boneless bangus – Jellybeans in the City

HAPAG: Your destination for comforting Filipino food during your Manila Ocean Park adventure

If you’re on your way to enjoy the exciting attractions at Manila Ocean Park with your friends and family in tow, food should be the least of your worries.

After all, Manila Ocean Park is home to quite a number of gourmet eateries, the latest of which is its Filipino restaurant, HAPAG.

The restaurant’s name is derived from Tagalog word which translates to “table” in English. In Filipino culture, the table holds a special significance as it is often the focal point of gatherings and celebrations, where families and friends come together to share meals and create cherished memories.

Just like its name suggests, HAPAG at Manila Ocean Park aims to be a place where people can gather around the table and indulge in the comfort of Filipino cuisine, creating a sense of warmth, togetherness, and hospitality. Its name not only pays homage to Filipino traditions but also reflects the restaurant’s commitment to providing a welcoming and memorable dining experience for its guests.

Ready for your foray into Filipino comfort food? Be sure to include these down-home delicious dishes when you dine at HAPAG:

Soups

Sinigang na Hipon (Php700). This classic Filipino dish features succulent shrimp cooked in a tangy tamarind broth, with vegetables like kangkong (water spinach) and radish adding a refreshing crunch. The sourness of the soup paired with the sweetness of the shrimp creates a comforting and satisfying bowl of goodness.

Sinigang na Baboy (Php650). For pork lovers, Sinigang na Baboy is a must-try. Tender pork chunks are simmered in a sour tamarind soup, along with vegetables like kangkong and eggplant. The savory and tangy flavors meld together, making it a perfect dish to warm your soul.

Vegetables

Pinakbet (Php250). This popular vegetable dish from the northern regions of the Philippines features a medley of fresh vegetables like eggplant, okra, and bitter gourd, cooked in a shrimp paste sauce. The combination of flavors and textures in Pinakbet creates a comforting and healthy dish that is perfect for vegetarians, those looking for a lighter option or as a side dish to complement other viands.

Mains

Beef Caldereta (Php550). A rich and hearty stew, Beef Caldereta is a Filipino comfort food that is perfect for meat lovers. Tender beef chunks are simmered in a slightly spicy tomato-based sauce with vegetables, potatoes, and carrots, resulting in a flavorful and satisfying dish that is best enjoyed with steamed rice.

Whole Fried Chicken (Php800). Crispy, juicy, and flavorful, Filipino-style Fried Chicken is a comfort food staple. HAPAG’s version is sure to satisfy your fried chicken cravings, with its golden-brown crust and succulent meat. Perfectly seasoned and fried to perfection, it’s a timeless classic that will surely hit the spot.

Crispy Pata (Php1,200). This version of the classic Pinoy dish is a true delight for meat lovers, featuring perfectly deep-fried pork knuckles that are crispy on the outside and juicy on the inside. It is served with a dipping sauce made with vinegar and soy sauce, which adds a tangy and savory contrast to the rich flavors of the pork.

Charcoal-grilled

Grilled Boneless Bangus (Php350). Known as the national fish of the Philippines, Bangus or milkfish is a beloved ingredient in Filipino cuisine. HAPAG’s Grilled Boneless Bangus is marinated then grilled, resulting in a moist and flavorful fish dish that is both comforting and delicious.

Grilled Liempo (Php500). A delicious way to enjoy pork belly is through HAPAG’s Grilled Liempo. Marinated in a special blend of spices and grilled to smoky juiciness, the result is a flavorful pork dish that is sure to please your taste buds. It’s a comforting and satisfying choice for meat lovers.

Chicken Inasal (Php260). This flavorful grilled chicken dish from the Visayas region of the Philippines is known for its distinct marinade made with calamansi, lemongrass, and vinegar. HAPAG’s Chicken Inasal is tender and juicy, with a tangy and savory flavor that is perfect for satisfying your chicken cravings.

Sizzling Plates

Sizzling Liempo Steak (Php500). HAPAG’s Sizzling Liempo Steak is grilled then served sizzling hot on a cast-iron plate, with a savory gravy that complements the pork. The sizzling presentation and the mouthwatering aroma make it a truly comforting and indulgent dish.

Sizzling Pork Sisig (Php450). A popular appetizer or pulutan in Filipino cuisine, Sizzling Pork Sisig is a sizzling plate of chopped pork face and ears, seasoned with spices and served with a tangy sauce. HAPAG’s version is crispy and flavorful, with a perfect balance of savory, tangy, and slightly spicy flavors that will surely make your taste buds dance.

Rice

Bagoong Fried Rice (Php310). Bagoong, or fermented shrimp paste, is a staple condiment in Filipino cuisine. When used to flavor fried rice, it results to a savory staple that’s sure to complement your favorite Pinoy dishes.

Beverage

Sago’t Gulaman (Php120). Sago’t Gulaman is a popular Filipino beverage made with tapioca pearls (sago) and agar-agar jelly (gulaman) soaked in a sweet syrup made from brown sugar, water, and vanilla. HAPAG’s Sago’t Gulaman is a refreshing and nostalgic drink that is perfect for quenching your thirst and cooling down during a hot day. The combination of the chewy tapioca pearls, slippery agar-agar jelly, and sweet syrup creates a unique and satisfying texture that is both fun to eat and drink.

So, after a day of thrilling adventures and exciting discoveries at Manila Ocean Park, take a moment to unwind and treat yourself to the comfort of Filipino food at HAPAG. Indulge in the rich flavors, warm hospitality, and cozy ambiance that this newest restaurant has to offer, and create lasting memories of comfort and culinary delight with your family and friends.

HAPAG is located at Ground Floor, Manila Ocean Park Complex, behind the Quirino Grandstand in Luneta along Roxas Boulevard, Ermita Manila, open daily from 10am to 7pm. Book your Manila Ocean Park tickets via Klook or visit its website.

To stay updated on Manila Ocean Park’s attractions and dining establishments, follow it on Facebook and Instagram.

Disclosure: I attended a food tasting held at this restaurant during my recent tour in Manila Ocean Park. Food items here were served at no cost to the attendees.

Check out my previous posts about Manila Ocean Park:

6 reasons to bring the fam to Manila Ocean Park

Profile: Manila Ocean Park’s Francis Low

Summer fun with the barkada at Manila Ocean Park

Gourmet Food Trippin’ at Manila Ocean Park

How to make the most of your visit to Manila Ocean Park

Gather the fam together for an abot-kayang salu-salo at Mang Ding’s Pinoy BBQ

It’s around that time of the year again when we get together with our nears-and-dears over a hearty meal.

This extended family gathering is the perfect occasion to bond with relatives that we might not see so frequently to exchange news, exclaim on the fast growth of the young ‘uns or celebrate each other’s successes for the past year.

While quarantine restrictions no longer prohibit us from throwing a shindig for the fam, our budgets might give us some pause.

Well, at Mang Ding’s Pinoy BBQ in Marikina, that won’t be a problem.

Known for its malinis, masarap at mura selections of down-home Pinoy dishes, Mang Ding’s can serve up viands that surely count among the family’s faves. From Pinoy appetizers and side dishes, barbecues and ihaw-ihaw, to sizzling plates and crispy fried food, plus a selection of local beers and sodas, Mang Ding’s is a return to treasured childhood dishes to some and an introduction to down-home Pinoy flavors to others.

Ensaladas. Side salads that combine sweet, sour and salty fresh flavors from tomatoes, onions and bagoong. The Ensaladang Mangga (Php125) and the Ensaladang Talong (Php75) are perfect companions for Mang Ding’s grilled and fried offerings.

Salted Egg Boneless Bangus (Php295). Grilled marinated milkfish topped with chopped onions, tomatoes and slices of salted egg.

McJolly Pakpak (Php325 for half-kilo | Php550 for 1 kilo). Crispy deep-fried chicken wings that’s a kiddie favorite for sure!

Isaws. Did you know that the name saw comes from the word sawsawan, or the sauce that these street food delicacies are dipped in? I’m everyone in the fan won’t have enough of Mang Ding’s Isaw Baboy Bilog (Php45/stick) and Isaw Manok (Pho28/stick).

Pork BBQ (Php45/stick). The Pinoys’ favorite sweet and savory pork barbecue made with tender slices of marinated pork grilled to smokey perfection.

Tuna Panga (Php100/100 grams). If the kiddos’ conception of tuna is something flaky that comes from cans, then it’s high time to introduce them to the massive jaw of tuna marinated in a sweet soy-based sauce and grilled to smokey goodness.

Belgian Chocolate Slice (Php175). Of course, every family meal deserves a sweetly happy ending. A slice of this moist chocolate cake topped with a decadently rich chocolate icing is just the ticket!

Aside from its delicious and affordable menu items, Mang Ding’s laid-back and relaxing atmosphere is conducive to lingering and catching up with family members.

I should know: I’ve spent quite a lot of time here with my own extended family, officemates and fellow foodies, and our dining forays here always extend by hours, simply because we don’t want our time together to end.

So here’s your perfect venue for a family get-together this holiday season and beyond!

Psst! You might want to take advantage of Mang Ding’s Family Platter which already includes Pork BBQ, McJolly Pakpak, Boneless Bangus Overload, Ensaladang Talong and steamed rice good for four to five persons, all for just Php998! What a delicious way to go for an abot-kayang salu-salo, right?

Mang Ding’s Pinoy BBQ is located at Block 3, Lot 13 C Buenviaje Street, Barangay Santo Nino, Marikina City, open for dine-in, pickup and delivery on Mondays to Thursdays from 11am to 10pm and Fridays to Sundays for 11am to 11pm.

Reserve the venue now for your clan gathering, book a table for lunch, dinner or drinks or order for delivery by calling or texting +63 916 2853031.

Disclosure: Together with fellow bloggers, I attended a food tasting held at this restaurant. Food items served were not paid for by the attendees.

Check out my previous posts about Mang Ding’s Pinoy BBQ:

Rediscovering Pinoy Street Food at Mang Ding’s, Marikina

Pinoy street food for #TeamBahay from Mang Ding’s Pinoy BBQ

Sunday family meal at home with Mang Ding’s

3 ways Mang Ding’s Pinoy BBQ in Marikina is perfect for your family holiday gathering

Classic Pinoy favorites with a twist from MESA, SM City East Ortigas

If you fancy yourself totally done with Pinoy food, you might want to rethink your position.

Yes, the viands that you eat practically everyday at home or at every family gathering can have erstwhile undiscovered aspects that will rekindle your love of our homegrown dishes.

That’s what MESA aims to bring to the table (see what I did there? :-))

One of the restaurant brands operated by Food Global Concepts, MESA cafes a carefully curated menu of Filipino dishes representative of the country’s diverse regional flavors, and enhanced with endearing modern twists.

This is why whenever the fam is in the mood for a break from home-cooked meals but still wants to partake of something familiar, we hie ourselves off the MESA branch most accessible to us, the one located at SM City East Ortigas.

In keeping with MESA’s recipe for success for all of its outlets, this branch features the brand’s celebrated menu filled with innovative takes on traditional Filipino dishes, genuine Filipino hospitality as embodied by its warm and welcoming service crew and an exceptional dining experience that retains its native accents while couched in affordable luxury.

Over several visits, my family has identified our fast faves from MESA’s menu. These include:

Laing 2 Ways (Php205). MESA brings two ways to enjoy Bicol’s most celebrated dish made with slowly simmered taro leaves in coconut milk and fermented shrimp paste and topped with chicken adobo flakes. Have it as it was traditionally served (wet) or crispy.

Tofu Sisig (Php190). Pampanga’s most famous dish is given a healthier twist with the use of local beancurd sautéed with onions and a special sisig dressing and served sizzling on a hot plate.

Suahe in Salted Egg (Php590). River shrimp sautéed in salted egg yolk and light soya with wanly, butter, native chilis, sugar and lime juice.

Boneless Bangus with Cheese (Php375). Marinated boneless milkfish baked and topped with melted cheese, garlic and spring onions, an excellent way to get the kiddos to like seafood!

Salt & Pepper Spare Ribs (Php520). Thin slices of pork spare ribs, deep-fried and tossed in butter, garlic and native chilis.

Binagoongang Baby ni Kaka (Php555). Lean pork belly sautéed in fermented shrimp paste, onions, tomato and native chilis and served with grilled eggplant.

Nilagang Baka (Php415). Beef tenders simmered in a flavorful broth along with sweet corn, onions, celery, cabbage and native pechay.

Kare-Kare Beef and Tripe (Php820). Tender slices of beef, ox tripe and fresh vegetables cooked in a rich peanut sauce and served with fermented shrimp paste. A welcome dish in any Pinoy spread!

As you can see, these dishes may have graced your dinner table in one form or another, but at MESA, they come in a manner that celebrates their roots in our traditional native culture, as well as the myriad possibilities they possess to whet the appetites of future generations of Filipinos.

Drop by a MESA branch near you and experience a fresh way to enjoy Pinoy cuisine.

This MESA branch is located at Unit 268-270 2nd Floor, SM City East Ortigas, Ortigas Avenue Extension, Barangay Status. Lucia, Pasig City. For inquiries and reservations, call +63 2 87214434 or +63 915 4572987.

Other Metro Manila branches are located at:

Caloocan: SM City Grand Central
Las Pinas: Via Lifestyle Center, SM Southmall
Makati: Ayala Malls Circuit, Greenbelt 5, Powerplant Mall
Mandaluyong: SM Megamall, Shangri-la Mall
Manila: Robinsons Place Manila, SM City San Lazaro
Muntinlupa: Festival Mall
Paranaque: Ayala Malls Manila Bay, SM City Sucat
Pasay: SM Mall of Asia
Pasig: Ayala Malls Feliz,
Quezon City: Ali Mall Cubao, Ayala Malls Cloverleaf, Ever Gotesco Commonwealth, Eastwood Mall, Fisher Mall, Robinsons Place Magnolia, SM City North EDSA, SM City Fairview, Tomas Morato, UP Town Center
Taguig: SM Aura Premier, Vista Mall

Liloan’s Pride, California Garden Square

Every once in a while, we all get a craving for food that’s hefty and fatty, the kind that will make a cardiologist’s heart skip a beat (ironically so).

And when that craving comes, there’s no better (or tastier) way to assuage it than to indulge in a juicy and succulent piece of lechon.

Well, if you can’t buy the whole roasted pig, why not indulge yourself in some lechon liempo?

Liloan’s Pride Liempo combines the use of traditional culinary methods and ingredients and modern cooking processes to produce a perfectly roasted pork belly. Each serving is meticulously marinated to infuse the meat with flavor and roasted exactingly to give the skin a satisfying crunch to the bite.

Liloan’s Pride Liempo, California Garden Square

I got another taste of this famous lechon together with my fellow foodies when I joined a foodie meetup at the Liloan’s Pride Liempo store at Calfornia Garden Square in Mandaluyong.

There, our feast included:

Cebu Liempo (Php360). A huge slab or pork belly marinated and roasted Cebu lechon style. A spicy version is available for Php380 if you’re craving for additional heat.

Roasted Chicken (Php360). The chicken version of the Cebu liempo which makes for tender and juicy meat and flavorful skin.

Liempo Manok Rice Meal (Php190). The best of both worlds, really: the lechon liempo and the roasted chicken plus a cup of steamed rice in one plate.

Classic Sisig (Php160). Pampanga’s famous dish made with pig cheeks flavored with calamansi, onions and chili peppers. For me, it could use a bit more crunch and saltiness (from crushed Cebu liempo skin maybe?).

Garlic Bangus (Php220). A whole medium-sized bangus (milkfish) butterfly-filleted, marinated in garlic and vinegar then fried to a golden brown and topped with toasted garlic. It’s very fragrant from all the garlic but it could use more of the vinegar taste so keep some of the store’s sawsawan handy when you order this. A rice meal with a quarter of the garlic bangus is also available for Php99.

Pochero Meal (Php149). Pork belly slices stewed together with chickpeas, sliced bananas, potatoes, green beans and cabbage in rich tomato sauce. I find it ok but would prefer the beef version of pochero.

Beef Pares Meal (Php99). The power combo of beef asado, garlic rice and broth.

So the next time that craving comes, you know what to do! Hie yourself over to Liloan’s Pride Liempo.

Many thanks to Ms Ani Conanan and the staff of Liloan’s Pride Liempo for the meal and to Harvard of AlwaysHungryPH for extending the invitation.

This Liloan’s Pride Liempo branch is located at San Juan California Garden Square, Domingo M. Guevarra Street, Highway Hills, Mandaluyong City.

Other branches may be found at

SM Hypermarket, Upper Ground Floor, Building B, SM Megamall, Ortigas Center, Mandaluyong City
Ground Floor, Connecticut Arcade, Greenhills Shopping Center, Greenhills, San Juan
Lower Ground Floor, SM Cubao, Araneta Center, Cubao, Quezon City
Third Floor, RCBC Plaza, Ayala Avenue, Salcedo Village, Makati City
The Block, SM City North EDSA, Bago Bantay, Quezon City
SM Hypermarket, North Wing, SM Mall of Asia, MOA Complex, Pasay City
Food Court, Second Floor, Alabang Town Center, Alabang, Muntinlupa

Disclosure: Together with other foodies, I attended a foodie meetup held here wherein food and drink items were served to allow us to sample the fare. These were not paid for by the attendees, including myself.

Breakfast stories at Cafe Tribu – Victoria de Morato

They say that great stories are told over good food.

Well, at the Cafe Tribu branch at the Victoria de Morato building along Scout Borromeo Street, the food items themselves have their own stories to tell, as I’ve recently discovered together with my foodie friends from #WeLoveToEatPH and #SaanSaPH.

Care to know ’em?

Opened in March 2019 by former Starbucks Coffee Master Marychris delos Santos, this Cafe Tribu branch has evolved into a showcase for her coffee mastery and her favorite dishes. Having her own business was also her motivation when she was dealing with some personal problems.

Here, you can find a nice and chill haven to hide out in away from the sun or rain. You can also take advantage of the free WiFi while working or studying, or amuse yourself and your buddies with boardgames you can borrow at the counter.

Here, you can refresh yourself with some of Marychris’ signature concoctions such as the Strawberry (Ph85) or the Kiwi Lychee (Php85) Green Tea coolers; or treat yourself to something more decadent such as the Caramel Creme (Php95) or the Java Oreo Berry (Php100) frappes.

So what are the stories behind this Cafe Tribu’s food offerings?

Well, let’s start with the all-day breakfast items which are served with garlic rice, fried egg, atchara and saba:

The German Cheesy (Php130), for starters, features plump homemade cheese-filled sausages which are popular among the denizens of the area near UST where Marychris studied.

The Boneless Bangus (Php130), on the other hand, came all the way from Dagupan, where Marychris’ family hails from. Together with its sweet-sour sukang atchara, it’s a sure-fire winner!

Have you ever tasted baboy ramo (wild boar) before? Order the Pork Tapa (Php165), and you will. I was actually surprised to find this meat imported from Nueva Ecija to be quite tender to the bite.

If you want something more American, have a Ham and Egg Sandwich (Php135). Together with the parmesan-dusted fries, it will fill you up for a day’s work or studying.

Since there’s always room for dessert, check out this Cafe Tribu’s sweet treats:

French Toast (Php95). A sweet confection of Marychris’ own recipe, which became her way to her man’s heart.

Banana Muffins (Php20 each). These yummy cuppies were Marychris’ mom’s way to her dad’s heart.

(There must be something in the way women in her family prepare desserts.) 😍

So if you’re ever in the Tomas Morato area, drop by this Cafe Tribu branch and chat up with Marychris over some good food and refreshing drinks.

Many thanks to Marychris of Cafe Tribu – Victoria de Morato for the warm welcome, the stories and of course, for the yummy food!

This Cafe Tribu branch is located at Ground Floor, Victoria De Morato, Scout Borromeo Street, South Triangle, Quezon City, open weekdays from 10am to 7pm. For inquiries and reservations, call +63 921 5411885.