Trying out something new somewhere old

Having a mom from Bicol meant we grew up knowing good food, which thankfully, had not been limited to dishes peppered with chili peppers or swimming in coconut milk. And it might surprise many that though I’m half Bicolana, I’ve never eaten Bicol Express or Pinangat (a blend of taro leaves, meat or shrimp and coconut milk wrapped in more taro leaves and tied securely with coconut leaf which may or may not be chilli).

That is, until my latest visit to the region.

The famous Dad's Pinangat and me and the officemates posing with the famous Dad (3rd from left)

My first taste of Pinangat wasn’t even at the famous Dad’s Pinangat which was supposedly the original and best tasting pinangat in the province. It was in a restaurant called Ceña Una (Old House or Sinauna).

Located along Calle F. Lotivio St. in Daraga, Albay, this colonial-house-turned-restaurant is, like most of the establishments, are some 10-15 minutes away from the airport (according to our trusty Department of Toursim accredited driver). You may experience some traffic going here, though, as you’ll have to pass by Daraga Town proper and a few schools along the way.

If you’re not a big old-house-lover and the exterior doesn’t get you, the charming accessories inside surely will. While the house is filled with antique furniture and figurines, the were dedicated to maintain the old-Filipino feel that they even created wooden-looking cases for their modern furniture- from the air conditioners to the electric fans. If you’ve fallen in love with some of their decorative pieces, you can even call them up and have them make some for you, or just drop by their shop in Mandaluyong if you’re Manila-bound.

But the real winner of the night was the Pasta Ceña Una Espesyal.  It’s fettuccine pasta made with a seemingly deconstructed pinangat—Coconut milk, taro leaves and shrimp topped with spear mint and with a dash of saffron. It’s served with white bread which, on the bad side, could use some flavour, but on the good side, doesn’t take the spotlight away from the dish.

Pasta Ceña Una Espesyal (photo from foodtrippings.com)

If I had known Pinangat tasted these great, I should have probably tried them waaaaaaay back. It was one of the best dishes I’ve tasted during our stay here in Albay (and boy-oh-boy there were some pretty tasty dishes). That’s saying a lot from someone not a fan of fushion food, too.

Ceña Una Chocolate Cake (photo from flashbulbjunkie.blogspot.com)

The English Vanilla Cheesecake with Blueberry Sauce (nomnomnom) was nice soft but the dessert round was taken but the Ceña Una Chocolate Cake which felt like a challenge to my chocolate-cake-baking skills (which I have not yet tried, btw). It wasn’t as sweet as it looked, was moist and had pili nuts.

Kind of makes me think that eating in Bicol is a danger to the cholesterol levels. But that’s probably why Becilanos eat so much greens.

If you’re ever in the general area visiting the majestic Mayon, this is a place you should definitely make time for, too, especially since like most places around Albay, it's just 10 minutes away (at least according to out DOT-accredited driver, Kuya Al :))).

Contact details

Lourdes Villanueva (0524354338 / 09178684030)

513 F Lotivio Street, 4501 Daraga, Albay.

belaycenauna@gmail.com

http://www.balaycenauna.com/menu.html
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Cena-Una/71303103946

Schedule

Mon - Wed: 10:00 am - 10:00 pm

Thu: 1:00 am - 10:00 pm

Fri - Sat: 10:00 am - 10:00 pm

Sun: 11:30 am - 9:00 pm

Teachers Village needs a good Japanese Restaurant

aka the Maguro Sushi Bar Experience

As part of my continued search for the Ramen of my childhood (which my sister is convinced is from Ajisen Ramen), or something better, my friends and I tried Maguro Sushi Bar in Teacher’s Village. It was also to celebrate the first day of my birthday week (yay vanity!).

Maguro Sushi Bar is a modest little place along Matalino Street, in between Kalayaan and East Avenue. While most of the other food places there have screaming neon signs, Maguro embraced the simplicity of the Japanese in its interiors . It felt warm and intimate and generally looked like a good place to unexpectedly find good food.

Not that we did.

Well, it wasn’t the OMG-I-FOUND-THE-RAMEN-OF-MY-DREAMS experience, not even the I-finally-found-a-good-Japanese-Restaurant-in-Teacher’s-Village experience. It was just—ok.

While ordering my Beef Ramen (PhP110), I asked if they were offering options for the soup base. When the waiter kind of looked at me funny, I knew it wasn’t a good sign (the Beef Ramen has soy based soup, btw). The noodles seemed to be fast food noodles, just a little firmer than your Lucky Me Supreme instant noodles. The soup base just felt oily and didn’t really taste right.

We also ordered the Maki Platter (Php165 for 16 pcs) which was ok except that it lacked Japanese Mayo.

If you’re wondering if we’re coming back to this place, probably not.

Though  it has Crazy Katsu (which sadly lacks makis and sushis in their menu), Teacher’s Village sorely lacks good Japanese Restaurants.

28 Matalino St., Teacher’s Village
Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines
(+632) 922-0129
11:30am to 11pm, Monday to Saturday;Open from 5pm to 11pm, Sunday

Adventures on Easy Street: Mga Salinawit sa Sopa Negra

Huli man daw at magaling, naihahabol din. Bilang pahabol sa pagdiriwang ng Buwan ng Wika (Agosto), sisikapin kong isulat ang artikulong ito sa wikang Filipino (salamat, Google Translate at paumanhin sa lahat ng naging guro ko sa Filipino).

Nitong nakaraang taon, nadiskubre ko kasama ang isang kaibigan ang Blacksoup Cafe + Artspace sa kahabaan ng Maginhawa St., Teacher's Village. Naging isa ito sa paborito kong destinasyon kahit pa nagkalat sa paligid nito ang iba't ibang makakainan. Ito'y hindi lamang dahil sa katakam-takam nitong mga putahe (subukan ang pork chop ciabatta at twice-cooked adobo!) kundi dahil na rin sa mga interesanteng likhang-sining na litrato at poster sa mga mesa at dingding, pati na rin sa mga libro at album na inaalok nila sa kanilang mga parokyano.

Sa dinami-rami ng pagkakataon na dito ako kumain, nitong nakaraan ko lamang nakita ang isang libro na kamuntik ko nang nakawin mula sa lugar- ang 101 Salinawit ni Pete Lacaba. Dito, makikita ang mga pagsasalin ng nasabing musikero ng mga awiting banyaga tungo sa wikang Filipino.

At dahil walang binatbat ang awtor na ito sa pagsusulat sa ating sariling wika, mas mabuting ang mga larawan na lamang ng mga napili kong awitin ang magpatuloy ng kwento:

Blacksoup Cafe + Artspace
54 Maginhawa St., Sikatuna Village, Quezon City
12 nn-3 p.m. and 6 p.m.-11 p.m. araw-araw maliban sa Linggo

P.S. Nais ko ring magpasalamat sa mga tauhan ng Blacksoup sa hindi pagpapalayas sa akin kahit kanta ako ng kanta sa loob ng nasabing restaurant

P.P.S. Ngayong Setyembre ang anibersaryo ng Blacksoup. Bisitahin ang kanilang Facebook page upang makita ang kanilang mga promo para sa pagdiriwang nito.

Battle of the (Luxury) Buffets

aka if you’re going to take photos of your food, might as well do something useful with them

It doesn’t really show on me but our family loves eating buffet-style (yes, I am gifted with eating like a starving hyena and never gaining weight). Over the past year, two establishments opened along Seaside Boulevard in the Mall of Asia Complex that didn’t weren’t just Buffet Restaurants but Luxury Buffet Restaurants. Naturally, we had to try them out.

So, here’s a comparative look at two of the hottest “luxury buffet restaurants” this side of EDSA:3



ROUND 1: SUSHI – MAKI – SASHIMI

In most lunch/dinner buffets I go to, the first round would always have to be at the Japanese food station.

Though both restos didn’t disappoint, Vikings provided a wider range of available makis and sushis than Buffet 101. Not a fan of picking my tuna and salmon from the fish body, though. It makes me relate to my food in ways that I’d rather not.

ROUND 2: SEAFOOD

Both restos allow you to choose from a variety of fresh seafood and them have them grilled.

Vikings' seafood selection is a lot pricier than that of Buffet 101’s, though. With lobsters, oysters, squid and others, the restaurant had me at Gindara.

ROUND 3: SALADS

Viking and Buffet 101 both offer salad bars and a variety of fresh salads for those who want to balance their pigging out with some veggies.

Do yourself a favor though, DO NOT EAT olive and grape salad from Vikings unless you like saggy grapes. It looks promising but no, I promise you it disappoints.

ROUND 4: MAINS

Vikings' selection seems to be more savory because of the sauces while Buffet 101 tends to be on the spicy side.

But Vikings pulls out an ace in its steak section with a selection of Australian Lamb Steaks, Batangas Tenderloins, Australian Sirloin Steaks and Roasted Beef Tenderloin. You have to move fast though, these run out pretty fast.

ROUND 5: BEVERAGES

While some buffet restos don’t include the beverages in the buffet, the owners of both Buffet 101 and Vikings prove to be more sly by allowing people to gorge and immediately get full on drinks.

Though both restos offer fruit shakes, Buffet 101 has a wider range of fruits you can choose from. Viking only offers the ‘shake for the day’, if you can find where to ask it from (near the ice cream station). But! Vikings has sago’t gulaman in exchange.

Both of them also have soda, coffee and beer dispensers. I’m biased towards Vikings in this round only because they offer Dalandan juice.

ROUND 6: DESSERT –oh glorious—DESSERT

The cakes served at Buffet 101 are from Red Ribbon while their ice cream’s from Magnolia; the must try dessert is their blue lemon jelly. I don't really know where Vikings' desserts come from but I urge you to try thei r straberry ice cream.

Both restos have frozen yogurt machines and a variety of toppings top choose from. But remember that at this point you've probably already eaten a lot, drank fruit juices which may not sit well with frozen yogurt. Just saying.

Vikings also has a crepe bar but it only offers banana crepes. The must try desserts include the white chocolate mousse and strawberry ice cream. It also has two chocolate fountains which is a hit with the kids.

ROUND 7: VALUE FOR MONEY

As the table shows, it’s a bit pricier at Vikings, especially if you have kids in tow.

It’s also a lot harder to book. If you want to eat at Vikings, you’d better book at least a week in advance and confirm on the day itself, otherwise, you’d land on their lengthy waiting list. And since it’s a buffet and they can’t tell when people’ll finish eating, there’s no telling when you’d finally be able to eat.

Unfortunately, people have started trooping to Buffet 101, too, so you might want to also call for reservations in advance just to be sure.

The lighting, spaces between tables and the food areas in Buffet 101 seems to be more suited for family gatherings than Vikings. The latter would be better suited for yuppies out with friends.

In general, I’d lean in favor of Vikings because the range is wider and for personal reasons like that strawberry ice cream, dalandan juice and steaks.





VIKINGS
846-3888, 846-4888, 846-5888
0917-5653888 & 0923-7303888
Bldg. B, By The Bay, Seaside Boulevard, SM Mall of Asia, Pasay City

BUFFET 101
556-2888, 556-3888, 556-9888
Bldg K, Seaside Boulevard, San Miguel by the Bay, SM Mall of Asia Complex, Pasay City