MANILA, Philippines - I’m always on the look out for culinary creations to feed not just my hunger, but more so my curiosity. And I know I’m not the only one hooked on this hunt. There are lots of food lovers out there who find themselves in the same delicious dilemma so to help, I’d like to share my two cents on some of the bestselling dishes the industry has to offer. There are thousands of restaurants to choose from and on top of that, thousands of dishes to try. Hopefully, this helps narrow down the bait you’d want to bite into. Buon apps!
BBQ Pulled Pork of Borough
Word-of-mouth is that this cozy 24-hour mall resto serves good homemade bread. It sure does. The bread of my hoagie was warm yet soft, allowing me to eat my sandwich with my hands (as it should be). The pork wasn’t a challenge to chew and it came in a generous pile on top of the coleslaw, which, for me, was the one that inevitably made this dish drool-worthy. Made of shredded carrots, lettuce and green mango, the slaw smoothly cut through the sweetness of the BBQ sauce and gave the sandwich a nice bite. Had it been mushy and over “dressed,” the dish would have been a dentures’ dream.
Price: P220 (comes with potato chips)
Address: Podium Mall, Ortigas, Pasig
Contact number: 570-8906
San Francisco Salmon Burger of CBD
This sandwich left me wanting more. The patty was moist and tender, which can be quite tricky given that this type of burger can easily get hard and dry when overcooked. The pesto mayo, on the other hand, worked twofold and it did its job deliciously well. It lent a slight minty taste to the mildly flavored salmon and it lubricated the sub as well. On the downside, I felt like I was fed an appetizer for a main. Being a bestseller, the sole seafood burger in the list obviously measured up to its beef alternatives in terms of taste. I just wish matched up to them size-wise.
Price: P265 (comes with potato strips)
Address: Ayala Triangle Garden, Makati
Contact number: 482-6225
Reuben Sandwich of Chuck’s Deli
Even if I was tempted to try the Faking Duck (roast pork, leeks, crispy noodles, and hoisin sauce), I just had to see (or more appropriately, taste) what everyone was raving about. The Reuben is an all-time favorite, so it’s not hard to get the combination right. Chuck’s version consisted of melted Swiss cheese on a bed of shredded Angus corned beef and sauerkraut, sandwiched in between freshly baked bread that’s smothered with just the right amount of mustard. Every ingredient was homemade and the only deviation from the classic was the addition of the Deli’s original spicy sauce, which wasn’t really all that evident in the sub. Nevertheless, Chuck’s Reuben is a hero.
Price: P275 for 1/2 slab (comes with chips or onion rings)
Address: Serendra Piazza, Taguig
Contact number: 576-4210
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Send me your thoughts. E-mail me at acomsti@yahoo.comfor other dishes worth trying.