The Best of the WEST

It’s a fact that Western influences have seeped into almost every aspect of the Filipinos’ way of life. Food is inarguably one of them. The best of the West has certainly added spice and color to our dining table. Taste the best the West has to offer at The Block, SM City North Edsa.

Tender Bob’s: Love meat tender

As its name softly implies, Tender Bob’s at SM The Block boasts the most tender and juicy US-certified steaks. It all started with Meat Plus Cafe in Subic, which was doing so well the owners decided to bring their US steaks to Manila. The more, the meatier: Four Filipino families — the Meers, Tenchavezes, Tanjangcos, and Santoses — joined hands and dreams, and put up Tender Bob’s.

“We carry Angus ribeye, prime ribeye that is juicier with its highly protein type of fat — our clients swear they’ve never tasted meat this fine, chewy, and juicy,” says Tender Bob’s gregarious operations manager Bobby Mayani who adds that he’s lucky to work for a place that bears his name.

Tender Bob’s is named after one of the owners, Bob Tenchavez.

At Tender Bob’s, you fall into the tender trap: its truly meaty menu. You kick off with the “grumblers” and surely, you won’t be grumbling after you’ve had some garlic cheese fries (three orders of fries topped with cheese sauce, lots of garlic, and bacon bits — P190). Some like it hot: spicy chicken wings or gambas. A hot favorite, too, are the New Zealand mussels.

For something really soup-er to start your meal, a bestseller is the clam chowder that comes in a sour dough bread. Of the clam chowders I’ve tried (and I’ve tried a lot, being a clam chowder freak), I swear Tender Bob’s clam chowder is the clammiest I’ve ever tasted — others have more potatoes than clams. And the clams are fresh, too!

Tender Bob’s fresh salad offerings are quite a lot, too. Dethroning Caesar (salad) is the seafood salad, Tender Bob’s reigning king of salads that’s a mix of red and green lollo rossa, iceberg lettuce, prawns, crabsticks, calamari, shredded carrots, turnips, and bell peppers with citrus dressing.

“It was our chef, Cheloy Santos, son of one of the owners, who came up with this dressing,” reveals Bobby.

And now, we’ve come to the juiciest part of this meaty story: Tender Bob’s all-American steaks, super steaks, finger lick ’n ribs like baby back ribs, and all-time favorites like US boneless beef shortribs. At Tender Bob’s, you can have the finest imported steaks without  busting your purse strings. A USDA prime ribeye steak (good for two persons) costs only P1,130. (Tender Bob’s classifies its steak servings as follows: hungry, starving, and steak for two.) Tender Bob’s has also beefed up its menu with local steaks.

“We make our own condiments and steak sauce,” says Bobby. “Our blends have less of the sourness and more of the smoked flavor.”

Tender Bob’s also makes its own patties that are 100-percent beef — no extenders.  For those on the South Beach diet, Tender Bob’s has its protein burger that’s simply served on iceberg lettuce — no bun.

“We also have a freezer where we store the burger patties and steaks that we sell in the restaurant,” Bobby tells us.

Now, you know where the beef is.

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Tender Bob’s is located at the 4th level of The Block, SM North Edsa. Call 442-0129.

Napoli Pizzeria: A slice of New York

We couldn’t wait — not even for a New York minute — to bite into our fresh-off-the-brick oven pizza. But of course, we’re in a place serving New York-style pizza: Napoli Pizzeria.

Sharing a consummate passion for good food, Francisco and Ambrosia Ignacio went to the US and trained with a Greek-Italian pizzaiolo, from whom they learned the do’s and dough of the pizza business. After four years, the couple came home, bringing with them more than a slice of New York. On March 15, 2007, they opened Napoli Pizzeria at SM The Block.

As anyone might expect, among the bestsellers of the house is the New York pizza (ham, ground beef, pepperoni, onions, and bell peppers — P130 for 7” single and P560 for 16” large). Then there are the white (four-cheese) pizza, taco pizza (ground beef, tomatoes, onions), and clubhouse pizza (four-cheese pizza with bacon, ham, scrambled eggs, diced tomatoes, and onions on freshly baked pizza dough with homestyle cream sauce). All pizzas come in medium or thin crust.

“Or you can order a plain pizza with only fresh tomatoes and mozzarella, just like real Italian pizza, and then make your own pizza by choosing your own toppings,” suggests Evelyn Factor, Napoli Pizzeria officer in charge.

Calzone is another way of eating pizza. This folded pizza dough that’s baked to a crisp has got salami, pepperoni, three-cheese fillings, and the house’s own marinara sauce that’s a concoction of Larry Ignaco, son of the owners of Napoli Pizzeria.

And surely, pasta’s perfect with pizza. Truly oil right is the oil and garlic pasta that can be eaten as just plain oil and garlic or can be enjoyed in variants like oil and garlic seafood, oil and garlic Hungarian sausage, or oil and garlic anchovies.

“Our oil and garlic pastas are cooked in pure olive oil with lots of fresh sauteed chopped garlic,” Evelyn relates.

For more pasta in the city, try the baked ziti (baked pasta tubes with Hungarian sausage in cheesy tomato sauce topped with golden brown mozzarella).

At Napoli Pizzeria, the eat-and-run crowd can simply grab a sandwich — hot or cold. A hot fave is the Philly Cheese Steak (marinated steak done the Philly way with sweet peppers, caramelized onions, and melted mozzarella — P130). A cool treat is the Super Sub (ham, mozzarella, salami, pepperoni, and roast beef — P150).

Certainly, Napoli didn’t forget dessert. A triple delight is the triple chocolate ice cream cake (soft dark chocolate cake oozing with hot fudge and topped with vanilla ice cream and Hershey chocolate shell — P130).

With all this food, glorious food, it’s no wonder New York never sleeps.

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Napoli Pizzeria is located at the 5th level of The Block, SM North Edsa with telephone number 442-0392.

Kentucky Fried Chicken: A finger lickin’ success story

Who doesn’t know Colonel (Harland David) Sanders and his world-famous Kentucky fried chicken recipe?

To share an oft-repeated story, Sanders lost his father at age six and had to take care of his siblings while his mother went to work. That meant he had to do the cooking at home. While some are born with a silver spoon in their mouths, Sanders was probably born with a frying pan in his hand. At seven, he was a master of the kitchen. He became known for his cooking skills, for which he was made honorary Kentucky colonel. But at 65, Sanders was down on his luck. Retired and penniless, he convinced people to invest in his delicious fried chicken recipe. The rest is Kentucky fried chicken history.

And now, you’ll see the familiar picture of the bespectacled Col. Sanders in his clean, crisp white suit and black string tie at Kentucky Fried Chicken at SM The Block, where the Colonel’s good old finger-lickin’ fried chicken recipe (a blend of 11 herbs and spices) is alive and cooking.

Of course, today, there’s a lot more to enjoy at the 268-seat Kentucky Fried Chicken at The Block. Aside from the good old orig, KFC now has its hot and crispy chicken that’s selling like hotcakes. Then there’s the Zinger sandwich (crispy and hot chicken fillet with mayonnaise and lettuce) that’s a hit with the sandwich crowd.

“We also have our new spiral salad,” say managers Roland Mayor and Nica Villalobos. “It’s a tastier, more filling salad.”.

Ongoing until June 15 is the KFC Wicked Meal promo, where every purchase of a KFC Wicked Meal worth P119 or more entitles customers to a raffle coupon that gives them a chance to win tickets for two to the Bamboo concert on June 28 at 8 p.m. at the Rockwell Tent plus a chance to meet and greet the band before the show.

Now, that’s finger-lickin’ exciting!

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Kentucky Fried Chicken is located at the 4th level of SM The Block with telephone number 442-0110.

Yellow Cab: A ride to pizza heaven

Hop aboard the Yellow Cab Pizza Co at SM The Block, fasten your seatbelt, and get ready for the most delightful gastronomic ride of your life.

But first, fuel up on Yellow Cab’s new twice-baked potato halves (oven-baked potato halves loaded with cheese and bacon with sour cream — P195 for six halves).

The first stop on our food itinerary is the classic pizza, of which New York’s Finest (Italian sausage, ham, pepperoni, bacon, ground beef, black olives, mushrooms, onions, red and green bell peppers) is an all-time favorite. “Everything is in this pizza,” says Myles Maiztegui, Yellow Cab manager.

Next stop is the specialty pizza, where the Four Seasons pizza is a top drawer, regardless of the season. Four Seasons is a gourmet sampler consisting of the NY Classic (pepperoni); #4 Cheese (mozzarella, cheddar, fontina, and feta); Anchovy Lovers (black olives, anchovies, capers, roasted garlic, mushrooms, and onions); Roasted Garlic & Shrimp (shrimps, onions, roasted garlic in wine-butter sauce).

Don’t pass up on the new barbecue chicken pizza that was added to the specialty pizza line only last February. This pizza’s loaded with chicken strips, red onions, and cilantro in a hickory-smoked barbecue sauce.

Enough to stop traffic, Yellow Cab pizzas come in large sizes (an 18” pizza is great for a party of eight or for pizza lovers who just can’t get enough) and are generously topped with the best ingredients the West can offer.

Want some extras? Extra special is the Charlie Chan chicken pasta (chicken strips, shiitake mushrooms, and roasted peanuts sauteed in spicy Oriental sauce).

Yes, when you want great pizza and more, simply call a Cab.

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Or visit the Yellow Cab at the 4th level of The Block, SM North Edsa with telephone numbers 442-0371 and 442-0159.