The new deli in Makati

We remember Terry Selection from its beginnings on Pasong Tamo Extension. After a while, we started visiting their second outlet at The Poduim on ADB Avenue in Ortigas Center. Recently, a close friend mentioned buying a few things from Terry’s on Leviste in Salcedo Village, Makati City – the upscale food outlet has set up shop, their third, to cater to a most discriminating group of food connoisseurs there. Prior to the opening of this latest outlet, Terry started serving sandwiches using his premium processed meat and offered an expanded menu at the branch at The Podium. It was there where we had Chorizo on Piggy Back flambéd right at our table. The Salcedo branch is located on the 3rd floor of One Lafayette Square (tel. 889-3194). Terry is thoughtful enough to have installed an elevator, exclusive to his clients who are expected to carry quite a load after their shopping. There is a collection of tempting meat products including the very precious Jamon Iberico, going for a few thousand pesos a kilo; Spanish chorizo, bacalao and many others; Manchego cheese, fat-free turkey and mortadela with olives. From the shelves, there are wines and olive oil, patés and walnut oil, plus canned food ready to heat and serve. Fabada in two sizes at P205.80 and P420, callos, casoulet de canard (duck), which is very good at P995. There is the La Dalla Paminton de la Vera, P158 (small packet), paella with azafran powder for P304, and packets of squid ink for paella negra.

Their menu includes definitions of terms unfamiliar to some – escabeche in Laguna is the sweet-sour sauce one cooks with ginger, sugar and tomatoes. Pisto is a vegetable stew. Salsa brava literally means ‘angry’ or ‘wild’ sauce, therefore it has chili and other spices that produce that extra kick. Chistorra is typical chorizo from Navarra, Spain, very similar to chorizo Bilbao, but to us, it has a more subtle flavor.

We motored to Shaw Boulevard to visit Cherry Foodarama which we were told had undergone a face lift as spotted in a current soap opera, but it was their new store, somewhere far, and the one on Shaw is still the old, a bit dark and crowded supermarket. It is one of the oldest such establishments in Metro Manila. By the entrance is a stall selling Majestic Ham which now costs a prohibitive P900-plus per kilo. One gets much cheaper and as delicious ham from other suppliers.

Cherry has a promo area where a variety of foods are sold at much lower prices, including noodle packs (from P14.50 for two of a kind) and Lucky Me at P52 for eight cups. The Marca Pina queso de bola is tagged at P460 and P798 (500 and 1000 gms), a few pesos less than in other stores. New to us are the Gourmet Taster’s Choice Nescafe sticks in different flavors, including hazelnut. A pack of 20 costs P184. They have lots of foreign brands from Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia and Korea. Gold Leaf tea is at P82.20 for a box of 10 sachets, Praise Digonaise (combination mustard and mayonnaise) is priced at P143 a bottle of 300 gms. From Thailand is the Tom Yum instant paste for P83.75 a bottle of 227 gms. We decided not to get the paste as it might be too spicy for our taste.

Mrs. Wais is their house brand for meat. Ground beef is sold at P192 a kilo, sirloin at 480, knee cap at P120 and pork pigue for P200, the latter more expensive than where we always get it. Mrs. Sonia is another brand with sirloin at P480, breaded pork chops and tips at P220. Monterey is also there. From the vegetable section, we noted kangkong at P10 a bunch, okra at P44 a kilo, tomatoes at P40 and toge at P44.

A brother of ours got three packs of Salad Time arugula with mixed greens, a product of Basic Necessity Inc. from the DEC store on Wilson Street, San Juan. When he opened the packs to make into salad for a family gathering, a big portion of the greens was watery, discolored and very limp. He threw away a lot of it. To his surprise (and consternation), the plastic bag had the phrase ‘best before’, but no date was printed on it. Suppliers are mandated to put the expiry dates of their products to avoid incidents such as this. They must monitor their supplies, just as the retailers should check if their stock are still fresh and fit to be eaten. Again, this is a consumer concern and we doubt whether the DTI’s regulatory group, if they have any, will ever pay attention. So far they have not responded to quite a few complaints referred to them.

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