Bullish for Bullchef!

T'was another fun, fun Saturday last week. I was again in Pasig City for my second food trip there with one of my dearest chums, Chie. I also tagged along my youngest son this time (wrong decision. haha!) . We went to Bullchef as we had planned. For some reasons, our visit was delayed by a week, though, making me and my friend "sad" because we were already craving for bulalo. But then we were bullish we'd be able to push through with our plans the following weekend and we did, making our bulalo dreams come true. Haha!
Bullchef, by the way, means bulalo chef (so they say), and this soupy beef dish is of course the star in this small but now popular restaurant. Last year, just to recall, Bullchef was featured in the GMA NewsTV program "Poptalk" when they went on a Pasig food trip. Since watching that episode, I'd been wanting to eat there, bulalo being one of my top favorite Pinoy dishes. Thanks to my friend for finally presenting me the chance and being a very willing food trip companion. Oh well, I'm now sharing what we had: 

Bullilit (Bulalo Regular), P135.

Sizzling T-Bone Steak, P179. 

Sizzling Burger Steak, P135.

Free Bulalo Soup

Red Iced Tea, P25. and Ripe Mango Shake, P39.

Inside Bullchef

Pictures of their celebrity-customers fill the wall

Celebs' signatures 

Everything we had was delicious! My bulalo was heavenly - the soup was packed with flavor, beef chunks were tender and there was a lot of veggies - a piece of corn on the cob, Baguio beans and Baguio pechay. Loved it! Chie loved her T-Bone steak too. She gave me a piece to try and I liked it as well. It was very tender and the gravy was yummy. But my little boy, who initially said his burger steak was delicious, only had a few spoonfuls and then no more. What a waste. As I said, it was no good decision to bring along a little kid on a food trip. My son, particularly,  only likes Jollibee, McDonald's or KFC. He doesn't like anything that's new to him. Well, I tasted his burger steak and I liked it. I also loved that there was enough of the buttered veggie side dish. Oh well, there's no doubt I'd be coming back to Bullchef. There's a lot of other dishes to try: tapsilog, beef sinigang, sisig, etc. 
By the way, Bullchef is at #4 East Capitol Drive,  Kapitolyo, Pasig City.

I.I.B.B.'s 'bulalo' to remember

I love bulalo (that irresistible soupy dish made out of boiling beef bone marrow or pata or pork leg).  What Pinoy doesn't? Especially on a rainy day when it's cold, a steaming bowl of bulalo best offers warmth and comfort. But there was a whole week last month when I wanted bulalo for a different reason apart from the weather. I was having so much trouble because of a bad tooth and had difficult time chewing food. If I wasn't having lugaw (congee), I'd look for bulalo so I could soften my rice with the soup and just swallow without having to chew. 

One Saturday just before finally being able to go to the dentist, I, in the company of two of my kids, dropped by this eatery near the UDMC hospital in Welcome (Mabuhay?) Rotunda, that I had been curious about for years. Posted above the entrance was four letters: I.I. B.B. It was only when we got inside that I learned what it meant: Ihaw-Ihaw, Balot-Balot. Hmm.. interesting..barbecue and eating on banana leaves on my mind. I read the menu and almost shrieked in delight. Bulalo! Just what I hoped for! I've forgotten if they had beef bulalo but it was pata bulalo that I ordered. My son had chicken barbecue that was served with rice, boiled egg and tomato, all wrapped in banana leaves. My daughter settled just for pizza roll, which was something new to us. All that we ordered tasted good, especially my bulalo. It was the best bulalo I've ever had! The soup was very hot and sooo flavorful! Made me wonder how many hours the pata had been left to boil to make the soup very savory. Plus, there's a lot of veggies! Definitely worth daydreaming about. Haha! 

Pata Bulalo, P110.

Chicken barbecue binalot, P79.

Pizza Roll, P39.

Sago't Gulaman, P30.

Buko Juice, P35.

Inside I.I.B.B.

Check out this I.I.B.B. They serve Filipino dishes like dinuguan, fried crablets, sisig,  tapsilog and many more. All at pocket-friendly prices that allow having a feast. :-) 

Relishing mom and sis' cooking

My mom, who is now 84 years old, is a good cook, presumably the reason my dad can't live without her. Haha! You see, my parents live in my dad's hometown of San Francisco in Quezon province, away from us kids when we were young (It was our two lolas who looked after us). Whenever mom visits us in Manila, she doesn't stay long because dad doesn't want her away too many days. Suffice to say, it's a rare treat to enjoy mom's cooking, so when my kids and I spent two weeks in Quezon last May, I was gastronomically delighted! Add to this that my sister who is herself an expert cook and baker, came home from Canada and my tummy was ecstatic! The ever busy mom and career woman that I am was just too happy relaxing and waiting for what mom and sis had prepared come mealtimes. Attempts to diet were thrown out the window. Haha! The pics here show some of what my mom and sister had cooked and prepared for us during our two-week vacation in Quezon.

Kare-kare. Mom does not buy ground rice and peanut but pounds these herself with the help of her well, helper. That explains the coarse texture, but mind you, that doesn't mean mom's kare-kare is not good because it is!

Hibasanan. 'Hibas' means low tide in our hometown, which is when these shells are gathered. Mom I think sautées
the shells with ginger. You will have to use a pin (perdible) to get the edible part. Need I say it's quite hard to eat hibasanan? Well, not really if you have a mother like mine who does the hard job for us. :-)

This is Nilagang Baka but let me tell you, this is not your ordinary nilaga. We call this Tinaphan (inihaw or grilled) na Nilagang Baka because my mom grills the meat and beef marrow before she makes them into Bulalo. The process gives the soup a wonderful smoky flavor that sets it apart from bulalo elsewhere. My mom's Nilagang Baka is really special!

Sinaing na Bigas at Mais. This is how my parents want their rice - mixed with ground corn. I love it!

Tinolang Native na Manok. Tinola is best when native, free-range chicken is used because the latter is more flavorful than the 45-day variety. The soup is really good!  I got my bowl filled ahead of the others so I would get the chicken blood and gizzard.

Ginataang Dalungyan. This is not 'langka' and I don't know what this called in Manila and other provinces but it looks like a small version of a jackfruit. In my opinion, dalungyan is better-tasting than langka.

Steamed fish. Sister cooked this. Tastes good and healthy, too.

Palabok. Sister made this on our mom's birthday. Delish!