Yoji and the Foodies

We were thrilled to see more restaurants opening in SM Center Las Pinas. As I have mentioned in previous entries, Las Pinas foodies have to travel further south to go on food binging exercise.

The newest kid in the SM Center food block is Razon’s from Guagua.  The restaurant’s history is painted on the wall, if you care to read. Razon’s specialty is the pancit luglog and the 3-ingredient halu-halo. I am no fan of pancit but their version is really tasty; and the halu-halo is creamy and just has the right sweetness (no sugar added). Some would say that it’s a poor man’s halu halo since it lacks at least 5 other ingredients that would normally make up an honest to goodness halu halo. On the contrary, it is perhaps one of the most expensive (if not the most) halu halos around at 85 pesos.

The friendly neighborhood halu halo is 25 pesos and has 10 “sahogs”. They use the cheapest evaporated milk and the tindera has to to shave the ice manually using this contraption. Razon’s halu halo is different. It has an exquisite taste and it’s all because of the shaved ice. It’s so fine that it gives a really wonderful texture when mixed with the 3 sahogs (leche flan, macapuno, banana) and the creamy carabao’s milk. Smooth!

The Destroyer ordered Arrozcaldo which has what looks like chunks of roasted chicken and hardboiled egg.  One bowl of this comfort food is 75 pesos. It tastes good, but it’s hardly comforting because of the small serving. Tubong lugaw nga.

I know I vowed to eat only fish until Black Saturday, but that’s a fail from the get go (haha!). I will keep trying, but before that, I had to sample this:

This is the sizzling sisig. When this was served to me, it was not sizzling. It was just hot. They should know the difference. Here’s the thing with me and my sisig meter – the standard to which all sisigs are measured against is Gerry’s sisig.  Razon’s sisig registered an “Ok” in taste only because I like the adobo-ish flavor. It is nowhere near Gerry’s sisig’s awesomeness. There are pork parts that were sinewy, hence, “unchewable”. I was thinking maybe they ran out of pork cheek and ear parts so they went to use tough pork scraps lying on the counter. That’s just my luck. For 140 pesos, this is a rip-off.

I feel conflicted.

Reyes Barbecue is one of those food places that you want to try out the moment they open their doors to the public. Why? Because it’s owned by a Kapampangan; and we all know that Pampanga cuisine  generally fares better than other local and provincial cuisine (arguably). Of course, the Ilonggos and ther inasal are way up the gastronomic charts, but I’ve yet to meet a Kapampangan who cannot cook well. I am half-Kapampangan so It’s safe to say that I am half-good at cooking. Half-good and half-lazy.

A week ago, My father and I went to Reyes Barbecue SM Las Pinas branch. We’ve tried the Alabang branch a few months back but we were not happy with the bangus steak. The portion was small and the taste, bland. We always give 2nd chances to countless restaurants we go to, because if there is one thing that’s constant in food business, it’s the inconsistency of the food taste across branches.

Since this is our 2nd attempt, we orderd something different. My dad, being a huge fan of burger + rice combo, ordered the Salisbury Steak. I decided to stick to the house specialty of boneless chicken barbecue with peanut sauce. Rice and burger may be a Filipino thing, but I just find it a very unusual combination. It’s probably the last dish I would order.

The service was quick but only because we’re the only customers at that time. We didn’t have high expectations because we’ve been disappointed many times in the past, but when the Salisbury Steak was served, my dad was pleased with the portion. He is into sauces and soups so this was a real treat for him because the food was swimming  in a pool of gravy. While I am not impressed with the presentation, the real test is in the taste. My dad said it was good. So I asked him if he were to compare it to the Chef d’Angelo burger steak, which one would he choose. He answered “this one” without taking his eyes off the burger patties.

Me: Really, you like this better than Chef d’Angelo’s?

Dad: yes

Me: Eh, Jollibee Burger Steak?

Dad: This one.

Me: French Baker Salisbury?

(long pause)

Dad: Same

Me: Would you come back?

Dad: Yes.

It must be really good because my dad is one hard to please foodie. I’ll take his word for it.

Salisbury Steak with gallons of gravy