Petra & Pilar

So there were were at the office one night, wondering where to have dinner. Sometimes when you always eat out, you get tired of the same fastfood joints and restaurants. Yes, don't get me started on how unhealthy it can be to always be ingesting fastfood stuff. That night though, we decided to try something new. What that thing is, we didn't know yet. But we were tight on budget so an economical meal was in order.

Dinner on a tight budget? What came to mind was the ever-reliable carinderia, where you can have small but fulfilling portions of meat, veggies, and rice and shell out less than a hundred pesos for it. So I Googled "Makati Carinderia". Anton Diaz's famous blog with an article for Petra & Pilar came out on top.

The photos revealed that this was not your ordinary carinderia but we were intrigued by the name and so off we went for dinner to this place.


Petra & Pilar is located near the outskirts of the business district, and yet it exudes a Greenbeltesque atmosphere. Outside are generously distributed tables and chairs, and the main dining area is brightly-lit, airy, and spacious. And in the manner akin to carinderias, food is laid-out in trays and you fall in line to order. The food is served to your table, though.



While waiting for our food to arrive, we chatted with the staff and learned that Petra & Pilar are actually the names of the mothers of Senator Enrile and his wife, respectively. Interesting trivia, eh? So that's why the restaurant is located at the Jaka Building, which the Enrile family owns.

Inside the restaurant is the Delimondo store, which specializes in flavored oils, wines, preserved meats, and reputably the best corned beef in town.

And the food? One word: wonderful!

Bacolod Chicken House

Why have a simple grilled chicken when you can have chicken inasal? "Inasal" is like taking grilled chicken to a whole new dimension. The marinade and spices make the chicken more delectable, especially with soy sauce infused with chili and calamansi as dip! Chicken inasal traces its roots to the flavorful regions of the south, the more popular spot being Bacolod.

I remember tasting one of the best chicken inasal ever when my friends and I went on a four-day vacation at Palawan. Our lodging was situated very near a chicken inasal restaurant and we had this for dinner every night! It was so good that people truly go out of their way to visit the place and it's always packed with people, especially at night.

In my early years of working in Manila, our office was quite near the Bacolod Chicken House right beside Kamayan along Pasay Road in Makati. There were a lot of evenings when all of us, including management, would troop to this place (which was open-air dining) and get our fill of chicken inasal. It seemed like the place was going to stay there forver, even when its neighboring stalls were demolished and the place made to look like a deserted lot for years. But just last month we were surprised to see the stall being demolished. We wondered where they went to, and I caught up with them by accident. As in, literally, I was just walking along Don Chino Roces Avenue when I spied their restaurant, which is now indoors and with air conditioning.

It's a nice, clean place. Everything is brand-spanking new. A 180-degree change from the open-air barbecue atmosphere.

Eggplant Patties

Eggplant patties, or "Tortang Talong", is one of my favorite eggplant preparations. I have only recently begun to appreciate its being part of dinengdeng, pinakbet, or kare-kare (I usually just let the others take it); I also like it sliced thinly and fried, and as part of the vegetable tempura medley.

I didn't realize that the lowly Tortang Talong can be elevated to a sumptious dinner fare until I was served a couple while on business trip at the Eugenio Lopez Center in Antipolo. It accompanied beef cooked in sauce. At first, I didn't know what it was (the food was pre-ordered). I was just taking chunks of the beef and finding the taste a bit bland, decided to alternate it with the patty. Upon munching, I realized that it was an eggplant patty, but it decidedly had a taste of spices, particularly basil! I loved how the taste of the beef and the eggplant patty played in my mouth. I liked it so much that after dinner, when everyone else had left, I went to the kitchen and asked if I can have a copy of the recipe. I was not able to get it, but decided that it was worth a second try. I asked our Account Manager if she can get a copy of the recipe. The following day, it was in my e-mail! And with the permission of Eugenio Lopez Center, I share this recipe with you.

Rodic's Tapsilog

Filipinos have a knack at naming their food with catchy names, especially those sold on the streets. There is one dish, however, that is so well known that it can be found not only on food stands, but in fastfood stores and in restaurants as well. Ladies and gentlemen: the tapsilog.

Tapsilog is actually a combination of three words: tapa (beef), sinangag (fried rice), and itlog (egg). It sounds a lot like breakfast food but it's available any time of the day. This quick-fry food item has become so popular that there are even varieties that has the fried rice and egg (usually sunny side-up, but you may also request for scrambled, which I prefer) combo is partnered with hotdog (hotsilog), bangus (bangsilog), danggit (dangsilog), and so on... variety, it seems, is only limited by imagination!

Buttered broccoli

Broccoli is a plant of the Cabbage family, Brassicaceae (formerly Cruciferae). It is classified as the Italica Cultivar Group of the species Brassica oleracea. Broccoli possesses abundant fleshy flower heads, usually green in color, arranged in a tree-like fashion on branches sprouting from a thick, edible stalk. The large mass of flower heads is surrounded by leaves. Broccoli most closely resembles cauliflower, which is a different cultivar group of the same species, but broccoli is green rather than white. In the United States, the term refers exclusively to the form with a single large head. This form is sometimes called "Calabrese" in the United Kingdom, where sprouting (non-heading) types and those with underdeveloped flower buds are also sold as broccoli.

Broccoli is high in vitamin C and soluble fiber and contains multiple nutrients with potent anti-cancer properties including diindolylmethane and selenium. The 3,3'-Diindolylmethane found in broccoli is a potent modulator of the innate immune response system with anti-viral, anti-bacterial and anti-cancer activity. Broccoli also contains the compound glucoraphanin, which can be processed into an anticancer compound sulforaphane, though the benefits of broccoli are greatly reduced if the vegetable is boiled more than ten minutes. A high intake of broccoli has been found to reduce the risk of aggressive prostate cancer. Broccoli leaf is also edible and contains far more betacarotene than the florets.

Broccoli is usually boiled or steamed, but may be eaten raw and has become popular as a raw vegetable in hors-d'oeuvre trays. Although boiling has been shown to reduce the levels of suspected anticancer compounds in broccoli, other preparation methods such as steaming, microwaving, and stir-frying have been shown not to reduce the presence of these compounds.

excerpt from the Wikipedia article for broccoli

Even though we live in Baguio when we were kids, we did not have much of broccoli perhaps because... we just did not like it. We loved cauliflower though, and even scrambled for it when we had chopsuey on the dining table. My re-introduction to broccoli came in the form of the dish "beef broccoli" after college, and when I found out how expensive it can get in Manila, I buy either cauliflower or broccoli to bring back with me as pasalubong.

Here's a simple recipe made by my wife that's so easy to make (done in under 5 minutes!), and nutritious too!

Mangan

The word "Mangan" which means "eat", is one of the words that has a universal meaning for many regions in the country. Whether you are Ilocano or Kapampangan or Pangasinense for example, mangan means the same thing. Amazing, isn't it? I like to think that food is truly a passion amongst Filipinos, and "mangan" is one of those words that unify us.

The Filipino restaurant with this name is actually Kapampangan in origin. "Mangan tamu": these words grace the entrance as it invites people to have a seat and take a break from their hectic mall life.

On this occasion, I met with fellow bloggers at the Mall of Asia to meet and catch up (as if we don't do that already in our blogs! haha. Of course, nothing beats meeting face to face occasionally). We chose Mangan for our venue. The ambience and food is really great!