A taste of Mr. Bigg's in Laguna

MANILA, Philippines - Only a few things would ever make me change my mind about eating certain foods. For one, I’m not a big fan of spiced-up vegetable recipes — much to the chagrin of my father who had brought home laing (gabi leaves cooked in coconut milk) one day to a young boy who was very picky about what he ate. He would tell me it was just like meat, only better. A sniff and a bite later, I made up my mind. That was the last I saw of it at the dinner table.

Things changed. It took a couple of decades and a brand-new restaurant for that to happen, but still. It isn’t about how laing suddenly became delicious, so much so that I’m actually going to look for it next time. It’s about the experience of going to a good restaurant and actually enjoying the food. Of course, I will say that the rest of the meals are excellent and the price just right. With that, I’m glad I got to eat at Mr. Bigg’s inasal.

Opened last February, Mr. Bigg’s, located along Kilometer 30 of National Highway in San Pedro Laguna, is another entry in the many chicken inasal-type restaurants one can find in the metro. What impressed me, though, was a sincere and successful effort at making the food different. It brings a gratifying sense of discovery to familiar recipes, making the flavors all the more savory and memorable.

“We like to eat good food,” said Luis Tan, owner of Mr. Bigg’s Inasal. “That’s where you start. When I was young, I was always in the kitchen, tasting the food.”

All of that food tasting would be put to good use. And it was a pleasant surprise that Luis’ son, Jonathan, has become a big part of Mr. Bigg’s operations. As manager and chef of the restaurant, Jonathan brought a few “tweaks” to each recipe thanks to help from friends and family. Luis relates, “I didn’t realize that one day one of my sons would be interested in cooking.”

The knack for cooking good food just runs in the family. Most of the concoctions at Mr. Bigg’s came from Luis’s wife, Rosalinda. These were recipes she had kept for a long time and then handed down to Jonathan for the restaurant. Rosalinda also had a hand in determining what was lacking and what needed to be done with her son’s final product. Suffice to say, she is pretty much the reason behind Mr. Bigg’s success.

“My mom really loves cooking this type of food,” says Jonathan. “We try a lot of recipes and we see how we can add our own style to it. We don’t scrimp on the ingredients.”

Just as the name implies, the servings here are satisfying. Along with the signature chicken inasal with plain or garlic rice and atsara (pickled green papaya), you will find an adequate and juicy serving of quarter chicken leg or petcho (chicken breast) with pakpak (wing). The crunchy and tender lechon kawali, a delicious pork dish served with grilled eggplant, maintains its crisp flavor even after sitting on the table for a while. And the pork barbecue is cooked tocino (cured meat) style — there’s a subtle sweetness to the flavor and an overall reddish quality to the meat. Luis remarks, “People often make a mistake with the barbecue thinking it’s not cooked yet (because of the redness of the insides). We just tell them ‘No, that’s how it really is.’”

A staple of every good inasal place is the sisig. Here, Mr. Bigg’s does not disappoint. The pork sisig isn’t the crispy, crunchy kind, but still satisfies with a mild hint of spice thanks to a few chili peppers. Another pork dish is the pork liempo (pork belly) grilled to tender perfection.

I found that laing — known in the Bicol provinces as pinangat — was the perfect match with the rest of the vegetable dishes. The surprisingly creamy texture of the spicy pinangat, cooked with whole leaves, made me change the way I looked at that particular recipe. The mild spiciness is perfect for the sensitive palate. It was the same attitude I took with the rest of their vegetable offerings — the pinakbet, a vegetable mix of squash, okra, eggplants, tomatoes, garlic and string beans; and the Inihaw na Bicol Express, another famous coconut milk recipe done differently with chili peppers, garlic, pork, string beans.

Jonathan emphasizes that customer value is foremost in their minds. “Usually, when you’re in Manila, you pay P500 for a meal. Parang ang bigat tapos ang makukuha mo kaunti lang. So, what we wanted to do was create something affordable for everyone. If you look at our prices, mura talaga compared to other restaurants and our portions are also big.”

Complementing that value angle is Mr. Bigg’s offer of unlimited rice for all of their BIGGatin and Sulit meals. Aside from complete meals and short orders they also offer traditional Filipino merienda and desserts.

There’s a lot of potential for the Tan’s small restaurant endeavor. I say “small” since this is their first branch. If my pleas for them to open another Mr. Bigg’s restaurant somewhere inside the Manila area are heeded, more people will definitely find themselves trooping there come lunchtime and the rest of the day, if only to get a taste of something different from what is, admittedly, often generic in terms of the inasal places we’ve come to know.

Mr. Bigg’s Inasal is located at Km. 30, National Highway, San Pedro, Laguna between Primewood construction and Saint Francis School. For local deliveries, call 847-7023.