Photos by Miel Bañares David
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Yesterday, February 12, 2011, the KAIN CLUB group toured Marikina City to try out its more popular gustatory delights.
First stop of our group was Luyong Restaurant along J.P. Rizal Avenue. Although considered a chinese restaurant, Luyong is not your usual chinese resto. They don't offer any house tea, but their menu more than makes up for it.
We tried out Luyong's special Pansit, kbown for its lechon toppings. We weren't disappointed. Another delectable treat was their version of pata tim. Far from the traditional pata tim, theirs is more like cripy pata tim. The pork leg was deep fried first before being cooked in their own brand of pata tim sauce.
Their shrimp with green peas was also good, but if you're the type who likes shrimp, you'll be in for disappointment. The dish is more peas than shrimp, but the taste is simply delicious.
Their yang chow rice is good, but not as good as President's in Binondo. However, the yang chow rice of Luyong blends well with their viands, and should not be passed up. Note that their yang chow rice is cooked using broken rice, so those expecting to see long-grained fired rice may be disappointed.
Luyong's fish fillet with tofu made waves with the group, particularly because the dish was cooked without MSG, upon the request of a guest of the group.
The group's next stop of the Marikina
Food Trip was the cultural heritage area of Marikina. The area houses the Kapitan Moy center, a bahay-na-bato where receptions are usually held. Across Kapitan Moy is the church of the Nuestra Senora de los desamparados (Lady of the abandoned).
Across the church is the OTTO shoe warehouse where one can buy pure leather shoes and other leather products at cheap prices.
After a filling lunch, we visited the Marikina Footwear Museum where the famous shoes
of Imelda Marcos are on permanent display, along with the shoes of other famous people. The museum also features a brief history of shoe making in the City.
After the cultural trip, we continued on with our gustatory quest. We went to Pa Amerikana in SSS Village. The cafe has a "chess" theme, and one can play chess while waiting for their orders. The cafe features exhibits of unusual chess pieces including a giant chess pieces complete with giant timer. The group tried out Pan Amerikana's famous pan de sal and we were not disappointed. I ordered their chicken sandwich, which was satisfying, and a pitcher of their red iced tea. The rest had pa de sal with coco jam. It was, we realized, a heavy merienda.
With our bellies full, we decided to go to the Marikina River park to do some walking, and afterwards we went to the Riverbanks mall (home of the world's biggest pair of shoes) to check out what the mall has to offer.
For dinner, we went to the Marikina Market Mall to have a some authentic Thai cuisine. In a small corner of the market is Krung Thai. We tried out their sumptuous seafood tom yum, pad thai, stir fried fish with fish tofu, thai fried chicken, green mango salad and bagoong rice. All the dishes at Krung Thai were excellent, and it won't be the last time we would be eating there.
All in all, our First Marikina Food trip was a success and everyone is looking forward to part 2 of our trip, when we will be trying out Mama Chit's, Cafe Lydia and more!
