Bagoong and the Citi

There are groups or clubs set up for just about everything in life — travel, sports, books, theater, and horticulture; even kids have their own. Well, foodies aren’t left out as they, too, have a prestigious society whose “members” include the likes of President Joseph Estrada, megastar Sharon Cuneta, hair guru James Cooper, heartthrob Piolo Pascual, socialite Isabel Preysler, and almost every Juan in the metro. In this club, no membership fee is required. As long as you have a big appetite and a palate for good food, then you’re in! Welcome to Bagoong Club whose members swear by the taste and drool-inducing aroma of bagoong alamang.

Tucked in a once sleepy corner along Dr. Lazcano St. near Tomas Morato, Quezon City, Bagoong Club takes pride in its “Filipino Freestyle” cuisine made flavorful with the use of the humble sawsawan.

Here, diners can feast on homecooked meals and eat with their bare hands if they so wish — just like what we did when we downed a plateful of ukoy, a mound of assorted vegetables and shrimp served with the resto’s version of sukang pinakurat. Strips of fresh camote, carrots, and green bell peppers were cooked in a light, crisp batter dusted with bagoong powder. It’s heaven in every bite. The ukoy was literally gone in 60 seconds, so the wait staff gave us a serving of singkamas strips to be dipped in Bagoong Club’s signature bagoong variants — bagoong with coconut, bagoong with lemongrass, bagoong with aligue, and bagoong Europa (bagoong with a hint of basil) — and pinakbet pate with eggplant chips while waiting for the main course: bulalo sa monggo.

Bagoong Club’s monggo was cooked bulalo style. In fact, it has beef shanks so the broth is so rich and flavorful. The beef marrow and the bits of tender meat and cartilage that we carefully extracted from the bone melted in the mouth. Sinful but delectable. I guess that explains why President Erap couldn’t get enough of it. He loved the bulalo sa monggo so much that he even asked Bagoong Club owner Rosky Sevilla for the recipe.

Vegetarian paté: Bagoong Club’s pinakbet paté and eggplant chips

“How could you say no to the President?” shared Rosky. “We gave him the recipe and taught him how to prepare it. After a few days, President Erap came back and told us his cook’s bulalo sa monggo lacked flavor.”

Oh, did Rosky forget to mention that you should add bagoong, roasted garlic, and malunggay into the mixture?

Good food, reasonable prices, and the friendly staff are just some of the reasons why the Megastar, Piolo Pascual and the rest of the “club” members frequent Bagoong Club. As its latest recruit, I’m positive that the club will continue to attract more members to its growing list of passionate foodies.

All roads lead to Bagoong Club

To thank their loyal customers, Rosky has partnered with Citibank in its Citibank Dining Privileges program.

“It’s all a matter of branding. Who wouldn’t want to be identified with Citibank? I know what Citibank stands for: quality and superb customer service. They’re global and we’re very Pinoy. But slowly but surely, we’re going to their direction,” enthused Rosky.

The Citibank Dining Privileges is a program that gives Citibank cardholders perks at select dining establishments nationwide.

From May 26 to 27 and June 2 to 3, diners who use their Citibank credit cards can enjoy 40-percent discount off their bill.

“It’s our way of introducing Bagoong Club as one of our restaurant partners. Our clients are the type who want to try new things, so we try to introduce new restaurants for them to try out. And we’ve obviously heard a lot of good things about the Bagoong Club. Although we are a global company, Citibank also takes pride in promoting world-class Filipino brands like Bagoong Club,” noted Bea Teh Tan, Citibank Credit Payment Products head.

If, for example, a diner finds a better deal than the 40-percent off Bagoong Club offers, Citibank is willing to make up the difference.

Monggo-licious: The bulalo sa monggo has beef shanks so the broth is so rich and flavorful.

Bagoong is love

A native of Bulacan, Rosky Sevilla, who owns Bagoong Club with his brothers Franco and Randy, came from a foodie family. He and his siblings grew up in the family compound so bonding with their cousins over good food during weekends is a normal thing.

 “Entertaining guests over food is second nature to us. Not to mention that our grandmother Mila Enriquez was a food historian. She was an authority when it comes to Tagalog food,” shared Rosky.

An investment banker who worked for IFC (the investment arm of the World Bank) before becoming the country head of British Investment Bank and CFO of Maynilad, Rosky took his early retirement from Maynilad as an opportunity to pursue a business idea he’s been toying around with for years.

“I’ve always wanted to put up a food business. So when the opportunity presented itself, I didn’t think twice and just grabbed it. A friend introduced me to chef Tristan Bayani who is also from Bulacan. We share the same passion for food so we hit it off right away during our first meeting,” Rosky recalled.

It took Rosky and chef Tristan quite a while conceptualizing the menu. They had a series of food tastings not really knowing what the end result would be.

“Our concept was to use bagoong extensively as an ingredient. So in the beginning, we tried to come up with dishes with bagoong in them. Soon, we realized that not all diners like bagoong. And we need to be sensitive to those who have health issues. In the end, we came up with a menu wherein 1/3 of the dishes use bagoong as an ingredient,” Rosky explained.

At Bagoong Club, the dishes aren’t pilit. When they conduct food tasting, only three out of 10 dishes make the cut.

Citibank Credit Payment Products head Bea Tan (center) with Bagoong Club owners Franco (left) and Rosky Sevilla (right)

“Just because it has bagoong in it eh, pwede na i-offer sa resto. Hindi namin pinipilit yung lasa. We really taste and analyze the dishes. Pag hindi bagay na may bagoong we don’t push it. The magic here is, for those dishes that use bagoong as an ingredient, you have to know exactly how much bagoong to use so it doesn’t overpower the dish,” noted Rosky.

Bagoong Club’s bagoong alamang is specifically made according to the specs chef Tristan and Rosky provide their suppliers.

“Our bagoong is fresh compared to the commercial variety you’ll find in wet markets. Ours is clean and the salt content is measured (it has 16-percent salt). If you go to the wet market and buy it from there, the salt content is about 25 to 30 percent. If the bagoong is too salty, you can’t taste anything but the salt,” added Rosky.

A certified bagoong lover, Rosky is optimistic that through Bagoong Club they’d be able to give Filipino food a global identity.

“And what could be more global than the bagoong?  You’ll find it in every Asian mart around the world. Also, what I discovered is that every region or every province in the country has its own version of the bagoong. This goes to show that Filipinos, regardless of social status or age group, love bagoong!”

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For reservations, call Bagoong Club at 929-0544 or 929-5450.

Welcome to the club: Bagoong Club takes pride in its “Filipino freestyle” cuisine, turning home-cooked meals made flavorful with the use of bagoong.