Happy Foodies

Showing posts with label pork. Show all posts

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJ-oPokcAvpEKjlenufsumRjOPtPM279HaLWfOys5aJfWI5VP_1XeEC33Cc8414b-mioMGpeXViJRd2s0ZBZeF58xs-qNSIwpIHVxwxyTqtXYjn3LY5NZwcvSxM1t4MIhcDfXn8W4cbEy7ZWBmPD96BwY9S73G4DTaSTWL3u5TWVbflj2muYah7Af1A3g/s800/bawais.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="531" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJ-oPokcAvpEKjlenufsumRjOPtPM279HaLWfOys5aJfWI5VP_1XeEC33Cc8414b-mioMGpeXViJRd2s0ZBZeF58xs-qNSIwpIHVxwxyTqtXYjn3LY5NZwcvSxM1t4MIhcDfXn8W4cbEy7ZWBmPD96BwY9S73G4DTaSTWL3u5TWVbflj2muYah7Af1A3g/s16000/bawais.jpg"></a></div> It's way off the main road and open only for lunch and dinner three days of a week. But the gathering buzz on Bawai's is proof that good news do travel fast. To paraphrase Kevin Costner in "Field of Dreams", if you cook good food, they will come. And visitors do hie off all the way here to dine. We visited one hot Sunday afternoon as part of a small contingent of Summit Ridge's Tagaytay weekend getaway. The location is actually in Silang, Cavite. To get there from the ridge, we head back to the rotonda and make a turn near the Aguinaldo highway and head through a smaller road, passing through hilly terrain planted to pineapple. We take another turn on a smaller road and stopped at a non-descript, two-storey house that looked nothing like a restaurant. Coming in, we espy a garden at the back where an alfresco dining area beckoned under the shade of trees and a profusion of plants. We were ushered to the upstairs dining area instead, greeted by the pleasant aroma of something delicious simmering. The place feels more like a home than a restaurant, The dining area isn't much bigger than those found in other ancestral houses, with several tables that can accommodate no more than a dozen diners at any one time. Well, the diners ahead of us seemed to be in a jovial mood -- always a good omen in any eating place.

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip_k3V7RhuajN2PizGwEJrX6H_e-Yc0KKNLzskQiB0d_gBYeRfVqv1UvRlngkp4N1G-YqaA7xOubWH_rdC82Zyk1_JBo_UDh_d4axBRfBtxm8_JBO6ew29sHxLjipDK5bZ7qOQ6zmwr120mKupxNVWXfM3rmz-3LfYtXJDVQ4jfq7wBZJD7xpB30nnykk/s667/miisty-lodge-cafe.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="667" data-original-width="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip_k3V7RhuajN2PizGwEJrX6H_e-Yc0KKNLzskQiB0d_gBYeRfVqv1UvRlngkp4N1G-YqaA7xOubWH_rdC82Zyk1_JBo_UDh_d4axBRfBtxm8_JBO6ew29sHxLjipDK5bZ7qOQ6zmwr120mKupxNVWXfM3rmz-3LfYtXJDVQ4jfq7wBZJD7xpB30nnykk/s16000/miisty-lodge-cafe.jpg"></a></div> The perpetual nip in the air is simply made for good eating. One of the finer pleasures of Sagada is gustatory in nature. Everything -- the weather, the elevation, the views -- seem to inspire indulgence. Dunno but there's something about hieing off to the boondocks that make even the mundane special, like ordinary coffee or instant noodles become a treat especially after a hike. Perhaps, by stroke of serendipity, Happyfoodies found accommodation in the town outskirts some 1.5 kilometers from the sentro. Meaning yes, we're away from where most of the eating places are but by luck, very, very close to Misty Lodge and Cafe. Our host, Derick, of Yabami Lodge recommended it as we were looking for somewhere closer to eat apart from Rock Inn's Bodega Cafe some 350 meters away. Smoked out from the Panag-apoy rites, we decided to drop by at dinner time as the cafe was on our way home anyway. So, did we like the food? Well, we came back a second and third time during our three days in Sagada. It was that good.

<figure class="wp-block-image alignnone"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/oggie/4527707215/"><img alt="8065 Bagnet Ginataang Bagnet" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4061/4527707215_289ba63593_b.jpg"></a><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">8065 Bagnet Ginataang Bagnet</figcaption></figure> The menu listed a grand total of 20 food items, six of which are bagnet main dishes and another six as bagnet budget meals. It takes a lot of gumption to offer just about only one thing in your restaurant and build the menu around it. Braver still to name your restaurant after it. But 8065 Bagnet does not disappoint.

<figure class="wp-block-image alignnone"><img alt="Crispy Pork Binagoongan (P160)" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3499/3915535468_a2215631b6_o.jpg"><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Crispy Pork Binagoongan (P160)</figcaption></figure> One of the perks of eating out of town is the chance to taste unpretentious food. Not to say we’re jaded by city food but there are times when one would just like to sit down to no-frills fare. So when your happyfoodies went to Virac in Catanduanes, we had to ask the locals where they’d prefer to eat out. One place that keeps popping up is Sea Breeze Restaurant. That it’s mentioned in Jens Peters’ Philippine Guide only whetted our appetite to give it a try.

<figure class="wp-block-image alignnone"><img alt="Nam Heongs Chicken Rice" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3501/3915390983_f21df70ac0_o.jpg"><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Nam Heong's Chicken Rice</figcaption></figure> When in Malaysia, mention Chicken Rice and locals would definitely say Nam Heong as its equivalent. It's an institution known for cooking Chicken Rice using an age-old recipe which dates back to more than 70 years when the establishment started. Now, it has a number of franchises in Kuala Lumpur. But is the quality still the same? We trooped to one of their branches in Sungai Wang Mall to try out its famous Chicken Rice as well as some of its other offerings.

<figure class="wp-block-image alignnone"><img alt="Sun Fong Bak Kut Teh" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2455/3892932690_98ea2f0481_o.jpg"><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Sun Fong Bak Kut Teh at Imbi, Kuala Lumpur Malaysia</figcaption></figure> The constant rain and the cool weather these days made me yearn for a serving of hot soup to warm my taste buds. And fresh from my recent trip to Malaysia, one dish which taste still lingers in my head is the Bak Kut Teh (Pork Bone Tea Soup). Originally used as a therapeutic soup introduced by the Chinese, it has become a popular Malaysian dish. I first tasted the Bak Kuh Teh in Kota Kinabalu Malaysia way back. On this recent trip, our guide Marie who's also a self-confessed foodie led us to Sun Fong Restaurant, one of the famous Bak Kut Teh restauarant in Kuala Lumpur bringing in the Klang goodness in the city.

<figure class="wp-block-image alignnone"><img alt="Chilli Crab" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3258/3085063676_3849aeae8a.jpg"><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Chilli Crab</figcaption></figure> One of the highlights of visiting the island of Camiguin apart from the sceneries that fill the eyes is the food that fills the tummy. This island, which lies northeast of Cagayan de Oro in Mindanao, boasts of the sweetest buahan (lansones) and creamy pastel (soft buns with milky or fruity fillings). Boarding off the ferry at the town of Benoni also puts one within walking distance of the Tanguines Lagoon, a sort of causeway that connects a travel lodge-cum-floating restaurant to the sea – the J&A Fishpen/Travel Lodge. It’s virtually impossible to miss this establishment. Ask any of the locals to recommend a place to have good food and a relaxing time and they’ll most likely point you to this place. And they have very good reasons to do so.