Regional Cuisine I: Vigan empanada, bagnet and more at Fariñas Ilocos Empanada

It was around five years ago when I first ate Vigan empanada at a stall in front of the Fariñas bus station near UST and at once, I fell in love with it. I didn't know there was empanada that I could eat after being poured with Sukang Iloco (Ilocos vinegar). You see, I love food that is dipped in or poured with vinegar, especially the hot and spicy kind, like pritong lumpia, okoy and chicharon. Over the years since then, I've been satisfying my Vigan empanada cravings at Sidcor Sunday Market. But last year, I started seeing Farinas Ilocos Empanada eateries sprouting in Quezon City. Was I glad that one store opened near our office on Visayas Ave.! Now I can have Vigan empanada for lunch or merienda, anytime I want! And I just love that they also serve my other favorite Ilocano specialty: bagnet, which is pork fried to a crisp. Once, I tried their bagnet pancit and loved it too.  My friend, on the other hand, ordered Vigan longganisa, another Ilocano food favorite. 
These are what me and my friend had tried on different occasions at 
Fariñas Ilocos Empanada:  

Regular Ilocos empanada, P40.

Special Ilocos Empanada (w/ chorizo), P50.

Pancit Bagnet, P125. One serving is good for two.

Bagnet Meal, P80.

Vigan Longganisa Meal, P65.

Inside Fariñas Ilocos Empanada.

100% organic and cholesterol-free oil. Isn't that nice?

Ilocos vinegar and munchies like cornic sold here too.

Fariñas Ilocos Empanada on Visayas Ave., QC

By the way, at Sidcor Sunday Market, I was able to take a few shots of the making of Vigan empanada. It was interesting and fascinating to watch. Eating is the best thing, though. Hahaha! 

Orange-colored rice flour for the dough and the fillings: grated unripe papaya, chopped longganisa, eggs.

Dough is flattened and the fillings assembled on top. One whole egg is put in every empanada. 

Dough is folded to a half-moon shape. 

Sides are trimmed with the use of a saucer.

Empanada is then deep-fried.

Ready-to-eat Vigan empanadas. Yum!

Lechon for lunch at Sabroso

Yesterday, Friday, was a bit busy for me although I didn't go to work. First, I had to bring the new puppies to the vet for their first shots. And then it was time to go to the dentist for my.. ugh..dental extraction. In between, it was lunchtime and what better way to spend the last hour before sitting on a dentist's chair and having two teeth extracted than to eat.. lechon (roasted pig)! We (my daughter was with me) were on our way to the clinic on E. Rodriguez Sr., QC when I saw Sabroso Lechon at the corner of Tomas Morato and on that instant decided it to be the place for lunch.

Outside, the lechon on display was so inviting with its glistening golden brown skin that to me, elicited a delicious, crackling sound. Hehe. Inside, I fell in love with the ambiance of this hole in the wall. The interiors evoked a feeling of nostalgia that I felt like I was 60! All around were pictures of old Manila and in a quiet corner, there was this music player that uses vinyl records (a phonograph?). Lovely. But like anywhere I eat, there were hits and misses. I found out when we placed our orders, that there was no steamed veggies (the only vegetable item on the menu) to go with our lechon (to lessen the guilt!).  I didn't want to order another pork dish to go with our lechon (There's no fish, beef or chicken here). And neither was there tanglad tea to wash everything down. Grrr. I wanted so much to try their lemongrass tea that not many restaurants offer. Oh well, better luck next time. 
And I wish they'd cook more vegetables! 
Anyway, we ordered 1/4 kilo lechon which was more than enough for me and my daughter, plus rice and Coke. Our three puppies were so happy to get their share of lechon, which, by the way, was flavorful (what Sabroso says in their slogan is true!) and the meat is tender although not all the skin was crispy. I liked too that their pork had little fat and it's even organic! Wow, lechon that's healthy! Now I feel less guilty. Hehe. Sabroso, for me, deserves a second visit. I would want to try their sisig and dinuguan and hopefully, their tanglad tea.  
How's the tooth extraction afterward, you might want to know. Hehe. My dentist was a darling! I didn't feel a thing and it was over in the blink of an eye! An hour later, I was eating ice cream at the mall.  Haha!

Beautiful. Yummy, too!

1/4 kilo lechon, P180.

Free soup that couldn't decide whether it's of bulalo, tinola or sinigang,

I told you, it's organic!

I love the old-world feel of the interiors.

The four-legged kids love lechon too!

Our minipin pups relaxing at Sabroso Lechon after their shots at the vet's clinic . They were quiet before our orders came. But once lechon was served and they smelled its aroma, they couldn't keep still anymore.

Sweet revenge

I'd been downed by this disease, Chikungunya, the whole of the past week; not just me but the hubby and daughter as well. This mosquito-borne illness, while not potentially fatal like its cousin Dengue, was debilitating. The joint paints and itchy rashes were killing us! Last Monday, my daughter and I decided to exact revenge on Chikungunya. And how sweet it was - cold and comforting too, with a Japanese touch. We had Mochi Halo-Halo at Karate Kid! This was right after being seen by the doctor. From a clinic in Quezon City, my daughter and I headed to SM San Lazaro in Manila and there found Karate Kid, a Japanese fast food restaurant, where we discovered this one-of-a-kind dessert: Mochi Halo-Halo - a fusion of Philippine and Japanese cuisine. Call it ingenious and I'd agree! But before we got down to dessert, we had Yakisoba, California Maki and Takoyaki. Mmm..delicious, everything!

Yakisoba, P68.

Takoyaki (Regular), P36.

California Maki, P42.

Mochi Halo-Halo, P55

Kido Punch Tea, P39.

There were hits and a few misses, but all in all, it was a satisfying late afternoon merienda that we had. First, our eyes widened when we were served the California Maki. They were so tiny! I ordered for a regular, not knowing it meant really small maki. Well, it was still big in taste so it was okay. The Takoyaki was good, too! I missed takoyaki so I was happy to have this Japanese street food again. Meanwhile, the Yakisoba was commendable! It had a nice balance of flavors and lots of crunchy veggies that included bell pepper strips, cabbage, mung bean sprouts (toge - one of my favorite vegetables) and white onion. The only thing I didn't like about it was it was too oily! I poured some chili oil to remove some of the sawa factor. Well, I know I just made it even more oily, but at least, the spice helped bring down the satiety. And then, the dessert - Mochi Halo-Halo. Its mere appearance put a smile on my face - lots of colors! And the taste - it's far from your usual halo-halo..it's of milk tea - a welcome deviation! What's in it aside from those pretty and glistening mochi balls? A lot! Red beans, coffee jelly, nata de coco, pudding (made from soya, I suspect), tapioca pearls, milk and winter melon syrup. All these for the price of just P55 for a regular order and P65 if you want a scoop of ice cream too. Isn't that awesome? My only lamentation was there was no available ice cream when we came. Even then, I was very impressed about Karate Kid's Mochi Halo-Halo - a new and tasty way to enjoy our all-time favorite dessert. I suggest you try it today at Karate Kid. There's a lot of branches in Metro Manila. 

Go find one near you and enjoy good food at very affordable prices. :-) 

Pain before pleasure

Sometimes, it pays to eavesdrop. Hehe. Last Saturday, my eldest daughter and her beau were talking about their day's 'itinerary' over breakfast when I heard about 'Zark's'. "What???You're eating at Zark's today?" I blurted out, my eyes sparkling with excitement, I was sure. In about three hours, they were there - at Zark's Burgers on Taft Ave. - with me. Haha! My other daughter and I had long planned to eat there on a Saturday before worship but due to her busy schedule at church, we haven't done so. The planning started after I read how big Zark's burgers were a few months back. My eyes widened seeing pictures of their Jawbreaker and Tombstone burgers which to me were really heart attack in between a sliced bun. Haha! They're that big! No, tall. Hehe. Anyway, thanks to my eldest daughter and her sweetie for tagging along mom to the first leg of their date (They went to Star City afterward without mom already, but of course. Hehe). 

But arriving at Zark's which is front of De La Salle University, I was shocked to see the long line outside! Good thing there were chairs all around and nobody needed to stand up in wait. But I came close to deciding to leave and just eat somewhere else because I was already having hunger pangs. But..oh well..sayang naman, I thought. This was my chance already so I persevered..even if it took some 30 minutes before we were finally called inside. Whew! Talk about pain before pleasure. Oh well..pleasure it was, yes, to finally be eating the burger 
of my dreams. Hehehe. 

Zark's Ultimate Burger, P130

Black Mamba burger, P120.

American All-Star, P120.

Nachos Galore, P85.

Deep-Fried Mars, P125.

The server gave us one free glass of iced tea. :-)

We enjoyed our burgers to the hilt! The patties were thick and juicy with a balance of flavors. My American All Star burger, as described in the menu, is classic bacon cheeseburger. My daughter's Black Mamba is cheeseburger 'in a bed of fresh lettuce, tomato, sauteed mushroom and caramelized onions then topped with a special rum sauce' that tasted like barbecue sauce to me. My daughter's beau's Zark's Ultimate Burger has cheese sauce, fresh veggies and topped with sauteed mushroom and bacon. Mustard added to our extreme burger bliss. All our burgers were 1/4 pounders, by the way. 
But before we had these, we whetted our appetite (as if there was a need for that. hehe) with nachos and bacon in a cheesy sauce. It was so good and the serving was huge it almost made me full with little room left for my burger. By the way, we added just P25 each to make our burger come with fries and a glass of iced tea. I didn't like Zark's fries, though. They were soft and bland. Anyway, I wasn't able to eat all of my burger but my two companions 'labored' to finish everything so that they they both felt full to the brim and wanted to sleep after eating. Haha! So, this was the feeling of everyone after eating at Zark's, probably the reason there's a small 'lying-in' area over at one side of the restaurant. No kidding! Hehe. Still, we cared for some dessert and so we had Deep-Fried Mars which is really fried battered Mars chocolate served with vanilla ice cream on top and drizzled 
with chocolate sauce. 
It was an unforgettable experience eating at Zark's with their really big and delicious burgers and kind-to-the-pocket prices. I was bragging about this to my hubby when he got home from work that Saturday. I knew he was envious but tried to look unperturbed. Hehe. 
I wish to be back there to try their other offers such as their buffalo wings and fish 'n chips.  See you there!
P.S. There a Zark's Burgers branch in Katipunan Ave. in Quezon City and another in BF Homes, Paranaque.

Bread and breakfast

Bread may just be bread - good to eat and available just about anywhere. But if you come to think of it, bread is something so interesting. According to Wikipedia, bread is one of the world's oldest foods. Reading this, the Holy Bible came to my mind. During our Lord Jesus Christ's earthly life, He ate bread. One of the great miracles He performed even involved bread. Remember the "Feeding of the 5,000" where that great number of Jesus' followers were fed after the Lord prayed over just five loaves of bread and two fish? Even in the Old Testament, God's chosen people, the Israelites, ate bread.  When there was drought, God told the prophet Elijah to hide himself near a brook east of the Jordan and said He had commanded birds to supply him with food. And so the prophet did as he was told by the Lord and ravens brought him meat and bread morning and night. What an amazing story!   
Fast forward to the present, here in our part of the world, bread has become wildly popular, so much so that even bakeshops from other countries are doing brisk business here. Notable are the "invasion" of BreadTalk from Singapore, Bread Story from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia,  and Tous les Jours from Guri, South Korea. These are in addition to the good old specialty bakeries that have been existing here for years - The French Baker 
and Le Coeur de France, among others. 
Meanwhile, you ought not to forget our very own Pan de Manila where one can get pandesal - the true blue Pinoy bread - hot and fresh anytime of the day. With bakeries all around, Could it be that bread is soon to take over as the Filipinos' staple food in place of rice? In urban areas, possibly. And why not? Bread is perhaps the most versatile food in the world. One can have it for breakfast, lunch or dinner. You can eat it on its own or put all sorts of things in it to make it a sandwich. Bakers make bread using various types of flour such as wheat, rye, barley malt and cassava, and put in a lot of different ingredients such as fruits and meat, so that breads come in all sorts of shapes, colors and flavors. Hmm..lovely.
And there is possibly a thousand varieties of bread the whole world over. Personally,  I love bread, too. It's perfect for breakfast, paired with a strong cup of brewed coffee. My hubby loves bringing home bread as pasalubong. When he does, the kids and I either eat it at breakfast or take it as baon to school or office the next day. Sometimes, I take home bread too. When it's from Pan de Manila, Le Coeur de France or French Baker, the kids know I brought it. When bread's from BreadTalk or Pan de Amerikana, they're sure it's from dad.  

Ham and cheese croissant from Le Coeur de France. Yummy!

Pandesal from Pan de Manila

My kids' favorite.

Pesto cheese sticks are perfect with pasta.

Wheat ensaymada from Pan de Amerikana. So filling!

Mr. Beans bean bread. Sure to put a smile on your face.

Do you know what this is called? I don't.

Even hubby doesn't know the name of this one. He just buys. Hehe. From BreadTalk too.

Eggstraordinary from BreadTalk

Garlic bread from The French Baker. My ultimate favorite!

Bread and chicken soup. Nice brekkie on a rainy morning.