I’M not a big fruitcake fan. But when I got to taste the fruitcake of Ju.D Lao – culinary expert Nancy Reyes Lumen gave me one, and this year, it was Mona Sabalones Gonzalez, who sent me one – I totally liked it. It’s delicious. It’s different because it’s formulated to suit the diverse tastes of the Filipino. It comes in different variants, such as the Classic Fruitcake which made Ju.D Lao’s fruitcakes famous, as well as the Ju.D Blue (with Blue Mountain Coffee and Kahlua Liqueur), Golden Fruitcake and Prune Cake. She also makes Chewy Chewkies (the world’s first fruitcake cookie) and Ginger Cookies.
Chewy Chewkies, the world’s first fruitcake cookies
Turns out Ju.D Lao has been baking her delicious fruitcakes for a high-end market for almost 40 years now. Her fruitcake has also made Ju.D Lao a celebrity in Taiwan, where she even hosted a TV show, and it won for her two awards. She has also authored two cookbooks.
The packaging of her fruitcakes alone is simply amazing. You’d love to not just eat her fruitcakes and enjoy them yourself, but you’d also want to give them to family and friends as a present for Christmas. Her fruitcakes come in an elegant box that, depending on the variant that you order, takes on different colors, with her signature in embossed gold.
These days, Ju.D Lao’s daughter, Jamie, has followed in her footsteps and come up with a range of cookies and nougats which she formulated to suit the discriminating taste of professionals, students and the younger generation of Filipinos who grew up enjoying her mom’s fruitcakes as a Christmas tradition. Jamie’s products, which she now also markets along with her mom’s fruitcakes, include her best-selling New York Peppermint, Ichigo San (Mr. Strawberry), Almond Chocolate Chips, Classic Chocolate Chips, Prune & White Chocolate, Dark Chocolate Ginger Cookies, and her nougats The Hawaiian, Cookies and Cream Nougats, Almond Cranberry Nougat and Coffee Nougats.
Petites and nougats
So if you’re planning to give away Ju.D Lao’s fruitcakes and Jamie’s cookies and nougats this Christmas, start ordering in advance by calling (+632) 633-1188, emailing jud_fruitcakes@yahoo.com or dropping by 50 Greenmeadows St., Quezon City.
GOING loco over Speculoos Cookie Butter? There’s something about this crunchy peanut butter-y spread that’s all the craze not only in the United States but also in the Philippines and other parts of the world. But must you always just enjoy it as a spread for your bread? You can make a lot of delicious stuff with it, one of which is Cookie Butter Polvoron. Now, this is a recipe that was featured by Armando Alvin Velasco in the New Zealand Creamery cooking demo held during the recent FLAVORS Culinary Challenge 2013 at the Event Center of SM Megamall.
I replicated this in the house, and since I couldn’t locate my polvoron mold, I decided to use my heart-shaped cookie cutter to shape my Cookie Butter Polvoron. You can use your favorite cookie cutter shape to make your own Cookie Butter Polvoron.
1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup powdered full cream milk
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup Golden Crown Butter
1/4 cup cookie butter spread
1. Toast flour in a pan for 10 to 15 minutes or until light brown, stirring constantly so that the flour browns evenly and does not burn. Transfer to a bowl and allow to cool down to room temperature.
2. Add powdered full cream milk and sugar. Mix well.
3. Melt butter and mix in cookie butter until fully incorporated. Allow to cool down.
4. Add butter and cookie butter mixture to the flour-milk-sugar mixture. Mix well.
5. Shape mixture into ovals or circles using polvoron molder or into whatever shape you like using cookie cutters.
6. Chill for 20 minutes or until firm, then wrap in cellophane or Japanese paper.
IF you love Southeast Asian food and you want to savor Malaysian Roti Prata, Singaporean Laksa, Indonesian Satay and Chinese Steamed Lapu-Lapu with Soya Sauce in one meal, there is a place that you can go to for a truly satisfying Southeast Asian meal. It’s called Makan Makan Asian Food Village at Hotel H2O, which is located inside the Manila Ocean Park Complex, Luneta, Manila.
The main F&B outlet of Hotel H2O, Makan Makan was started by the Singaporean who founded the Lion city’s very popular Makansutra, a street food concept that made hawker food huge in Singapore. Eventually, it became part of the hotel, and the chefs handling Makan Makan really trained in the different Asian cuisines that the restaurant specializes in. These cuisines include Singaporean, Malaysian, Indonesian, Thai, Chinese and Filipino. And, boy, have they become such experts in the Asian kitchen!
My husband Raff and I recently got a chance to dine at Makan Makan with Hotel H2O general manager Lily Santos-Adrid and director for sales and marketing Antonette Mitschiener, as well as friend from way back Celia Clarete-Soliman, my college professor in Writing for Print Nestor Cuartero, and a new acquaintance, Mary Carolyn Pellicer Magnaye from Business Mirror. I expected the food to be good, especially since I love Asian food, but I didn’t expect it to be awesome.
Roti Prata (Malaysia)
The degustation started with Malaysian Roti Prata (flat bread with tasty curry dip). I’ve tasted this Indian-inspired bread from my past travels to Singapore and Malaysia, and I’ve always liked its neutral taste with flaky texture. It goes really well with curry dip. I’ve tried Roti stuffed with sweet and savory fillings in the past, but I’ve always liked it best as plain Roti Prata with curry dip. The Roti of Makan Makan brings back memories of Singapore and Malaysia.
Pork, Beef and Chicken Satay
Laksa (Singapore)
Seafood Tom Yum (Thailand)
Next, the servers placed platters of Indonesian-style Pork, Chicken and Beef Satays on the table, with each type of satay laid out on banana leaf cones and peanut sauce for dipping, as they served Singaporean Laksa (spiced rice noodle soup topped with prawns and fish cake) and Thai Seafood Tom Yum Goong (sour and spicy lemongrass broth with seafood). The Laksa and the Seafood Tom Yum were actually presented in bowls, family style, but the servers dished them out in small individual bowls for everyone to enjoy. The Laksa was awesome. It had just the right spice level for my taste and it was flavorful without being overpowering. You could tell with every bite that the ingredients used were very fresh. The Tom Yum was equally enticing, and I kinda longed for Thailand, a country which I visited several times in the past but haven’t seen since the time of Typhoon Ondoy (September of 2009). At the height of Typhoon Ondoy on that fateful day in 2009, I arrived back in Manila from Thailand with Chef Heny Sison, Dr. Efren ‘Boy’ Vazquez of Café Juanita, and media colleagues Norma Chikiamco and Eunice Rochelle Fernando from our coverage of the Amazing Tastes of Thailand culinary event in Bangkok. But that is an entirely different story.
Makan Fried Chicken (China)
Steamed Lapu-Lapu with Soya Sauce (China)
Makan Makan Lechon de Leche (Philippines)
Going back to Makan Makan, for the main course, the servers laid out a spread of Singaporean Sambal Squid (squid rings cooked with chili paste), Chinese-style Makan Fried Chicken (marinated, deep-fried chicken), Steamed Lapu-Lapu with Soya Sauce (steamed grouper fish with soy sauce) that’s famous in Chinese cuisine, and Makan Makan Lechon de Leche (charcoal-roasted piglet, Filipino style, served with spicy soy vinegar). We had Pineapple Fried Rice (Thai-style fried rice with juicy pineapple bits, shrimps, chicken chunks and raisins), literally served in a pineapple bowl and Cha Hae Mee (Malaysian-style stir-fried bihon noodles with shrimps) to go with the main dishes.
Pineapple Fried Rice (Thailand)
Cha Hae Mee (Malaysia)
My favorite among the main dishes was the Steamed Lapu-Lapu with Soya Sauce, of course, since I am a seafood lover, and I simply fell in love with the Cha Hae Mee, which is very similar to the Singaporean Hokkien Mee in look and taste. The Cha Hae Mee is best eaten with calamansi juice and sambal sauce mixed into it, I was told. I tried the noodles with and without the calamansi-sambal mixture, and it indeed made a big difference.
Dessert was Taku and Mango Pudding
Bandung (left) and Michael Jackson (right)
For dessert, we had two – Taku (which is coconut cream with a pandan layer at the bottom) and Mango Pudding (with sago pearls and coconut cream), with a gula melaka type syrup in between. We also sampled two drinks – Bandung (the pink-colored Malaysian drink with rose syrup and evaporated milk and shredded grass jelly on top) and Michael Jackson (iced white soya milk with bits of black grass jelly on top, which was concocted as an ode to the King of Pop’s hit song Black or White).
Capping lunch with a cup of Cappuccino coffee
At the end of the meal, I was very full, but of the satisfied kind, as I got to savor dishes that I truly enjoyed. This may seem like a full course, but Makan Makan offers a lot more. There are more than 150 culinary delights from Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines to enjoy, as well as Chinese, Japanese and Indian influences. You’d keep coming back for more.
I know I will be back.
(Makan Makan Asian Food Village is located at Hotel H2O, Manila Ocean Park Complex, Luneta, Manila 1000; with contact numbers (+63 2) 238-6100 and (+63 2) 238-6188.)
THERE’S a new dining hub in Quezon City. It’s called U.P. Town Center, and it stands right where the High School Department of the University of the Philippines-Diliman used to be. It’s strategically located within the 7.4-hectare U.P. Diliman East Campus property along Katipunan Ave., Quezon City, and is Ayala Malls’ newest development that houses both retail stores and offices.
Due to its location, U.P. Town Center has been envisioned to be a haven for students, professors and young professionals who want to relax and unwind after a stressful day in the campus. Now that it’s open to the public after its first phase of construction has been completed, it is fast becoming a favorite hangout place for its target clientele. It’s mainly a dining hub because, out of its 28 initial merchants, 26 are restaurants.
I recently got to ‘discover’ the many dining possibilities of U.P. Town Center when Ayala Malls management, led by Rowena Tomeldan, invited media friends over for a “food crawl.” It turned out to be almost literally a “food crawl,” as the lunchtime food sampling involved 11 restaurants and stretched for more than four hours of nonstop food tasting.
THE GREEK CONNECTION
Moussaka (Kos Greek Ouzeni)
Kos Bread, Spiced Walnut Cake and Orange Cake in Syrup (Kos Greek Ouzeni)
Lunch began at Kos Greek Ouzeni, owned by Romy Mercado and whose full Greek menu was developed by Chef Mats Loo of First Gourmet Academy. Kos offers an extensive menu of Green mezedes (appetizers), soupas (soups), salatas (salads), pasta, seafood, meat, gyros (pork, chicken or lamb wrapped in pita bread with yogurt garlic sauce, sliced tomatoes and onion, and served with French fries), souvlaki (skewered meat served with roasted vegetables, yogurt garlic sauce and red pepper sauce), ladera (side dishes), psomi (freshly baked breads) and glyka (desserts).
Popular Greek dishes can be found here, including Tzatziki (yogurt cucumber dip flavored with garlic and dill), Hummus be thini (mashed chickpeas blended with tahini, olive oil, lemon juice and garlic), Spanacopita (spinach pie made with layers of phyllo and a filling of seasoned spinach, onion, scallions and feta cheese), Moussaka (layers of potatoes, eggplants and meat sauce, topped with béchamel sauce and shredded cheese) and Baklava (sweet pastry made of layers of phyllo pastry and filled with chopped nuts sweetened with syrup).
For the food sampling, it had Moussaka, Garides Saganaki (shrimps and cheese baked in oven), Kalamaria Toursi (squid marinated in vinegar with herbs and spices), Greek Pasta with Tomatoes, Feta and Dill, several dips, and unlimited Kos Bread, Karythopita (spiced walnut cake) and Pontica (orange cake in syrup), among others.
SINGAPOREAN PRIDE
Signature Boiled Chicken (Boon Tong Kee)
Crispy Cereal Prawns (Boon Tong Kee)
Second stop was at Boon Tong Kee, a Hainanese Chicken restaurant that originates from Singapore and brought in to the Philippines by the owners of Burgoo and partner Miguel Aranaz. As diners who have tried the food of Boon Tong Kee in Singapore expect, the restaurant serves all of its signature dishes, including Hainanese Boiled Chicken (cooked using the Cantonese process of preparing and cooking the chicken to make the meat juicier and more succulent), Crispy Cereal Prawns, Prawn Toast (fresh prawn meat delicately pressed on bread slices then deep-fried to golden crispiness, served with green tea mayo), Char Siu Bun (asado meat wrapped in bun and fried) and Fried Spare Ribs with Zhen Jiang Sauce.
KAPAMPANGAN CUISINE
Crispy Hito Balls with Mustasa and Buro (Piñac)
Ensaladang Pako with Fried Itik Floss (Piñac)
Fresh lotus flowers as table centerpieces
Piñac is a Kapampangan word for “swamp.” It follows therefore that Piñac, the restaurant, specializes in Kampampangan cuisince, specifically traditional Candaba cuisine using the heirloom recipes of the Pelayo family who hails from Candaba. Candaba is an old town in Pampanga that’s known for its swamp. Small wonder lovely fresh pink lotus flowers, whose petals have been carefully tucked in, form part of the dining table setup of the restaurant.
Piñac offers dishes prepared using fresh produce from the various farms in Candaba, counting among its specialties Candaba Longganisa, Buro, Sisig, Kare-Kare, Crispy Pata, Crispy Hito and Lengua.
We tried the Crispy Hito Balls, Mustasa at Buro (fried catfish balls wrapped in fresh mustasa leaves and dipped in buro or fermented fish), Ensaladang Pako with Fried Itik Floss (edible fern with salted egg, green mango, cucumber and tomatoes, served with Pinac vinaigrette and topped with deep-fried itik floss), Chef Nino’s Rellenong Manok (chicken stuffed with ground pork, chorizo and cheese on a bed of mashed camote) and Pinac’s Crispy Pata (boneless pork knuckle poached in aromatics for 6 hours then deep-fried) with a refreshing glass of Tanglad Dalandan Iced Tea.
There are several menu items that I find interesting to try: Lumpiang Ubod Taquitos, Mantekadong Balut, Sizzling Bulalo with Mushroom Gravy, White Dulong Pizza, and Brazo de Mais and Salabat.
HOMEGROWN CEBUANO CONCEPT
The Dax (Casa Verde)
The Mighty Ton (Casa Verde)
Casa Verde is a Cebuano food concept, but it does not serve Cebuano food. It specializes in Western food, specifically ribs and steaks. Steaks hot off the grill include The Dax (a combination of USDA eye fillet steak topped with brown sauce and onion, paired with a catch of tavern shrimps, and served with tartar sauce, harvest rice and vegetable medley), John Jay’s Steak & Pasta (marinated USDA steak with brown sauce, served with a side of spaghetti noodles sautéed in olive oil and garlic), and David Dean’s Tenderloin (single USDA steak on a mound of mashed potato, topped with cheese and brown sauce, garnished with fried onion and roasted almonds).
There’s also fried and roasted chicken on the menu, as well as seafood entrees, decadent desserts and milk shakes.
Casa Verde is also the place where diners can find a huge 12-inch burger called The Mighty Ton.
SPECIALIZING IN PORK
Large Tonteki Set (Tokyo Tonteki)
Spring Roll of Prosciutto, Avocado and Onsen Egg (Tokyo Tonteki)
Spicy Bean Sprouts (Tokyo Tonteki)
Young food entrepreneur Richie Yang, who is responsible for the successful chains Super Bowl of China, Yomenya Goemon Japanese Spaghetti and Red China by Super Bowl, is also the brains behind the new Tokyo Tonteki at U.P. Town Center. The first and only franchise outside of Japan, the restaurant prides itself in having the passion for perfectly prepared pork. It uses only thick cuts of premium, high grade tonteki or pork steak for its Tonteki Sets (premium pork steaks) and Tonburg Sets (premium ground pork in burger form).
To go with these hearty set meals, Tokyo Tonteki offers starters such as Spicy Bean Sprouts and Spring Roll of Prosciutto, Avocado and Onsen Egg, and salads like Potato Salad and Avocado & Tofu Salad.
The Spring Roll of Prosciutto, Avocado and Onsen Egg is particularly interesting because the Prosciutto ham and avocado go very well with Onsen egg, which is a Japanese-style soft-boiled egg. The best way to eat it is to break the yolk of the soft-boiled egg and use it like a dressing on the ham and avocado.
AUTHENTIC TAIWANESE CUISINE
39 Spices Beef Noodles (Red Onion)
Mala Chicken (Red Onion)
The chef shaving noodles from a dough straight into a pot of boiling water
If you’re craving for authentic Taiwanese Beef Noodles and Crispy Dumplings (half pan-fried and half-boiled crispy dumplings that are both chewy and crunchy), Red Onion is the place to go. Its 39 Spices Beef Noodles is to die for. As its name suggests, there are 39 different spices that go into the braised beef broth. The noodles are hand-shaved, and diners can even watch, through the open kitchen, the chef hand-shaving the noodles from a big dough, straight into a pot of boiling water. Diners can have as much hand-shaved noodles as they want.
Red Onion also specializes in freshly made dumplings as well as other Taiwanese dishes, such as Double Fried Sweet and Sour Pork, Sichuan Peppercorn Chicken, and Taiwanese Pork Chop with Braised Pork.
SPECIALIZING IN KATSU
Katsudon (Ginza Bairin)
Unagi Katsu (Ginza Bairin)
From the same owners of Chicken Bon Chon come Ginza Bairin, which elevates the concept of teishoku, or Japanese set meal, by offering endless enjoyment of katsu (crispy, golden-fried meats) with unlimited Japanese kashihikari rice, genmaicha (Japanese brown rice tea), miso soup, cabbage salad, wasabi shoyu dressing and roasted sesame dressing.
The katsu choices are rosu (loin), hire (tenderloin), kurobuta rosu (Berkshire black pig), chicken, kushi katsu (tenderloin chunks and onions on skewers). Seafood choices include Prawn Fry Set, Salmon Fry Set, Premium White Fish Fry Set and Unagi Katsu Set.
Ginza Bairin also offers katsudon sets (katsu rice bowls) as well as Katsu Sando (crisp hire katsu sandwiched between soft, freshly baked bread, and seasoned with two sauces).
BRIOCHE FRENCH TOAST
Berry Berry Brioche French Toast (IHOP)
Peaches & Cream Brioche French Toast (IHOP)
As for IHOP, which is known for its breakfast fares, it has just introduced its new breakfast innovation, Brioche French Toast, which was introduced in the United States earlier this year. An exciting twist on an established breakfast classic, these thick-cut slices of rich, round brioche bread are soaked in a lightly sweetened vanilla batter and grilled to a delicate warm golden crispiness. It comes in three flavorful toppings: Berry Berry Brioche French Toast, Peaches & Cream Brioche French Toast and Bananas Foster Brioche French Toast.
COMFORT FOOD
White Truffle Sausage Panizza (Torch)
Gambas Pizza / Philly Cheese Steak Pizza (Torch)
Dragon Sangria (Torch)
A hip and modern restaurant, Torch Restaurant serves international fusion cuisine. It carries a relatively expansive men u inspired mostly by Japanese and Italian dishes, such as ultra thin and crispy pizza in various flavors, hot sushi choices, steaks and burgers.
Must-tries include White Truffle Sausage Panizza (grilled Italian sausages drizzled with white truffle oil on a fresh, oven-baked panizza, topped with mozzarella cheese, and served with refillable alfalfa sprouts, arugula and salsa), Gambas Pizza (shrimps sauteed in Chipotle garlic olive oil, served on top of a crispy pizza), Philly Cheese Steak Pizza (classic Philly cheese steak sandwich filling on thin crust, topped with mozzarella and cream cheese), Volcano Roll (freshly baked sushi roll filled with tempura, tamago and Japanese cucumber, topped with spice-baked U.S. scallops), and Steak Fondue (melt-in-your-mouth Ribeye Meltique Beef with five different sauces from five different countries).
To wash all the food down, try Dragon Sangria, a light and refreshing white wine sangria with fresh dragonfruit and guava, served in a fish bowl.
VIETNAMESE FOOD AND COFFEE
Banh Mi Chicken Sandwich (Highland Coffee)
Vietnamese Coffee drips into the cup with evaporated milk (Highland Coffee)
Highland Coffee is a Vietnamese coffee chain focusing on traditional Vietnamese brewed coffee and espresso based drinks. Vietnamese Coffee is served in cups with evaporated milk and topped with a handy coffee brewer, from where coffee flows into the cup. Also available are machiattos, iced lattes and flavored lattes, as well as a full range of complementary food such as pastries and sandwiches. A must-try is the Banh Mi Chicken Sandwich.
SIGNATURE TOASTS
Strawberry Matcha Toast (Café Shibuya)
Mentaiko Pasta (Café Shibuya)
Shibuya Benedict (Café Shibuya)
Also a coffee shop that serves a whole range of hot and cold coffee concoctions, Café Shibuya specializes in freshly baked French Toasts served with toppings and a scoop of ice cream. Flavor choices include Strawberry Matcha Toast (honey toast dusted with matcha green tea powder and lavished with cinnamon strawberries, served with green tea ice cream), Tiramisu (Italian-inspired toast brushed with Kahlua syrup and cream cheese, served with coffee ice cream), All American PB&J (creamy peanut butter, strawberry jelly, banana and vanilla ice cream) and Ultimate Chocolate (rich and dark Belgian chocolate sauce with marshmallows, chocolate chips and rocky road ice cream).
Café Shibuya also serves savory dishes such as pastas, a best-selling item of which is Mentaiko Pasta (Japanese-Italian fusion which pairs cod roe with olive oil).
HAD late dinner at Dr. Efren ‘Boy’ Vazquez’s Café Juanita with Iloilo-based Chef Rafael ‘Tibong’ Jardeleza II Thursday last week (October 24, 2013), and as usual, the restaurant lived up to its rave reviews and critical acclaim.
A cozy dining area at Café Juanita
It was the evening after FLAVORS Magazine’s major annual event, FLAVORS Culinary Challenge 2013, took place at the Event Center of SM Megamall (*see related post , And the Grand Champion of FLAVORS Culinary Challenge 2013 Is…, by scrolling down or pressing the Foodbiz button and double-clicking the item). Since it was our annual culinary competition among schools, I had assembled a powerhouse cast of six well-known chefs and personalities in the local culinary world to serve as this year’s Board of Judges, and both Doc Boy and Chef Tibong were part of it. During the course of their judging, they got to engage in light conversation, Doc Boy extended an invitation to Chef Tibong to come over to his restaurant and Chef Tibong said yes. Since Chef Tibong had flown in all the way from Iloilo on the day of the competition (October 23, 2013) and was taking a flight back to Iloilo Saturday (October 26, 2013), we had agreed to late dinner (my husband Raff and me included) the evening after.
With Dr. Efren Vazquez and Chef Rafael Jardeleza II
So we all met up at Café Juanita at 8:00 p.m. for a late but delightful dinner at one of my favorite restaurants in the world and, as usual, it was almost full. The parking area in front of Café Juanita was full, and both sides of West Capitol Drive were lined with parked cars. I had suspected that the car owners were all dining in Café Juanita, and, judging from the dinner crowd inside the restaurant when we got in, my speculation seemed to be right on track.
Doc Boy was already waiting in a private corner table when Raff and I got in. He had been quietly drinking a glass of red wine and was his jolly old self when he welcomed us. Chef Tibong was only a few steps behind us, and so we settled down to pleasant conversation and the food started coming.
Juanita Crispy Spring Rolls
First course was an appetizer called Juanita Crispy Spring Rolls, crunchy pork and crab spring rolls wrapped in lettuce with basil and mint and tied in place with blanched spring onion or chive. There were six pieces and Doc, as he had always done so in the past, insisted that we three guests of his had two pieces each. He was still full, he said, but he has always been that way as a gracious host. He would eat only towards the end of the meal, making sure first that his guests had their fill. I didn’t mind having two, though, since the Crispy Spring Rolls were light and tasty. It was a perfect starter for a delightful dinner.
Oc Lam (bottom) and Tom Yum Goong (top)
Then came two soups, Oc Lam and Tom Yum Goong, in sampler cups. I had Oc Lam, a refreshingly clean-tasting Laotian clear chicken or fish soup scented with exotic spices, for the very first time, and I liked it because it was full of vegetables. The other soup, Tom Yum Goong, was more familiar, being a Thai hot and sour prawn soup with fragrant spices, and Café Juanita’s version of this famous Thai soup had a perfect spice level for my taste. Not too spicy, not too sour – just right.
Bacalao
Tinuktok
Baked Tilapia
Then the main courses were served altogether, family style as always: Beef Rendang, Bacalao, Tinuktok and Baked Tilapia. Beef Rendang, a Malaysian dish of beef simmered for hours in spices, Kaffir and lemongrass, and reduced with coconut milk, was served with spiced potatoes. It usually comes with long-grain rice, but since we were having steamed rice family style, it came with just the spiced potatoes. The Bacalao, or codfish, was cooked in tomato sauce using the usual salted, dried bacalao fish, Spanish style, but the dish was, to my delight, not too salty and delightfully good with olives and basil chiffonade. The Tinuktok, crabmeat and buko wrapped in taro leaves and cooked in coconut milk and crab fat, was my request. I had tasted it before, during the opening of Café Juanita’s branch in Forbes Town Center, Bonifacio Global City, before, and it was one of the Café Juanita dishes that made a big impression on me. You don’t usually get to taste Tinuktok in other restaurants, not even in Filipino specialty restaurants, which usually serve just Laing. As for the Baked Tilapia, Doc Boy had wanted to serve apahap (local seabass) but it wasn’t available. The tilapia was a good substitute.
Sticky Toffee Pudding
Buko Jelly
Raff blowing the candle on his birthday pudding
To end a light late dinner, we had a heavy dessert ‘buffet.’ Doc Boy had small portions of Café Juanita’s famous Cassava Cake with Turones (banana roll or turon) served individually. I tell you, Café Juanita’s Cassava Cake, topped with freshly shredded cheese, is the best ever. I am not a big fan of Cassava Cake, but when I’m at Café Juanita, I just have to have it. Then came a full portion of Sticky Toffee Pudding served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, a lit birthday candle and a ‘Happy Birthday’ song for Raff. The birthday boy was pleasantly surprised, and so he blew the candle on his birthday pudding and made a silent wish. Afterwards, we shared the Sticky Toffee Pudding. But just as we thought we had taken in our last bite of the night, the waiters served Buko Jelly with fresh buko strips and a Maraschino cherry to each of us.
We winded up our late dinner with a cup of hot water steeped with fresh tarragon leaves. What a way to end an awesome dinner in the company of Doc Boy and Chef Tibong! No matter what the occasion, or even when there’s no occasion at all, Café Juanita always rises to the occasion and makes it extra special with its simple touches and details such as the silver tea with tarragon leaves. I would keep coming back to Café Juanita for more.
(Café Juanita is located along West Capitol Drive, Bo. Kapitolyo, Pasig City.)
