and value to this informative book.

The kit also includes a pocket notebook, pen, and calculator for monitoring your expenses. And then, there’s Jethro Rafael’s collection of postcards of pictures taken during the trips. The photos are gorgeous; I don’t see myself giving them away as postcards.

I bought mine from ROX at High Street. This kit will make a great gift. And it’s reasonably priced at 700++ pesoses only.

We also attended Backpacking 101 at ROX at High Street. Robert and Jethro shared a video of their trip. If only I weren’t so scared of sharing showers with the international community of travelers, the video would probably inspire me to buy a backpack, quit my job (oh wait, I don’t have a job), get a tattoo (just a nice touch), invest in cargo capris, and do as they did.

For me, the real draw of the event were the workshops on travel photography by Jethro and travel sketching by Robert Alejandro. I was so excited about learning to sketch the way Robert does in Probe Team. And I felt so suckered when he did not teach us techniques. He did not even teach us how to draw straight lines or curly lines. BUT, I did learn from him that travel sketching is really about having fun. It’s not about aiming for perfection. It’s about capturing your view, your impressions and emotions of the moment. I’ve always wanted to sketch during my travels, but I don’t know how. I struggle translating a 3-dimensional view in front of me into a 2-dimensional drawing. So, my fear has been keeping me from doing what I want to do. But, Robert taught me to just do it. We had a practice 10-minute round in the store. I produced a very crude sketch of shoes displayed on top of palochina crates. I squirm at how imperfect the sketch is. But hey, like I tell my students, to be a writer, just write. So to be a sketcher, just…

My Lola Dominga used to make this instant chocolate drink for us. I can’t remember the brand. But I remember the taste, a taste that brings back childhood comfort. Once in a while I crave for this chocolate taste embedded in my tongue’s memory, even dreamt of it once. But I knew it would take a minor miracle for me to ever taste Lola’s chocolate drink again.

Well, miracles happen. I found that chocolate flavor at Rocci’s, a cozy cafe at Malugay St. I ordered the Dark Hot Chocolate (P98), and eureka! Lola Ingga was again alive giving me a chocolate drink in that old nescafe crystal-cut bottle converted to a drinking glass.

The chocolate drink is comboed with the Belgian Choco Bliss (P14), which tastes gorgeous. Several deliciousness points higher than the belgian waffle crisps we find at the mall.

Rocci’s also serves desserts, deli sandwiches, pasta, coffee, tea, and fruit slush.

After a stressful yet victorious event, the 5 of us were hungry.

So we got into Seafood Island and ordered the boodle, which according to my famished friends, is a pirate term for foodfest. The menu said it can feed 5-6 people. It wasn’t in the fineprint, but they must have meant 5-6 little girls with anorexic tendencies. Because it wasn’t enough! If real pirates were served this, they would bang the tables with their forks, machetes, and hook hands, then stage a mutiny against the chef.

We had to order more to satisfy the stomachs of 4 normal adults plus one freak of nature whose intestines reach up to his knees, one who eats as if he hasn’t eaten for a week and as if there were no tomorrow. I won’t mention my glutton friend’s name, but it rhymes with Doom. He and his hugemongous appetite spelled doom for the wallet of the one who was sponsoring this dinner. Because aside for the boodle, we had to add 3 more dishes. And had dessert at Volare afterwards.

This is good comfort food though. Well, good enough. No extraordinary flavors. Nothing novel. Just the typical Filipino grill type food they usually serve at barkada inuman places.

It was Saturday night and the place was packed. The tables and chairs were too tightly crammed. I know from my architecture classes that this kind of arrangement violates personal space bubble requirements for public dining. Ah, how I wish we had city standards for such things.

But the service was pretty fast even on this busy evening.

No particular dish lingered in my memory. But I remember that among us, we drank bottomless iced tea enough to fill up a generous sized hot tub. We had to drink that while watching our aforementioned glutton friend wipe out everything dead or alive on the table.

You know you’re eating great tasting and satisfying food when you start mouthing the most jolog exclamations like winner, panalo, blockbuster! And Kanin Club is super mega panalo na blockbuster pa.

Kanin Club is owned by the same people who gave the public great testing crepes through Café Breton. I had lunch with the owners one time, and they explained how much research and painstaking attention to details it took to develop the concept and the menu for Café Breton, including even a trip to Brittany.

Kanin Club seems to have received the same attention and culinary creativity. This is their answer to those who need their bellies laden with rice, those with the appetites of karpenteros. Hence the name kanin club, aka lamon club.

We started our meal with the Dilis Salad (P149). I guess they added the dilis just before serving to keep them crispilicious. This dish could have done with a bit more tomatoes to even out the salty flavor of the dilis and also because this was the only vegetable dish we ordered. But this salad tasted and looked fabulous. One can have it as a starter or as viand for the rice.

We ordered the KC signatures – the Binukadkad na Tilapia (P246) and the Crispy Dinuguan (P261). Both are deserving of the hype. The tilapia is a deceptively simple dish, but it must take precise deep-frying to achieve its crispy on the outside, tender on the inside goodness. Watch out though, it is not boneless so you have to look before you chew. The dinuguan is five-star, winnie-santos sa sarap. Again, the serving time must be perfect to ensure that the crispy pork bits do not get soggy under the rich blood sauce.

We were eyeing our neighboring table’s stuffed squids, but we knew we would be bringing home doggy bags had we ordered it, so we exercised restraint and made that an excuse to come back to KC.

Everything was good, but the rice was the star of the meal. Sinangag Sinigang! (P224) The name twists your tongue and the flavor surprises it. You know how it is when you pour sinigang broth on your rice? Well, this dish tastes the same way but it’s dry so you don’t have that puddle on your plate that messes up the flavors of the other dishes. It has generous toppings of liempo and tepura-style vegetables. In the words of my husband, kanin pa lang ulam na.

After all that, we were so stuffed that for the whole of five minutes I contemplated the possibility of working out at the gym. But don’t worry, the feeling passed. And we worked out by stretching our stomachs to accommodate dessert. Bad move. The desserts were heavy and should be eaten a couple of hours after for merienda. Of course, we could not allow such good food to go to waste so we forced ourselves to eat. The Turon KC (P90) is a creative take on the traditional turon. Imagine halo-halo stuffed in a rice paper roll. Lovely, lovely invention. You can have this ala mode, but we skipped on the ice cream.

And because this was Kanin Club we had to have kanin for dessert. We ordered the Sticky Rice with Mango (P149). Now, you see, I’m on the hunt for the perfect version of this dish. So far, my hunt in the Philippines has been a total failure. And sad to say, the hunt is still on because KC’s version was just not what I was looking for. Which is not to say that this wasn’t good. The macapuno topping and the chocnut sidings were very delicious innovations to the dish, but the mango was a bit too tart to complement the flavors. It’s good, but it’s not the Thai version I’ve been looking for.

This was an extremely good meal. The only downside was that we had to wait for 55 minutes for a table, but we took it all in good stride. I had a book, we were treated well by the staff, and so the long wait just helped us to build up an appetite for this very satisfying lunch. Winner talaga! And at those reasonable prices and generous servings for sharing, hindi ka Luz Valdez.