Bona's Chao Long

Immediately upon our arrival in Puerto Princesa, I wonder what "The City within a Forest" could offer to a self-proclaimed foodist in me. 

Lo and behold our friendly tour guide introduced the famous Bona's Chao Long. He told us that Vietnamese once stayed in the area and concocted these rice noodles to the Palawenses and the locals loved. The Viets though strongly recommended that the rice noodle-recipe not be shared to other island neighbors as this would soon make Puerto Princesa a must-visit spot. And true enough the experience of the rich rice noodles soup made me crave for more even when I'm back in the city. 

The ambiance of the pansitan (noodle house) is simple. It reminds me of the karinderia near schools or some cheap resto in Binondo that serves great food. If you visit the place in the morning, you would have the luxury to have a solo table for you and your companion. However be prepared to share tables with locals (and tourists) if your plan is to visit in the aftee or at night. 

Plastic chairs (monobloc), long wooden tables, plastic table wares are used in this place. As they say, if you are not a 'scout' then this is not the place for you. 

Service depends on the number of customers as well. Since we visited the place for dinner, we need to wait for 20 minutes to be seated and for our order to arrive. It was understandably their peak time as it was Sunday eve (after mass goers) and dinner time. 

Menu was simple. You choose your broth (Buto-buto, Beef stew or Pork), choose from Special (with vegetable siding) or regular (without) and as recommended by the tourist guide try their baguette or known as their french bread. Have plainly toasted or with your choice of filling: cheese, chicken, tuna, longganisa or beef. 

My Kismet had the Beef stew chaolong which is slightly sweet; while I had Buto-buto chaolong since I'm trying to capture the simplest flavor as much as possible. However upon tasting these Palawan jewels I was mesmerized with the explosion of flavors. Sweet, sours, salty, tasty...oh Umami! We partnered our chaolong with Longganisa and Pork baguette. Indeed these are the perfect partners for the Chaolong. And as Kismet quipped "masarap isawsaw sa sabaw".

So if you have plans to visit "The City within the Forest" or the "Philippines' Last Frontier", don't forget to visit Bona's Chaolong. It is situated in the airport road so you won't miss it. 

Two thumbs up for Bona's Chaolong. Rất ngon!

Pictures courtesy of Donna in Palawan 

http://donnaonpalawan.wordpress.com

Antipolo Church

Working in a BPO (call center industry) I was not privilege to spend Maundy Thursdays and Holy Fridays as "holy" as I wanted to be because of work. This is the main reason why I made sure I spend Easter Sunday or more appropriately (as Christian Catholic) Resurrection Sunday in Antipolo City.

My personal practice of spending Resurrection Sunday in Antipolo City started in 2008. I made sure to go up to this eastern city of Manila early morning to make sure the sun wouldn't burn much of my already tan skin.
After saying my prayers thru the holy mass, my earthen tummy calls for a celebration. And just outside the church food is a bounty. Suman, Manga and kasoy made this city known for. And annually I made sure I have a fix of these.

Although I'm not a fan of Suman I know if a suman is good or not. First Suman needs to have that natural sticky feel which is attributed from the glutenous rice which this labor of love food is from. Second, suman must have that natural sweetness coming from fresh water and/or the coconut leaves that is used in wrapping making sugar a non necessity. But Antipolo's suman coupled with they neighbor Cainta, Rizal's Coconut Jam, suman is a perfect hit.

 Kasoy brings back the childhood in me. I remember waking up on a summer morning and sweeping lola's house (in Pangasinan) just to pick up kasoy nuts discarded from the 'fallen' fruit. Lunch time means drying time for the nuts in order for them not to burst when cooking time comes. Late afternoon is the most exciting as Ate and I will burn coconut shells with the kasoy nuts. We were extra careful but there will always be a couple of nuts surrendered to the fire gods who might also wanted to have there share of this summer bounty. I don't know how Daddy does it when we were young that not a single nut goes to waste. Flavor is all natural, with a bit of earth aroma, woody taste and the natural sweetness making this nut my all time favorite among all protein rich produce. In Antipolo, you can have your kasoy nut salted, garlic-adobo flavored, or sweet.

Aside from kasoy and suman you will also find different types of rice cakes such as puto, pinais (rice cake wrapped in banana leaves), biko, etc.

Grandpa's Inn and restaurant Vigan

A visit in Vigan definitely becomes a major event in my calendar year. This city north of Luzon is one of my favorite spots and I don't complain if travel means by land (9-12 hours from Manila) or by air (via Laoag airport). 

I was on personal time off (from work) and my plan was just to stay at home with my family together with my grandma who arrived from abroad. Surprisingly my tito's and tita's planned to visit my father-cousin in Vigan who is a newly installed formator in ICST (Immaculate Conception School of Theology). Mom woke up the gang around 5 in the morning and after almost an hour of preparation we were on our way to the city up north. Among the family it was just me and Mom who had been to the Spanish city thus we were giving background info to Ate and her family as to what to expect with the visit (although we were all clueless). I definitely was selling to them Calle Crisologo and different food we can find there. Personally I was wondering if I can find a good cafe for my daily caffeine fix.

After a couple of stops and just before we arrived tito pulled over Bantay bridge. According to a friend, the bridge itself was originally called Quirino bridge (after Pres. Quirino) however with a new bridge now functional I wonder how this new bridge is now called.

With my tummy rumbling I'm so looking forward to a good Ilocano food. With cousin-father in tow now, he recommended Grandpa's Inn. Do not associate this with Grappa's Inn and restaurant in Manila. The inn-restaurant-cafe' was, as expected, classic Ilocano as the ambiance was rustic.

I didn't bother ordering since cousin-father took charge of it and since it was a family meal it was meant for sharing. The typical wait time of 15-20 mins was not bad as this was my queue to step outside and snap some pics around the venue and I was surprised with what they have.

When our order finally arrived I wasn't surprised that our consists of Pakbet, Karekare, Pokpoklo, Poqui-poqui, Barbeque and Fried Chicken (for the kids).

Pokpoklo a type of seaweed served with tomatoes and onions. Best with Ilocano Vinegar.

Poqui-poqui: similar with tagalog' tortang talong only using bagoong (I guess) with lots of onions and tomatoes. 

Pakbet with lots of Bagnet slices

Over-all, two thumbs up for the great Ilocano food experience in Grandpa's Inn.