FOOD SERVINGS ON A PERSONAL NOTE

The last two years when this author started his return to his birthplace there had been some amazing finds in terms of food. It seemed like a sleeping city suddenly awake after a deep slumber. Coming from a pandemic, the city has come alive! (Please note that the pictures of the menus belong to the author and is not in anyway meant to advertise.) The author decided to put star rating on the items he has personally tried - ONE star being good; TWO stars, very good; and THREE stars excellent.
First one on the list is THE RUSTIC PUB Located along Rueda Street, going towards the Northwest Samar State University. The place started with some quaint atmosphere as live music starts playing around six p.m. Recently though, the music seemed to have disappeared. Though space is tiny for the kind of clientele they intend to attract, they had some remarkable dishes. The lemon butter chicken and spaghetti are remarkable.

ITADAKI JAPANESE RESTO BAR & GRILL is one restaurant with authentic amiable Japanese interiors. How I wish they serve fresh sashimi. But the sushi dishes (rolled with rice or egg) make up for that absence in their menu. The noodle dishes are super palatable and side dishes are worth coming back for. Located at Grand Mercy Hotel, along the Maharlika Highway just before the area of Poor Clare Monastery.

UNIVERSITY HOTEL. Who would think an actual hotel and restaurant stands in the middle of a university? Their hotel rooms come with breakfast. But having the same dishes for a three night stay can be tiring. We suggested some alternative. And they served “tinapa” on the third day. But where is the rice? They had rice ready and it came just a little later than the smoked fish.

PACITA’S GARDEN. The breakfast set menu that is almost like an excellent complement for someone who is working with his iPad. A place where one can easily request for an internet password or where a power generator keeps things going when there is a brownout. The menu being talked about comes with peanuts, choice of coffee or coke and you can nibble on a hashbrown, fries, sliced ham, hotdog, sweet corn, you name it. One can while away the time unless the place becomes noisy with their numerous bookings. Then a small group can retreat to a tiny place upstairs while discussing some confidential issues over some palatable vegetable kare-kare and lemon butter fish. The place is at Barangay Carmen just off the Highway where you see Mercury drug at the turn off. When you see R Suites on the left that’s where they are.

URBAN COFFEE by Simply Baked . This is cozy place along Galit Street…. This place makes authentic freshly brewed coffees and home baked items like “ensaymada.” I saw their oven just outside their door. The Hungarian sausage comes with rice and they readily substitute with an extra egg if one does not prefer rice. Talk about excellent customer service. They dabble on introducing new recipes like pasta with “tinapa” and may be tourists may look for when they visit.

SIMPLE TASTE has two locations: one is a stone’s throw away from the cathedral and the other by Metro Gaisano along Magsaysay Boulevard. Although this place caters to the economy market or what one may call “those who are in a budget,” this author was pretty impressed when they served coffee in a French press. And together with a rice breakfast was pretty economical for its price. Who says one is on a budget when one can have coffee on a French press at less than a dollar a cup.

AT URBAN CAFÉ BY SIMPLY BAKED:

The Rice topping combination of Simple Taste with coffee served in French Press

SAM MICRO-BAKERY is rather an interesting discovery in the city inasmuch as this is an online business and delivers only on Fridays. You order thru their Meta business page (FB) and therefore there is no bakery to go to. But they serve authentic French bread or what is called a baguette (literally it means a stick). They spell the foreign names correctly as well . In its business page is quoted Barabara Gieser MD that goes something like this “Making Bread Boosts Strength and Beats Boredom.” They bake bread just like the French people do: with an active yeast mixture stored in a bottled container ready to be mixed the following morning to save on time in dough proofing. The picture shown below is an avocado sandwich made with Ciabatta bread. Ciabatta is a rustic looking bread that is staple in Italian bakeries.

INN CITY CAFÉ started with some rustic way of preparing scrambled eggs but has somehow improved through time. An innovation serving breakfast and marinated fish that we call “labtinaw” is a welcome treat. Spanish sardines was also added to the menu on top of the quintessential Hungarian sausage. The café is part of the hotel located at Rosales Blvd. corner Galit Street.

Salt and Pepper @ West Prime Hotel along the highway in between Barangay Capoocan and Obrero, this restaurant promises to be a unique dining experience. For now their fried chicken wings earns a start for its taste.

KAMAYAN is an old place in a residential neighborhood of Barangay Carayman that defies the standards of setting up an eating place. They are not in a high foot traffic area. Its only a large “Bahay Kubo” just next to where the owners live. It is about four kilometers from the city and yet they have survived for decades. Bottomline of the story is: they serve authentic quality homegrown food no one was able to duplicate. Homegrown because these are mudcrabs, locally known as “alimango” where they create a superb sauce, and small and medium shrimp they make crispy so one does not need to peel off the skin. . By the way this place used to serve exotic meat like “halo” or turtle meats. But times have changed and they no longer serve these endangered species. So what is the bottom line. When one likes to have good quality food, location, location, location is not at all important