Eating in a depot

One might think that would be the most unlikely place to have a snack much less a meal. But Depots have taken on a new character. Gone are the dark, dusty, hot and disorganized bodegas we grew up with. There are less and less small hardware stores. With the construction industry apparently booming within the last few years, and with prospective homeowners doing their own shopping for building materials and accessories, suppliers have come around big, providing their fast increasing clientele with customer-friendly outlets, offering not only tiles, woodworks, kitchen modules etc, but vendo machines for beverages, including coffee and most recently dining nooks. A very thoughtful and practical gesture, we reckon, because choosing the right materials for one’s house, fixtures and the tiny nuts and bolts could take some time, long hours. Then to release the purchases normally involves more waiting time, because supplies are requisitioned from the warehouse.

Thus we found ourselves, one day, at the massive Home Depot in Westgate, Alabang, quenching our thirst with a cup of Nescafe Cappuccino (P12) from the vendo right where the sitting area is. This machine accepts bills and gives out change. That variant is, to our mind, the best of the coffee line. On the second floor, where one can get lost among the attractive furniture, shoppers would really be pleased with Smokey’s Hot Dog Bar’s collection of "different hotdog fixes" like taco and Hawaiian dogs. Prices range from P28 to P70 plus toppings like pineapple and salsa, with extra charge.

Wilcon Builder’s Depot in the Metropolis, equally big and as spread out, has the Coffee Nook, a small dining area with cozy tables and chairs and a chef with his assistants preparing food, from breakfast fare to cakes. As the name suggests, they serve coffee, Italian Espresso-style. They offer more choices, even full meals starting with breakfast, like daing na bangus. One time we tried their ham and cheese sandwich with the coffee and for three persons, the tab came to only a little bit over P200. Another day found us enjoying their daing na bangus with fried eggs and pork adobo for lunch. Main courses start from P65. Service by the lady attendant is gracious. Its café and restaurant in Libis is called Nueve. It has pasta on its menu. Those wanting to work in such an establishment might want to catch up with their current (as of presstime) staff recruitment for their newest store in Alabang, by the Muntinlupa public market.

The PureGold supermarket on Shaw Boulevard in Mandaluyong has re-opened, a far cry from its former dreary interiors. Today the place is brightly-lit, neat, done in yellow and green, with wide aisles and dry floors. The staff also carry the color scheme in their uniforms and so do the new karts. Food stalls, selling a variety of cooked food and snacks line the area by the entrance to the supermarket. There’s our favorite Dimsum and Dumplings with the ube hopia at P19 plus for 3 pieces.

The dry goods section is right after the turnstiles. You need to go farther inside for fresh meat and other food stuff. If their prices don’t change, they certainly will attract more shoppers as the prices are very attractive. Meat vendor Garcia’s sells pork kasim at P125 a kilo. Sirloin is at P335. They have frozen cooked sisig at P200 a kilo and some marinated beef and pork. A note however to the management–we thought the lighting in the coolers does not enhance the appearance of the meat on display. In fact, it makes the meat look so red and therefore, makes you wonder how fresh it really is. We need to go back when we are not pressed for time to really look at everything.

We recently noted a new product from Magnolia, the spring chicken, weighing not more than a kilo. This makes the bird a good substitute for the imported Cornish hens which now come at very prohibitive cost. Again we tried to save on power and cooked them on our griller, over the gas stove, instead of roasting in an oven. What we did to give it a new taste was to mix a sauce of butter, apricot jam, powdered tarragon, a little salt and a pinch of ground pepper with a little wine and chicken broth.

What do you do with day-old embutido that looks rather dry? Do not heat it in oil or butter but in boiling liver-broth sauce. The loaf slices will be softer and tastier.

We are still wondering why mangoes sold in the markets look so good, perfectly yellow with firm skin, but almost always are sour, bruised and/or with white spots. Avoid buying Japanese honey dew. The one we got was tasteless and hard as stone!

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