Some things new

Getting to be popular these days are frozen meals, a practical alternative to tedious meal preparation, specially when one is pressured by work or living alone and eating by one’s self. One of the new things we encountered the last few days at ShopWise at Filinvest Mall in Muntinlupa is the line of heat and serve home meal replacement under the label Menuto. Its supplier, Odessa Foods, Inc., is based in Mabalacat, Pampanga. We tried a few of the microwaveable packs each costing less than P60. You can choose from Lengua Estofado, Callos, Chicken Gallantina and others. The verdict of our siblings to whom we gave these as baon, "They are all flavorful, but a bit too small" (in quantity), even for a normal appetite.

Also new at ShopWise are the blue and red karts for the exclusive use of Elite cardholders. Ask the security guard for a token and the kart comes off its rack. This easily identifies the store’s regular and big shoppers.

New as well is the PonteFino Hotel in Batangas City, where Chef Dennis lords over the neat and well-appointed kitchen. If one takes the Star tollway, the trip from Manila is pleasant.Start at about 10 a.m. and you get there in time for lunch. You might want to stay overnight and tour the city’s many ancestral homes. Soon an SM mall will open nearby.

We were ushered into the Robusta Coffee Shop that opens up to the pool. The chef delighted us with his cookery and considering Batangas is our home province, we did look forward to this meal. The Batangas Caesar Salad with the classic dressing of fermented fish was refreshing. The Nilagang Bulalo was perfectly tender and the Pinais (steamed) na Filleted Galunggong, cooked in a clay pot with kamias, was a surprise while the Pinasingaw na Maliputo was, as expected, a real treat. It is that rare Batangas fish which Dennis steamed with ginger and rice wine served atop vermicelli noodles, very innovative. We could not have enough of the ginataang langka, done with shrimps and coconut oil. Our hosts did not let us go without sampling the sinukmane, a kind of biko. We asked for Batangas brewed coffee (but of course!) to cap a beautiful meal.

A new pancit recipe was discovered at the recent lunch hosted by Gina and Joe at their Dasmarinas Village home. Popular for their generous buffets, the adobo is always the piece de resistance. But that day we thought the Pancit Miki was the star, using the small round miki. Instead of the normal laman of meat, cabbage and chicharo, this one had siguidillas and oysters, giving the dish a different taste and texture. Delicious.

Our Price Watch brought us to SM Centerpoint in Sta Mesa. Lunchtime was not too crowded and so we had our choice of tables and food. We selected Ilongo Grill and took bowls of La Paz Bachoy, kare-kare, grilled hito and squids plus drinks. For a party of four we spent less than P500. Good price for good food.

Prices at SM have not increased, in fact some are lower than in wet markets. Fresh Choice is the house brand for meat. It sells pork chops at P135 a kilo, sirloin at P228, sukiyaki beef at P240 and ground beef at P108. Another brand is Big Mama. Its sirloin goes for P242, beef shank P154 and kalitiran for P182. New in the vegetable section is the Dizon salad packs with the greens and dressing, a choice of Tagalog ensalada, fresh garden or Italian, P55 for a container of about 100 gms. Lady’s Choice also has a line including Thousand Island, Ranch and Caesar. Fresh carrots sell at P52 a kilo while eggplants go for P29.

Macro in Sucat has just been re-done. It now looks more spacious and on the day we visited the store, there was a long line in the rice section. They were selling Dinorado rice at a very low price–P399 for a sack of 25 kilos. A real bargain.

Email comments and questions to: [email protected]