filipino food – Page 7 – Jellybeans in the City

Piestang Pinoy from 121 Restaurant

Ooh, we’re right smack in the middle of the holiday season, and I bet you’re missing the experience of going back to the province, getting together with the relatives for the annual family reunion and gorging yourself on regional dishes while joining the merrymaking of the town fiesta, right?

Well, that’s currently not possible, and, somehow, substituting a real clan get-together with a virtual party over Zoom just doesn’t feel the same.

After all, is it a real party if you all can’t partake of the same tasty delicacies?

Well, how about letting the guys at 121 Restaurant whip up a fiesta for you and your folks?

With its Pyestang Pinoy platters, you can relive your festivities virtually with well-loved Pinoy dishes with servings sizeable enough for a big family meal (Pambahay, good for 10 people), an office party (Pambatalyon, good for 20 people) or for a whole clan (Pambarangay, good for 50 people).

Take the Ati-Atihan (Php292 per person), for example. This hearty meal brings the energy of the famous Aklan festival with its inclusions of:

Grilled Liempo.

Lumpiang Shanghai.

Pancit Bihon with Canton.

Biko.

Other Pyestang Pinoy variants include:

The Kadayawan (Php274 per person): Pork Siomai, Bangus Tempura, Pancit Bihon with Canton and Sapin-sapin.
The Higantes (Php335 per person): Lumpiang Shanghai, Pancit Palabok, Marinated Fried Chicken and Biko.
The Sinulog (Php370 per person). Grilled Liempo, Grilled Porkchop, Lumpiang Shanghai and Pork Siomai

Each Pyestang Pinoy Set is served with rice. Free 2-liter Coke provided for orders good for 20 people and more.

If you feel like gifting someone with a scrumptious taste of home, you can send them a Paborito Box (Php459), single servings of Pinoy faves conveniently packaged in one box. Choose from three variants such as:

Luzon: Lumpiang Shanghai, Nachos, Porkchop, one slice of Biko and one piece of Polvoron
Visayas: Pork Siomai, Cheesesticks, Pork BBQ Sticks, two pieces of Polvoron
Mindanao: Lumpiang Shanghai, Empanada, Buffalo Wings, Monggo Soup, one pack of Peanuts and one piece Polvoron

So if you’re hosting your fam’s virtual reunion, you can all be one in merrymaking and feasting on favorite Filipino dishes with 121 Restaurant’s Pyestang Pinoy.

To order your Pyestang Pinoy sets or Paborito Box, call +63 2 7577 7557 or +63 917 3296997, email sales@121resto.com or order online.

Payments via cash on delivery, bank transfer or G-Cash QR code are accepted. 121 Restaurant delivers in Makati, Mandaluyong, Pasig, Pasay, San Juan, Taguig, Paranaque, and Quezon City.

Disclosure: Product sample was provided to facilitate a feature story.

Sarap ka-pares from Pares Retiro

What can I say?

After I realized I could just have my fam’s faves from Pares Retiro delivered to my home, I just can’t get enough of it.

Truth be told: I haven’t eaten at a Pares Retiro outlet yet. All my encounters with its much-vaunted pares offerings were all through delivery: the first one was at work when my officemate and I ordered from the Pares Retiro branch in Tomas Morato via LalaFood, and the succeeding ones after the pandemic hit when its offerings became available in our neck of the woods via GrabFood’s Long Distance Delivery.

In fact, our orders don’t really stray from our tried and tested favorites:

Classic Pares Meal (Php223). Pairing slow-braised, tender beef pares with garlic fried rice is surely a stroke of genius. The result is a delicious dynamic between sweet and savory that we Pinoys go crazy over.

Pares Tendon Meal (Php217). What will make the classic pares dish made even more irresistible? Well, the addition of melt-in-your-mouth pieces of litid, that’s what! Those chunks of imported US beef tendon just adds flavor and texture to the dish.

It’s a rare occasion when my entire family all wholeheartedly agree on the merits of a particular dish or restaurant, but Pares Retiro’s Classic Pares and Pares Tendon Meals have more than earned that distinction.

Now, if only they will open a branch nearer to our home so I won’t have to pay as much for delivery!

This Pares Retiro branch is located at SM Hypermarket, EDSA Corner Main Avenue, Cubao, Quezon City, open daily from 9am to 6pm. Pares Retiro delivers via GrabFood, LalaFood and via Pares Retiro’s website.

Tapa Box delivery from Tapa King

Sometimes, the stars align and everyone in the family agrees that they just had a good meal.

This Sunday, after running morning errands and lunchtime looming just a short hour away, neither Hubby nor I were in the mood to handle the stress of meal prep and cooking.

Well, I thought to myself, this looks like a job for my food delivery apps!

So off I went, tap-tap-tapping on my phone, looking for food that I can have delivered for the fam’s Sunday lunch. My criteria is that the meal should appeal to the fam’s collective taste in food, not be something we recently ate (for variety), and should cost below Php1,000, delivery fee included (because payday is still a few days away!).

Lo and behold, the solution to my dilemma was at my doorstep less than an hour later.

The fam’s meal consisted of five sets of Tapa King Classic.

Tapa King started as a hole-in-the-wall business in 1987 in Makati CBD. Today, it’s a chain of restaurants with presence, not just in the Philippines but also in Singapore and the United Arab Emirates. Despite recently undergoing a brand refresh and store makeover, it remains true to its original intent: to serve homestyle Pinoy comfort food – tapa.

Tapa is basically marinated beef, stir-fried in oil and, when served with fried egg and garlic fried rice, forms the iconic tapsilog (tapa–sinangag–itlog).

The Tapa King Classic is the formerly known as Tapa King (yes, there were also a Tapa Queen and a Tapa Prince). It is tapa cooked the traditional way, seasoned with spices that bring out the beef’s natural flavors. With fried egg and garlic fried rice included in the order, it is a deliciously satisfying meal.

You can have it as a solo meal at Php169.

Or you can choose to have all the meals in the 4-in-1 Box (Php678) be all Tapa King Classics. You even get solo bottles of Pepsi to go with your meal.

In our case, I opted for both so the whole fam – myself, hubby, the kiddos and yaya – can all enjoy our own Tapa King Classic. Thanks to a a GrabFood free delivery promo, my total bill came in at just Php847.

Thanks to Tapa King, I escaped lunchtime stress. Now, on to worrying about dinner…

This Tapa King branch is located at G/F L&Y Plaza E. Rodriguez Ave. Brgy. Ugong, Pasig City, open daily from 6am to 8pm for dine-in, takeout and delivery. For inquiries, reservations or orders, call +63 2 82916254 or +63 915 0611117, or course your food delivery via GrabFood or FoodPanda.

Hot soothing goto from Goto Believe, Kapitolyo

We’ve been inundated with quite a lot of bad hits lately. Faced with the pandemic, still raging across the globe, and the spate of typhoons that battered our country, we sometimes want to curl up somewhere warm and comforting.

That is what goto brings: the comforting warmth that fills the tummy and soothes the soul.

During a particularly rainy day, Hubby decided to have goto for our merienda.

Also called arroz caldo con goto (which roughly translates to “rice soup with tripe”), goto is made with glutinous rice infused with ginger. Afterwards, thin strips of boiled tripe and other proteins are added to the porridge before the dish is garnished with a hard-boiled egg, toasted garlic and diced scallions. It’s great for chilly rainy days or for chasing away a hangover.

In our case, our goto snack is something to slurp on as we binge-watch some K-dramas during a rainy day.

Hubby ordered our snack from a relatively new goto place called Goto Believe which reinvents the classic porridge.

Our meal consisted of:

Goto Heaven (Php108). Hot ginger-infused rice porridge with strips of tripe, beef tendon, innards and meat.

Grilled Chicharong Bulaklak (Php126/2 sticks). Crispy and flavorful ruffled pork fat in skewers.

These are not the healthiest of food combinations but that’s why they’re comfort food, right?

If you want to have your own bowl of comforting goto delivered right to your doorstep to chase away the rainy day blues, order online or via GrabFood or FoodPanda.

Pinoy-style fried chicken delivery from Max’s Chicken

In this blog, I’ve covered various ways to enjoy fried chicken: from Korean- and Japanese-style then all the way across the globe to Southern US-style.

But particular attention should also be given to the fried chicken that’s near and dear to many a Pinoy’s heart: the fried chicken from Max’s Restaurant.

This restaurant had its beginnings in post-WWII Quezon City, when Stanford-educated teacher Maximo Gimenez befriended the American troops stationed nearby and would invite them to his home for a drink or two. This led to Maximo opening a cafe catering to the GIs.

The fried chicken recipe which would become the restaurant’s claim to fame across generations was created by Maximo’s niece, Ruby, who managed the kitchen.

Today, Max’s Restaurant is The House That Fried Chicken Built. It is where people go to for a taste of simply delicious juicy and flavorful fried chicken, as well as other Filipino dishes.

And luckily for me, it delivers!

One Saturday when I was in no mood to cook, I decided to cook for the fam’s lunch, I decided to just order our ulam from Max’s Restaurant via FoodPanda.

So, having asked my yaya to cook lots and lots of rice, the fam and I lunched on:

Regular Chicken (Php575). A whole chicken cooked the Max’s way. At first look, the chicken looks quite small, but don’t worry; it packs a lot of flavor. As in, sarap to the bones, as they say. Of course, this dish would not be complete without its perfect complement: Max’s house banana ketchup!

Vegetable Kare-Kare (Php425). Max’s vegetarian take on the classic Pinoy dish. Lightly blanched veggies immersed in a rich peanut sauce and served with Max’s house bagoong. Since the sauce is quite flavorful, this dish is a great way to induce the kiddos to eat veggies.

While it was a simple meal, it was quite delicious, one I’m looking forward to having again soon!

To have your Max’s Pinoy-style fried chicken and more delivered to your home, call +63 2 88879000, order online or via Food Panda.

Comfort food delivery from Pares Retiro, P. Tuazon

Lately, we’ve been craving for comfort food, right?

Now more than ever, we’re looking for that feeling of well-being and fullness that comfort food brings.

An example of Pinoy comfort food that I was happy to rediscover is beef pares. This dish is braised beef stewed in a savory-sweet sauce and served with garlic fried rice, making winning combo indeed!

For me, the benchmark for beef pares is the one I tasted prior to the quarantine, when my officemate and I had our lunch delivered from the Pares Retiro near our office. I guess that’s why this resto chain was dubbed the best pares in town. I get cravings for it sometimes since then.

However, I’ve been stuck at home for the past few months and the nearest Pare Retiro is too far for delivery.

That is, until GrabFood made Pares Retiro in P. Tuazon available for long-distance delivery. Yey!

I found out about it when Hubby gave in to his late-night cravings and had some beef pares and bone marrow delivered for us to devour in between episodes of the K-drama we’re bingeing on.

(Spoiler Alert: they were gone in mere minutes that I haven’t been able to take decent pictures!)

That late-night taste intensified my craving for the dish again so I decided to order from Pares Retiro via GrabFood for our dinner.

Tonight, the kiddos and I feasted on:

Classic Pares Meal (Php208). That winning tamdem of beed pares and garlic fried rice. The slow-braised meat is fork-tender and the sauce has the right dynamic between sweet and savory that goes so well with the garlic fried rice.

Pares Tendon Meal (Php214). The classic pares dish made even more irresistible with the addition of melt-in-your-mouth pieces of imported US beef tendon that adds flavor and texture to the dish.

Bone Marrow (Php189). Roasted bone marrow flavored with herbs and spices. Add a bit of bone marrow to each bite of pares and rice and you’ll see why the fam and I got obsessed with it. I only wish there was more of it.

These dishes are not high-brow nor elaborate. Instead, they are simple dishes that give us comfort especially during these trying times.

This Pares Retiro branch is located at P. Tuazon Corner 17th Avenue, Cubao, Quezon City. It delivers via GrabFood, LalaFood, FoodPanda and Pares Retiro’s website.

#QuarantitaTreats: Pinoy and proud bubble tea drinks from Boba Unibers

Rain or shine, it’s always a good time for a boba tea.

These delish concoctions can give us a much-needed sugar boost to get us going, or refresh us after a hot or grueling day.

Boba (“bubble”) gets its name from the chewy pearls made of tapioca soaked in sugar syrup that look like dark bubbles which add texture to your drink.

Boba teas originated from Taiwan in the 1980s when the smaller pearls were used for milk teas. An enterprising shop owner then decided to use larger pearls in a bid to make his offerings stand out.

Boba teas then made their way across the globe and soon established a foothold in the Philippines with new shops offering all sorts of bubble tea variants opening every month.

The newest of these boba tea shops is Boba Unibers, managed by twenty-seven-year-old Jacques Michael Buenviaje together with his partner, twenty-six-year-old Katrina Mikaela Laygo.

Both were working in a five-star hotel in BGC when the pandemic struck the metro. They decided to leave their hotel jobs and forge new paths for themselves, which, luckily for us boba tea lovers, includes launching Boba Unibers.

As you can discern from their business’ moniker, #PinoyPride infuses their business and product concept.

By incorporating local flavors and ingredients to their boba tea offerings, they bring milk tea fans like us fresh ways to enjoy our favorite drink while tapping into our sense of nostalgia (plus they also help local farmers by sourcing their coffee beans and muscovado from them).

Being good to the environment is also high on their list of priorities. Not only do they eschew the use of single-use plastics, they also made use of reusable glass jars and edible straws (made with rice and tapioca) which scored major points with my environmentally-aware daughter, #ExhibitA.

Now let’s talk about Boba Unibers’ drinks, shall we?

Wintermelon (Php75). Made with BU’s special tea blend, caramel-y wintermelon syrup, milk, house syrup and boba. #ExhibitA reserved this boba as soon as she saw it.

Taro (Php75). Made with BU’s special tea blend, taro, milk, house syrup and boba. A creamy masterpiece of a drink! (And cutely light purple too!)

Champorado (Php85). Made with BU’s special tea blend, tablea rice milk, house syrup, powdered milk and boba. Who would have thought that our favorite chocolatey breakfast item would taste so good in boba tea form? My son #ExhibitB snatched this up as soon as I was done taking photos.

Pandan Yema (Php85). Made with BU’s special tea blend, milk, pandan yema syrup and boba. A mix of the mild taste of pandan and the milky salted caramel-like taste of yema made for a candy-like sweet drink.

Salted Pistachio (Php110). Made with pistachio syrup, caramel sauce, caramel syrup, Kievit and Lipton Tea. This milky and slightly nutty drink will satisfy pistachio lovers.

Cold Brew Milk Tea (Php85). Made with BU’s special tea blend, milk, cold brew coffee and boba. This woke me right up from my mid-afternoon stupor.

These are just a sampling of the many possibili-teas that Boba Unibers has launched into the milk tea stratosphere, with more flavors to come as Jacques and Katrina continue to experiment with new flavors and ingredients.

So #quarantitas (or #quaranTEAtas?), let’s help these young entrepreneurs raise our flag and bring the spotlight to the unique flavors we Pinoys love by supporting Boba Unibers.

To order, call +63 906 3485071 or message Boba Uniberse on Facebook or Instagram. Cashless payments via GCash, Metrobank and BDO, as well as cash on delivery, are accepted. The jars of milk tea can be delivered from Cainta to Rizal and Metro Manila areas via GrabExpress, Lalamove, Mr. Speedy, Angkas and Joyride (to be shouldered by the buyer).

Disclosure: Product samples were provided to facilitate an honest review.

Check out my blog posts on other small enterprises and startups in the food business:

Flashback to my childhood with Mama Lola’s Suman sa Latik

We Pinoys do love our kakanin, don’t we?

These are the sticky rice cakes that many of us used to wolf down for merienda after a bout of running around the neighborhood with our pals.

The term kakanin is the portmanteau of the Filipino words kain (“to eat”) and kanin (“rice”). Made with glutinous rice and coconut milk, and sweetened with sugar or accompanied by sweet fruits, these rice treats can go a long way in re-energizing youngsters after playing all afternoon and tide them over until dinnertime.

One of my favorites is the suman, a kakanin in which the glutinous rice is cooked in coconut milk and streamed and is usually served wrapped in banana leaves. There are many ways to enjoy this rice dessert: the ones my lola in Bataan used to make is composed of short cylinders of that I would dip in sugar before eating, while my mom likes to lightly fry some in oil until they get a little crispy.

I was already an adult by the time I came across a new variant called suman sa latik. In this suman iteration, the rice cake is doused with latik, or caramelized coconut milk. This makes for a decadent dessert or filling merienda.

Thanks to a fellow foodie sharing his snack stash, I was able to get a taste of Mama Lola’s Suman sa Latik one afternoon.

These suman are handmade with love, just like how our lolas used to make.

These are best enjoyed right away, but as I had a couple of telecons that Saturday afternoon, I delayed eating them for a while. No worries, though; I just reheated a piece in the microwave for half a minute before pouring some of the caramelized coconut cream sauce over it, and placed the rest in the fridge.

And since I couldn’t keep such a yummy treat to myself, I sent a few pieces over to my mom, who also loved it!

You can get your own box of Mama Lola’s Suman sa Latik for just Php200. It contains six pieces of banana leaf-wrapped suman and a generous helping of latik, more than enough to satisfy your suman craving.

To order, send your name, contact number, delivery address and number of orders to Mama Lola’s Suman sa Latik on Facebook or Instagram for delivery anywhere in Metro Manila or Cavite on Saturday. Cashless payments via BDO, BPI and GCash are accepted.

If you are not consuming your suman sa latik right away, they may be kept in the refrigerator for up to seven days. Aside from microwaving, they may be reheated using a steamer for thirty minutes.

Go ahead and order a box of Mama Lola’s Suman sa Latik to share with the fam and reminisce about the good ole’ days.

Thanks to Harvard of AlwaysHungry.PH for sharing his snack stash!

Check out my blog posts on other small enterprises and startups in the food business:

‘Tis the start of the season for fam celebrations with Silverspoon

Just like that: September is here, momshies. And so begins the world’s longest Christmas season.

And while the whole world is still battling that dread virus, you still shouldn’t let it keep you from celebrating what joys you can, right?

Life does go on, so let’s celebrate it with good food, especially now when you won’t have to slave away in the kitchen to serve the fam a show-stopping meal, thanks to SilverSpoon.

The brainchild of thirty-year-old financial advisor and budding food entrepreneur Decebelle Montefrio, SilverSpoon brings tasty gourmet dishes to your table for your family to enjoy.

It was Decie’s dream since her college days to pursue her love of cooking and have her own food business. When the pandemic struck the country a few months after she returned to the Philippines from Canada, she decided to set up an online food business instead. By June this year, Decie has launched SilverSpoon, offering viands that appeal to the Pinoy palate which are also close to her heart such as:

Roasted Potato Wedge Snack (Php180). Generous wedges of potatoes, flavored with herbs and seasoning and oven-roasted until golden brown. It’s great for munching while binge-watching your favorite TV shows, or as a appetizer to a fabulous meal.

Butter Garlic Shrimp Platter (Php630). Plump shrimps lightly breaded and coated in a flavorful sauce of butter and garlic, great with lots and lots of rice! Also available in a solo meal with rice and veggies for Php230.

Honey Garlic Liempo Platter (Php380). Tender grilled pork belly glazed in a sweet-savory honey garlic sauce. Also available in a solo meal with rice and veggies for Php150.

Lechon Kawali Solo Meal (Php150). Deep fried pork belly with crunchy skin and flavorful meat served with rice and veggies. Also avail also as a Platter for Php360.

Spicy Adobo Solo Meal (Php150). Decie’s childhood pork adobo recipe with a bit of a spicy kick. True to the adage that adobo gets better in its second serving, leftovers from this generously portioned dish were also great as adobo flakes the next day. Also available as a Platter for Php350.

To order a belly-filling and heart-warming gourmet meal for your family, message SilverSpoon on Facebook or Instagram, or text +63 936 8102017. Pre-orders for next-day delivery are accepted until cut-off at 8pm. Payments via GCash, BPI or BDO, as well as cash on delivery are accepted. Orders may be delivered from SilverSpoon’s kitchens in Commonwealth, Quezon City to anywhere in Metro Manila (delivery fee to be shouldered by the buyer).

So, momshies, have a merry early start to your holiday celebrations with SilverSpoon!

Disclosure: Product samples were provided to facilitate an honest review.

Check out my blog posts on other small enterprises and startups in the food business:

No-stress meal from Jampax Foods Delivery

Momshies, just because you spend more time at home nowadays doesn’t mean you’re less stressed, right?

With all that juggling between working from home, and all the stuff you need to work on at home, it’s enough to make you get frazzled sometimes.

Fortunately, the folks over at Jampax can take stress out of preparing your family’s next meal.

A group of friends who used to work in food industry before the pandemic hit our shores banded together and put their skill sets to bear to whip up tasty yet affordable rice meals for online selling.

Here’s a sampling of what you can expect from Jampax:

Gyoza (Php45/5 pieces). Mini-versions of the popular Japanese potstickers made with ground meat and minced vegetables flavored by garlic and aromatics wrapped in thin dough wrappers. This is my daughter’s favorite dumpling and she considers no Japanese meal complete without it.

Katsudon (Php110). Tender piece of pork loin, breaded and deep-fried served with egg cooked in a sweet and savory sauce over steamed rice and sprinkled with toasted sesame seeds. My little boy can’t get enough of it!

Chicken Inasal (Php85 | Php100 with rice). A boneless quarter leg of chicken flavored in the traditional Ilonggo marinade of calamansi, pepper, coconut vinegar and annato then roasted until tender and flavorfully smokey.

Other dishes from Jampax’s home-cooked menu include:

Chicken Teriyaki (Php85 | Php100 with rice)
Karaage (Php85 | Php100 with rice)
Tonkatsu (Php85 | Php100 with rice)
Pork Siomai (Php40/5 pieces)
Japanese Siomai (Php55/5 pieces)

Lumpiang Shanghai (Php45/5 pieces)

These dishes are jam-packed with flavor and can be enjoyed in a variety of ways:

A single order can be a busy office worker’s hassle-free lunch
Several orders can be family’s quick and easy dinner
Large orders can be a crew meal for outdoor projects and or party fare for big celebrations

Want to stock up on food you can cook later? Jampax also offers marinated chicken wings and chicken breast fillets at Php200 per half-kilo pack (in flavors garlic parmesan, hickory barbecue and buffalo flavors), as well as frozen pork siomai, Japanese siomai, gyoza and lumpiang shanghai for Php70 per twelve-piece pack.

So momshies, kiss the stress away for your fam’s mealtime. Just order your food at Jampax by calling +63 915 5850297 or sending a message on Facebook or Instagram between 8am and 6pm daily with a two-day lead time (same day orders may be accommodated depending on stock availability). Cashless payments via BPI and GCash are accepted and encouraged. Delivery is free in selected areas in Cavite.

Disclosure: Product samples were provided to facilitate an honest review.

Check out my blog posts on other small enterprises and startups in the food business: