pork barbecue – Jellybeans in the City

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

It’s been a year and a half into the global pandemic, and we are just now feeling some loosening of the many restrictions.

With the Metro Manila recently de-escalated to Alert Level 2, kids are now allowed out of doors, emerging from more than a year of being stuck at home.

With Christmas just around the corner, extended families are surely looking forward to the time they can all gather together and catch up.

I know just the perfect venue for such gatherings: Mang Ding’s Pinoy BBQ in Marikina.

Let me tell you why:

1. Going there is like being welcomed into a family home.

Mang Ding’s is located in a quiet neighborhood in Barangay Sto. Nino, Marikina.

Restaurant owner Dindo Cleofas inherited his father’s (the original Mang Ding) love of grilling and wanted a restaurant where he can continue his father’s legacy as well as have a place where he can relax and chill with friends. Together with his wife, Dotie, he converted their home’s garden area into an outdoor dining space where he can serve customers his specialities, hot and fresh from the grill.

The space is shielded from the elements by a roofed pergola and surrounded by lush greenery, most of which were planted and nurtured by their family.

This open-air dining area is well-ventilated, equipped with fans to keep the air circulating and the surrounding plants adding refreshing color and coolness to space.

Walking into Mang Ding’s feels like visiting your favorite tita’s house; it’s a place where you feel right at home.

2. It can serve as your kids’ introduction to Pinoy comfort and street food.

A few months ago, I brought my parents here for dinner and upon seeing and tasting the familiar Filipino comfort food served to us, both my mom and dad waxed nostalgic about the dishes they grew up with. They regaled my daughter with stories about their foodie adventures back in the day.

If your kiddos are the “just fry me a hotdog, Mommy” type, it may be high time to introduce them to the simple yet sublime joys of good, down-home Pinoy cooking. You can be sure that lolos, lolas, titos and titas will waste no time in telling stories about their own experiences with Pinoy comfort food during your family party, and will help instill among the little ones healthy respect and appreciation for our culinary heritage.

You can count on Mang Ding’s to bring to the table an array of MALINIS, MASARAP at MURA dishes such as:

Ensaladang Talong (Php75).

Sizzling Tokwa Special (Php160).

Quarter Leg Chicken BBQ (Php150).

Boneless Chicken BBQ (Php180).

Isaw Manok (Php20).

BBQ Platter (Php575).

Boneless Bangus Overload (Php265).

Pompano (Php380).

Grilled Pusit (Php425).

Tuna Panga (Php485).

And if the children still want the hotdogs, longganisas and fried chicken that they’re familiar with, you can still accommodate their requests here, and even give them a sweet treat for dessert.

Grilled TJ Jumbo Hotdog (Php50).

Grilled Longganisa (Php55).

McJolly Pakpak (Php225 half kilo | Php400 kilo).

Belgian Chocolate (Php150 slice).

Since good food help spark great conversations and great moments, your fam is in for a memorable experience when you hold your get-together at Mang Ding’s.

3. You can enjoy its tasty dishes at home.

The fun doesn’t have to stop after the get-together. You can bring home the yummy Pinoy BBQ at home with you, thanks to this handy box. For just Php599, you get fifteen sticks of Mang Ding’s signature barbecue and isaw served with grilled corn as well as calamansi and siling labuyo for the dipping sauce.

On the other hand, if your family opted for a virtual reunion, you can still partake of the same meal during your Zoom party by sending them Mang Ding’s Ready-to-Grill Pinoy BBQ packs (basting and dipping sauce included) that they can cook at home in a jiffy.

These include, among others:

Liempo (Php360/500g).

Pork BBQ (Php600/20pcs) and Isaw Manok (Php460/20pcs).

Chicharon Bulaklak (Php325/500g).

So whether your clan decides to have a physical get-together or a virtual party over the holiday season and beyond, Mang Ding’s is surely your best bet!

Reserve the venue now for your clan gathering or book a table for lunch, dinner or drinks by calling +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.

Ferino’s Bibingka Merienda Blowout

With all the time spent at home with the fam, I’m glad I was able to find the opportunity to reacquaint the kiddos to our rich culinary heritage.

This initiative was greatly helped by my mother-in-law when she treated her kids and their respective families to a Pinoy-style merienda during her recent birthday by having local delicacies from Ferino’s Bibingka delivered to our respective homes.

Bibingka is kind of kakanin or rice cake made with galapong (glutinous rice flour) and cooked in clay pots lined with banana leaves. While it can be enjoyed year-round, bibingka is especially popular during the holiday season; it is the go-to food to be enjoyed after Misa de Gallo.

Ferino’s Bibingka started in pre-war Tondo, Manila when Ceferino Francisco, Sr. (also known as Mang Ferino) starter selling bibingka and puto bumbong on the sidewalk outside their rented apartment. The business grew after the war, such as when they opened Ferino’s Cafe in the Manila Hotel in the 1950s, another branch at the Fiesta Carnival in Cubao in the 1970s and more afterwards.

Most of these stores closed down with Mang Ferino’s passing but the Ferino’s Bibingka brand was revived by his grandson, Sonny Francisco, who began to operate bibingka dine-in and takeout stores in 2016.

Ferino’s Bibingka’s storied dishes made their way to our table by way of the Family Set 1 (Php880) sent by MIL as her birthday blowout. This set consisted of:

Bibingka Extra Super. Pure galapong mixed with two fresh eggs, topped with salted eggs and kesong-puti.

Pancit Palabok (Small Bilao). A traditional Filipino noodle dish which is made with round rice noodles doused in a gold-colored savory sauce topped with shrimp, crushed chicharon (pork rind), slices of hard-boiled egg and chopped green onions.

Pork Barbecue (6pieces). This popular Pinoy street food of pork barbecue consists of slices of pork skewered on bamboo sticks, marinated in sweet and savory barbecue sauce then grilled to smokey and tender doneness.

Palitaw sa Linga. Another kakanin which is made of flattened ground glutinous rice which are dropped in boiling water. The rice cakes rise up to the surface (“litaw“) when cooked which is how the dish got its name. It is served dipped in grated coconut, with a side of sugar and sesame seeds (“linga“).

Thanks to MIL, the fam was able to explore the richness of our local cuisine!

To order from Ferino’s Bibingka, you can:

Call +63 2 76227104 or text +63 917 6502331
Click/Tap the SHOP NOW button on Facebook Messenger
Order via GrabFood

Check out my reviews of other Filipino restaurants:

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

Momshies, do you sometimes wish that you could enjoy your guilty pleasures – like Pinoy street food – in full view of your kids?

Well, no need to hide your street food fix from your kids. In fact, you can take this opportunity to introduce them to Pinoy street food.

It’s all thanks to Mang Ding’s Pinoy BBQ and its frozen ready-to-grill Malinis, Masarap at Mura street food.

Mang Ding’s is where I had my first (and only!) taste of isaw. There, during a foodie meetup with fellow food bloggers, I had a whole lot of fun rediscovering tasty Pinoy street food, all freshly cooked at Mang Ding’s Instagrammable al fresco restaurant.

When Marikina was placed under quarantine and restrictions were placed on mobility and dining out, Mang Ding’s started offering its fare in frozen and ready-to-grill packs.

Each pack is frozen and vacuum-sealed, its contents seasoned and marinated with Mang Ding’s signature sauce.

Tonight, I flexed my indoor grilling muscles, got out my grilling pan and got to grilling.

And wouldn’t you believe it: it was actually quite easy!

First, I thawed out the frozen pack containing the pork barbecue and isaw. Then, I added six tablespoons of cooking oil to the basting sauce provided. I then brushed both sides of the meats while they were grilling until they’re done.

From the satisfying sizzle you hear as they grill, to the appetizing smell of barbecue wafting throughout the kitchen that had my eldest #ExhibitA blurt out “Ang bango, Ma!“, to the beautiful spread these make on my dining table, and to the my fam’s joy as we bite into the tender sweet-savory pork barbecue, isaw manok and isaw baboy, my fam’s Mang Ding’s Pinoy BBQ dinner is a feast for the senses.

So have one yourself. Treat your #TeamBahay to a lovely street food meal, right at home.

These ready-to-grill frozen packs are priced at:

Pork Barbecue: Php400/20 sticks
Isaw Manok: Php360/20 sticks
Isaw Baboy: Php450/20 sticks
Chicken Tail: Php550/20 pcs
Chicken Barbecue: Php390/3 pcs quarter leg (1 kilo)
Chicharon Bulaklak: Php280 (500 grams)
Liempo: Php270 (500 grams)
Rib Eye Steak: Php500/2 pcs (380 to 400 grams)

Mang Ding’s Pinoy BBQ branches are located at:

Shoe Avenue, Barangay Elena, Marikina City (store hours: daily from 11am to 6pm | Tel: +63 906 3977559)

Block 3, Lot 13 C Buenviaje Street, Barangay Santo Nino, Marikina City (store hours: daily from 11am to 6pm | Tel: +63 916 2853031)

Mang Ding’s Pinoy BBQ is open for dine-in, takeout, pickup and delivery via GrabFood. Safe cashless payments via BPI, BDO and GCash are also available.

Note: If you’re getting a frozen pack, place your order a day before. Mang Ding’s vacuum-packs on demand to ensure freshness.

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

Check out my reviews of other Filipino restaurants:

Chicken inasal meal at home from Mang Inasal, Libis

To me, grilled food is a taste of the outdoors.

Roasted chicken, or letson manok, is a welcome break from the braised, stewed, boiled or fried fare that the family and I usually have at home.

Chicken inasal, the version of roasted chicken from the Visayas, offered a delicious variance from our usual family meal. It is made by marinating the chicken in a mixture of calamansi, pepper, coconut vinegar and annatto then roasted over hot coals.

Well, as a treat for the fam (and a way for me to avoid cooking), I decided to order from Mang Inasal via GrabFood for our dinner. Thirty minutes after placing my order, my fam’s meal arrived, ready for eating.

Our meal included several orders of:

Pecho (Chicken Breast and Wing) Solo (Php125 each).

Paa (Chicken Thigh and Leg) Solo (Php109 each).

Pork Barbecue (Php39 per stick).

These chicken inasal solo meals are served with a cup of steamed rice and are best enjoyed with chicken oil (used to baste the chicken pieces) and a dipping sauce of calamansi, soy sauce and siling labuyo.

This delivery is from the Mang Inasal branch located at Intrepid Plaza, E. Rodriguez Jr. Avenue, Libis, Quezon City, via GrabFood.

Download the Grab App on the App Store or Google Play. Get a discount on your first food order when you use my code: GRABJELLYBEANS.

During the Enhanced Community Quarantine, other Mang Inasal branches in Metro Manila are open:

For delivery (via #73333): Navotas Bayan, East avenue, Novaliches Sta. Quiteria, San Roque Supermarket, San Lazaro, Kalentong, Pasong Tamo, Baclaran, Moonwalk, Gate 3
For takeout: Sangandaan Caloocan (+63 923 4025595), Navotas Bayan (+63 9399136147), Puregold Valenzuela (+63 918 3425363), Paso de Blas (+63 932 1336949), East Avenue (+63 933 8670280), Retiro (+63 933 8670279), Novaliches Sta. Quiteria (+63 925 6462725), San Roque Supermarket (+63 932 7998977), Doroteo Jose (+63 9332848245), Pedro Gil (+63 922 4132838), Kiko Camarin (+63 923 1283557), Hidalgo (+63 922 7620977), San Lazaro (+63 936 0962443), Parang Marikina (+63 932 2027036), Hillside Masinag (+63 917 1199318), MLQ Antipolo (+63 917 8143904), Ligaya Pasig (+63 977 8899997), Pasig Rotonda (+63 939 9159771), Pasig Market (+63 915 4061717), Puregold FTI (+63 922 9353717), Puregold Taguig (+63 922 9353717), Waterfun Taguig (+63 975 4824051), Gate 3 (+63 925 4944715), Pasong Tamo (+63 943 7055774), Guadalupe EDSA (+63 917 1165603), Evangelista (+63 942 3727748), Buendia Taft (+63 943 3292476), DD Meridian (+63 921 0097607), Burgos Arnaiz (+63 2 84423773), , Malibay Pasay (+63 932 5761960), Baclaran (+63 917 1782004), Lianas Sucat Paranaque (+63 923 7097331), Moonwalk (+63 927 8859925), Starmall Las Pinas (+63 923 4542164)