Aling Banang's: Over eight decades of glorious carinderia food

I've known about this carinderia Aling Banang's since my hubby brought me and the kids to one of its branches in San Juan some 15 years ago. Our youngest son had not yet been born then. The hubby was kinda excited as he drove us there, moreso when he finally got to eat his childhood favorite, the halo-halo ice cream. He'd been eating at Aling Banang's since he was a schoolboy, he said, and always, he was there for the halo-halo ice cream. This cold dessert only available, perhaps, at Aling Banang's, is quite unique because while it has the usual halo-halo ingredients, it doesn't have shaved ice, only ice cream! 

Aling Banang's might as well be the oldest existing carinderia nowadays. Owned by Urbana Silva Santiago, it started out as a small stall inside the San Juan public market in the 1930s,  serving only halo-halo. As the business grew, the menu expanded to include noodle dishes like palabok and pansit bihon. Today, Aling Banang's is perhaps the most "sosy" carinderia you could find not only because it is aesthetically a notch higher than the other small eateries, but also because it has many branches already - 14 in Metro Manila, 7 of them in San Juan. It offers a lot to the hungry whether for breakfast, lunch/dinner or merienda. There's dinuguan, fried chicken, sisig, tapsilog, pansit, goto, mami and a lot more.

Last month (June), I was delighted to see a branch of Aling Banang's open very near our office in Diliman, QC. Of course, I didn't wait long before I went there to get reacquainted with Aling Banang. Together with two of my kids (my youngest I brought with me to to work that day while his ate came visiting later in the day) and my friend/officemate Pam, I was there right after office hours. These were our orders: 

Lechon kawali, P45. with fried rice, P12.

Sizzling pork sisig with rice, P65.

Barbecue, P20/stick with plain rice, P10.

Palabok, P42.

There's free soup!

Aling Banang's famous Halo-Halo Ice Cream, P45.

Sago't gulaman, P15.

Inside Aling Banang's-Visayas Ave. That's my son playing invisible piano. Hehe.

I loved my lechon kawali so much, specially the crispy pork skin. Yummy! My kids loved their orders too, the sisig and barbecue. As for Pam, she wasn't all praises for her palabok, saying it was just "okay". I hope to try this myself soon, palabok being one of my favorite pansit varieties. Anyway, the halo-halo ice cream was good but not something to rave about.  In truth, I still go for plain ice cream or the usual halo-halo. By the way, I was there at Aling Banang's for the second time today, again having lechon kawali for lunch. Hehe. I was by my lonesome though because Pam was sick and absent from work. Sigh... It doesn't mean, however, that I had a lonely meal. I was happy to have my lechon kawali again.  :-)

Amber on a 'Black Saturday'

It was the Lent Saturday, which Roman Catholics call "Black Saturday". With this, a lot of restaurants were closed along the stretch of Timog Avenue as well as Tomas Morato in Quezon City (This area is a true foodie's haven because almost all buildings here have restaurants). Thankfully, Amber was open as I was craving for some really good Pancit Malabon. The first and last time I ate Amber's Pancit Malabon was around August last year when one of my co-workers fed us in the office with it as her birthday treat. I liked it so much that since then, I've been wanting to have it again. And yesterday, I finally had that chance. Sadly, it was Black Saturday and fewer customers came by, probably the reason a lot of items on the menu that we (two of the kids were with me) wanted to try were not available. There wasn't even a grain of rice, much to the dismay of my bunso (youngest child), who eats rice for merienda (snacks) The only noodle dishes available were spaghetti and the pancit malabon. I was quite disappointed because we wanted to also have pancit bihon or sotanghon and buttered fried chicken. The server said they could prepare it but we would have to wait 30-40 minutes for it. Whaaat? No, our grumbling tummies could not wait that long. Hehe. These were our orders:

Pancit Malabon, P55.

Spaghetti, P65.

Lumpiang shanghai, P8 apiece; Barbecue, P20 per stick.

The lumpiang shanghai is quite big.

Yummy barbecue!

The Pancit Malabon did not disappoint, it was as good as I remembered. My daughter didn't like the spaghetti that much, though. Even the lumpiang shanghai was forgettable. But the barbecue, it was delicious, we all liked it. One more thing I liked here, the food gave the bang for the buck! Where else can you have barbecue for only P20? On the street, of course, but no other restaurant that I know of can equal that offer. I disliked, however, that they only used disposable plates and utensils. A turnoff for me. But all in all, Amber is still a nice place to eat. 

Inside Amber 

Amber at Tomas Morato cor.  Scout Castor St. in Quezon City



Amber has branches in Filmore corner Emilia Sts., Brgy. Palanan, Makati City; South National Highway, between kilometers 26 & 27 Brgy. Bayanan, Muntinlupa City; 19 EDSA, Brgy. Barangka Ilaya, Mandaluyong City; 175 Tomas Morato corner Scout Castor Brgy. Laging Handa, Quezon City; 8261 Dr. A. Santos Avenue (formerly Sucat Road) Brgy. San Dionisio, Paranaque City; Ground Floor, PELBEL Bldg., 2019 Shaw Boulevard Brgy. Oranbo, Pasig City; Unit 3, Ground Floor, Madison Square Building Madison Street corner Ortigas Avenue; Brgy. North Greenhills, San Juan City and on Kalaw St., in front of the 
National Library in Manila.