Simply Pinoy Enjoy Pinoy comfort cuisine at Recipes restaurant

Simply Pinoy Enjoy Pinoy comfort cuisine at Recipes restaurant

Enjoy Pinoy comfort cuisine at Recipes restaurant

By MAAN D’ASIS PAMARAN

Lechon Kawali (Photo by NOEL B. PABALATE)

MANILA, Philippines -- It is always a thrill to discover new restaurants and enjoy cuisine from all over the world. And a lot of local food experts agree that Vietnamese and Thai culinary creations are now becoming popular choices for restaurant regulars, along with the other, more familiar food options such as Chinese, Japanese, or Korean. And of course, there is something thrilling about the way that other establishments are trying to outdo each other in serving the biggest pizzas, largest steaks, or the crispiest fried chicken.

But at the end of the day, the ordinary urbanite will start to hanker for the meals that mom used to make.  There is nothing that beats the classic pairing of rice and ulam like Kare Kare, Bistek Tagalog, Dinuguan, and of course, Adobo. The problem is, there seems to a be a lot more things to do today (overtime at the office, children’s after school activities, updating Facebook and Twitter accounts, following the latest episodes of "Glee," so slow cooking at home has been replaced by instant food meals or fast food delivery.

There are several good cooking shortcuts that are available such as instant sauces and mixes, but somehow, childhood kitchen memories of peanuts being pounded to make the Kare-kare sauce or mouthwatering pink alamang being sautéed seem more magical than ripping open a plastic tetra pack.

One of the few occasions where metro dwellers can savor a salu-salo of authentic slow cooked food is at the good old hometown fiesta, where many families still keep the slow cooking tradition alive as they follow the recipes that have been handed down for many generations.

Mickee de Guzman and his wife Ria were lucky recipients of such recipes from Mickee’s side of the family in Balayan, Batangas, and through their chain of restaurants called Recipes, they have made it possible for ordinary urbanites to have a salu-salo of authentic Pinoy food whenever they feel like it.

Recipes is a place where diners can just kick back and enjoy comfort food that they are very familiar with, such as Kare-Kare, Pork Binagoongan, Bistek,  Gambas, Lechon Kawali with Kangkong Strips, and a very flavor-lavish dish of Prawns with Aligue. Those who favor fish will enjoy the Crispy Tilapia, served with either a sweet-sour sampalok sauce, or cooked Escabeche-style; and the Bangus Belly served with a thick mango relish.

For those looking for a hot time on their tongue, the Gising-gising, a coconut milk-based recipe with ground meat, Baguio beans and loads of sili makes a perfect choice.   Another best seller here is the General’s Chicken, crunchy chicken with eggplant slices served with a sweet spicy sauce. This is a good dish for kids, especially because the spiciness of the food can be adjusted upon ordering.

Recipes, being a Pinoy restaurant, after all, also serves the ubiquitous Pinoy convenience combo called the rice meal, where at P170 to P175, customers can choose from ulam-kanin combinations such as Adobo Flakes with Egg, Bangus Steak, BBQ Chicken, Beef Tapa with Egg, and Garlic Chicken with Rice, and it comes with a free glass of iced tea.  Dessert can either be sweet and crunchy banana turon or the really creamy buko pandan, where the chewy buko strips have been replaced by softer macapuno bits. The restaurant also serves strong brewed barako coffee for those who need their caffeine fix.

Visit the Recipes by Café Metro outlets at Greenbelt 3, Alabang Town Center, Trinoma, Robinsons Place Manila, Shangri-La Mall, and soon at the Resorts World Complex
.