Spotlight on Red Ribbon's palabok

If you ask what's the best palabok for me, I'd say it's a toss between Nathaniel's and Red Ribbon's. I like that they both come with just the right amount of sauce (I shun the too saucy kind), though Red Ribbon's a little dry when you mix it all up. A plus point for Red Ribbon's is that it has more toppings than Nathaniel's version but even then, palabok from both sources is absolutely yummy. 
Anyway, it's been a long while since I last ate at Red Ribbon (two years?) so I jumped at the opportunity to again taste their palabok with my kids last month. We were at the Quezon Ave. branch, stopping over on our way home from the Sidcor Sunday Market. It was lunchtime, and the kids decided to have rice meals while I settled for palabok. What I like at Red Ribbon is that their combo meals come not just with a drink but also with a slice of cake, which makes your lunch or dinner (or merienda, for that matter) complete with dessert. 

Our orders:   

Palabok, P65.

Fried Liempo Meal, P149.

Home-Style Fried Chicken Meal, P165.

Salisbury Steak Meal, P159.

And the cake slices for our sweet endings:

Coffee Crunch with a cup of brewed coffee, P70. I ordered this for myself separately from the palabok. 

Mango 

Chocolate Caramel

Dulce de Leche

Our drinks:

Orange juice for the kiddos, coffee for the mom

My lunch makes for a happy day 

Wow! Fantastic lunch! That's how much I loved Red Ribbon's palabok. The cake and coffee made for a nice ending. The kids enjoyed their food, too, except for the one who had the fried liempo, which, apparently, tasted "ordinary", like it was from the "carenderia". I had one little complaint, too: coffee was served in a plastic mug. Hey, I dislike BPA.  Haha! 

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.  :-)

Nice surprise at Nathaniel's

If there's one newly-discovered (for me!) foodie place that I can heap superlatives on, it's Nathaniel's Bakeshop. If you haven't been there, well, it's not just a bakeshop, it's a restaurant, too, that offers a somewhat wide range of dishes aside from being a food store that sells a variety of breads and pastries, puto, siopao and many other munchies.  I tell you this, and I assure you I'm not kidding, what we ate there were the best in their own league. Consider this: the best pancit palabok, the best pancit sotanghon and the best burger steak this side of earth. Haha!! 

I first heard about Nathaniel's from Ate Baby, one of my co-workers, last month. She wanted to buy Buko Pandan, which, she attested, was so good there. A few days later, we went to the Timog Ave. branch. There were four of us aboard our officemate's L-300 van. At Ate Baby's urging, we ordered palabok for take out. We also bought other food items including pichi-pichi and asado roll for me and a box of sans rival for Pam. Back in the office minutes later, I dug into my palabok. Mmm.. I was in love in an instant! I kid you not, this was the best palabok I've ever had in my life! Since then, I'd been looking for a chance to bring my family to Nathaniel's. That chance came on Black Saturday but alas! The restaurant was closed. Finally, last Saturday, we had the opportunity again. Two of my kids and I dropped by Timog Ave. on our way to get our organic veggies at the QC Circle. 
These were our orders: 

Pancit Palabok, P70. Definitely a must-try!

Sotanghon Guisado, P70. Very yummy too!

Sizzling Burger Steak, P135. The best burger steak I've ever tasted!

Lumpiang Sariwa, P55. 

Siomai, P55.

Buko Pandan Juice, P50. Another must-try!

Brewed coffee, P45.


Man, did we enjoy our meal! All, except for one, was very good! My daughter enjoyed her palabok to the hilt. As I write this, she's asking me to buy her palabok tomorrow. Hehe. My little boy, who eats burger steak each time we're in Jollibee, also loved it here. His ate  and I shared his leftover patty. At P135 per order consisting of two large and thick patties, a generous serving of rice and buttered veggies -  sulit talaga! Meanwhile, my sotanghon guisado left me really full and satisfied. The serving was big (I wasn't able to finish it) and it was really delicious, with lots of meat and vegetables. Even the slice of bread that came with it was good. And the siomai? Delicious too! And unlike other food places that give 3 to 4 pieces per order, Nathaniel's serves 5 pieces of siomai per order. And what did we have that wasn't so good? It's the Lumpiang Sariwa. We (my daughter and I) concluded that the sauce was the culprit - too mild in flavor, it failed to bring out the goodness of the lumpia itself. But hey, there's another thing to heap superlatives on - the Buko Pandan Juice - Nathaniel's signature drink. It's like having a drink and dessert in one. Very refreshing! Well, I liked my brewed coffee too, though it was already a bit cold when I sipped it at the end of my meal. Also, it was served in a plastic cup, which I didn't like 
(BPA, you know!)
Well, where's the surprise I was saying?
It's in the take-out bag!

See? There's a Bible verse written on it, and one of my favorites at that! Thank you Lord 

for my surprise blessing. :-)

Inside Nathaniels's Bakeshop along Timog Ave. in Quezon City.

Nathaniel's Bakeshop traces its origin to the City of San Fernando in Pampanga, in 1994. Its popularity quickly grew, fueled by its siomai, puto pao and buko pandan. Now it has four branches in Pampanga and two in Metro Manila - along Timog Ave. and in Alabang, Muntinlupa City. For more information, check out their website here: http://www.nathaniels.com.ph/index.php

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!