MARIKINA FOOD TRIP (PART 1)

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!

IRON CHEF: FAMILIES

A family that loves to eat must at least be able to prove its mettle in the kitchen arena. And so Iron Chef Families was conceived. *cue intro music*

Yesterday, my nieces, nephews and siblings held the first family cook-off, with each family tasked with cooking a particular dish.

English style beer battered fish

The Banares Family led by yours truly, Rose Banares and Ruben Banares battled it out with their rendition of English Beer-Battered Fish (labahita fillet) with Mayo-garlic dip and Filipino-Chinese Pancit Canton...complete with chicken liver, shrimp and vegetables..

The Sales Family led by Katrine Sales led off their team with a made-from-scratch savory pesto pasta dish with fresh basil chopped carefully by hand and assorted donuts for dessert...

Savory Pesto Pasta

barbeque liempo

The David Family kicked off their advance with barbecued pinoy-style liempo and american-style char--grilled hamburgers made from 100% pure lean beef.

So who reigned supreme?

Hands down, everyone agreed that the David Family's hamburgers were the winner of last night's kitchen battle... but will the david family be able to keep their title next month?

THE WINNER! DAVID FAMILY'S GRILLED 100% LEAN BEEF HAMBURGER!

find out when Iron Chef Families return next month....

*tan-da-da-daaaaaaaaaaan* *drum roll* *cue in extro*

*fade out*

THE AFTER-BATTLE DINNER TABLE

Zambales Food Trip 2010

photos by MIEL BANARES DAVID and KATRINE BANARES SALES

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Early Saturday morning, my nieces Miel and Kats, my sister Rose and i left the hustle and bustle of Metro Manila for a weekend getaway to Candelaria, Zambales. For those not familiar with Candelaria, it is a piece of heaven waiting to be discovered. It is a town endowed with beautiful, calm beaches, fertile soil and friendly people.

After breakfast at DeliFrance along NLEX, it was a quick drive through Subic and the other Zambales

breakfast at delifrance

towns (with a quick stop at the residence of former President Ramon Magsaysay for a speed tour of the museum). We arrived at the beach house of Senator Nene Pimentel (who graciously loaned us his beach house through the intercession of my sister ruby and brother-in-law Councilor Mario Sales) around lunch time and we were met by my sister Ruby and brother-in-law Mario Sr. We were hungry when we arrived and we were served with a hearty lunch of sinigang na baboy and inihaw na bangus.

We spent the afternoon going around town and buying stuff in the public market and trying out the local flavors (i particularly loved the fish balls of this one vendor). I was actually craving for some Frank's Burgers but ended up eating the delectable fish balls instead.

We bought a case of beer and went back to the beach house to await the arrival of my sister Ruth ,brother-in-aw Vic and their son Dan. While waiting, we entertained ourselves by singing (my brother-in-law rented a videoke machine). Come evening, my sister Ruth and company arrived and we were treated to some home-made fried chicken with gravy (move over, KFC), picadillo and sisig na bangus by Manang Gaya, the cook.

vodka night

Later that evening, we drank some vodka while singing ourselves hoarse. around midnight, we ended the session and slept until morning. The next morning, i drove my nieces, nephews and sister to Dawal in Bgy. Uacon, where they would rent a boat which will take them to Putipot island, an uninhabited piece of paradise with white sand and crystal clear water. I agreed to pick them up later in the morning.

I went back to the beach house and after a couple of hours, my sister Ruth and husband Vic joined me to pick up the group that went to the island. We waited for them at Dawal Resort, and while waiting my sister and brother-in-law sampled the fresh fruit halo-halo while i tried the pastillas de leche.

The group met us at the sports bar of Dawal resort and we all went back to the beach house just in time for lunch. Lunch was a seafood buffet consisting of giant prawns cooked in tom yam broth, prawns cooked 'halabos' style, crabs and grilled barillete (tuna).

seafood galore

After resting, we started packing our bags , and before we left Candelaria, we were treated to some turon. We left Candelaria around 4:30 in the afternoon. We were held up in traffic by a Santacruzan

ben's burger at xtremely xpresso

parade somewhere in the area of San Felipe which ate up 30 minutes of our travel time. It was night time when we arrived for dinner in Subic, at Xtremely Xpresso, where we had some pasta, a giant pizza and an oversized burger enough to feed 8 people.

We arrived in Metro Manila around 11:00 pm.