Quick Bytes..

TINOMOK ba kamo??

What the heck is tinomok?? Well, I also asked that question to our waiter in Gerry’s Grill (in Gaisano Mall) and he said it is one of their special dishes. In fact, in their menu it was proudly written that tinomok was reviewed by a prestigious food magazine and was given a thumbs-up sign. To quote the menu: "A bit like laing, only better.This is good. it was featured in a magazine." Nice! =)

Above (at left) is an UNappetizing picture of tinomok which does not do justice to its deliciousness! Looks like a mishmash of something green eh? Gakk! I’m really sorry but that’s what I get for forgetting the 5mp digicam and just using labsie’s fonecam. To top it off, the interiors in Gerry’s Grill are dim, very nice for dates but not good in taking pics, tsk! But as u can see at right, there's a GREAT photo of tinomok with the white gata sauce and silis clearly shown , yum! *drooling saliva*
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It was our second time in Gerry’s Grill. The first time was with my family and we ordered most of the house specialties (grilled sizzling squid, crispy pata, beef casserole [beef, cheese, mashed potato & garlic, yum!] and sizzling sisig) pictured at left and they didn’t disappoint! All were heavenly and were gone in less than 30min, no thanks to the 4 guys with me and mama! =) Anyhow, labsie and I decided to order something different this time, something adventurous. Thus, we ordered tinomok which in their menu looked like green gabi leaves rolled into “balls” and drizzled with ginataan sauce. Mmm, I love gata! I thought it may be laing just served exotically. However the waiter refuted this and said that the gabi leaves were actually a covering for the meatball mixture inside. Ooh meat! (see the first pics above) That decided labsie to order it though I was still a bit apprehensive, what if we won’t like it?? There goes P150 down the drain, tsk! To be sure we still had viands if we won’t like tinomok, we ordered chopsuey (vegetables, yum!) and chicken kebabs. We also told the waiter to make our tinomok not so spicy coz I hate hot stuff. After 15-30min (we actually finished reading a local daily!) the food arrived. Here's the chopsuey (my dim pix at left and great pix at right, notice how similar they look!) --

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I egged on labsie to take the first bite of tinomok and his face contorted! My heart sank, it’s not good but labsie suddenly laughed and spoonfed me a bite. Mmmmmm good! It was truly gabi + meat + unknown veggies with gata, kinda like laing but not hot. The tinomok was demolished in 15min! And even up to now, we still have dreams of going back to Gerry’s Grill and ordering it. The chopsuey was also delicious, the vegetables crispy and there were lots of seafood and meat mixed in. It was at par with Ahfat’s chopsuey =) The chicken kebabs, however, were just so-so.  The chicken cubes were tender and succulent but for the price, it was not worth it. I could probably make a more savoury one at a cheaper price, tsk! It was interspersed with chunky onions, bell peppers and some button mushrooms. After the eye-opening dinner (or should I say stomach-opening-to-tinomok dinner?), labsie and I were all big smiles. We were satiated and very happy to discover a new pinoy foodie find. Welcome to our hearts tinomok! =)

OKONOMIYAKI

Who loves takoyaki guys? I do! My labsie does, my brothers, my parents, everybody in my world does! =) Now, what does takoyaki have to do with okonomiyaki? If you love the taste of the former, triple it in size + more flavors = okonomiyaki! According to the resto where we first had this dish, it's the japanese version of a pizza. However, I later learned that it's more of a pancake, i.e. what you cook is batter (pancake) and not dough (pizza). If you want more info about this yummy food and how to cook it, check the following sites:
http://markun.cs.shinshu-u.ac.jp/hobby/okonomi/index-e.html
http://visualrecipes.com/recipe-details/recipe_id/120/Okonomiyaki-aka-Japanese-Pizza/
http://greggman.com/japan/okonomiyaki/okonomiyaki.htm

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Okonomiyaki means "whatever you like/favorites, grilled in Japanese". After making the basic batter, you put all your favorite foods on top and cook it. Me, I imagine squid rings, shrimps, some fish flakes and japanese mayo. Simply superb! =) We first encountered this delish food last November 2006 in Gaisano Mall. But owing to my super-busy medical life, it is only now that I am able to blog about it, teehee!

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Labsie and I were looking for a new place to eat and there it was -- Effort Junko's Japanese Curry with baduy heart-shaped pink and blue neon lights inviting curious us to view their menu. There was, of course, the japanese curry and the typical katsudon and gyudon meals. And by the corner, we see something round named okonomiyaki. We asked the waiter what it was and he said it is japanese pizza, and we would certainly like it. So we ordered it plus our usual rice meals. When it finally came, we were like "Is this it??" coz it's really not much to look at (as you can see in the pix below with 1/4 already eaten, lol). Plus it took sooo long for the order to arrive! We were nearly halfway our rice meals before it came. BUT, when we took our first bite of the okonomiyaki -- heaven!! It was definitely worth the wait =) The different flavors just meshed and the "crust", oohhh, very flavorful! And the price? About P75 which is good for two so very cheap for snacking! So if you're in GMall and is in a patient mood, look for this crazy-named store in the food section of Gmall's 3rd floor (I think.. haven't been to Gmall or any malls for that matter recently, hehe). By the way, Effort Junko also sells 2nd-hand laptops from Japan so check that out too. All in all, the resto is a good place to eat if you're not in a hoity-toity sosyalera mood. Good food, good price and with good company = good time! =)

~italian carinderia~

Yes, the title is correct. If you’re not familiar about “carinderia” or “karinderya”, it is a Filipino term for an eatery. So yes, this post is about an italian eatery which is very common in Italy, found in many of its sidewalks. But no, I didn’t go to Italy just to eat in their yummy eateries (how I wish!), rather this special eatery is found in Dumaguete City.
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As you can see this eatery is sorely lacking in ambiance. Monstrous ugly signages welcome you to an open-air eatery which is right in front of Dumaguete’s main street. Thus, all you’ll hear are traffic sounds (mostly of tricycles and motorbikes) plus the chatter of the personnel and the whirring of an electric fan. The store is decorated mostly of Italian knickknacks and airplanes. The lady owner (a Filipino married to a former Italian pilot) was there when I ate and she said that they have a hotel in the nearby province where the centerpiece is an airplane! Meaning, they have a nonfunctioning airplane in the resort which was converted into a restaurant with nautical details. Cool huh?? There were some pictures of the hotel in the eatery’s walls but I was unable to take pics of those. Anyway, despite the lack of ambiance, the eatery was still a haven because of its yummy comforting smells from the baking oven. However the oven was steel, not the brick type (think of Picobello’s oven) which is requisite for true-blue Italian cooking. The oven is at the left side of the picture below:

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So, the eatery is also a bakery! And almost every 3-4hours, they have fresh Italian buns. Mmm, they were good! And cheap! Its for only P6 apiece and very filling at that. Most of the customers I saw were there to buy the buns and gelato (Italian ice cream) and thus the buns were rapidly gone (no one ate pizzas like me, tsk!). To continue, the eatery’s interior was divided into 2 parts: the left (if you’re facing the entrance) consists of the bakery, cooking area, cashier, etc while the right portion has plastic tables and chairs for eating. Very basic and coupled with a view like this--

--you know you’re definitely not paying for the ambiance, LOL! I forgot the pizza type I ordered but it was definitely worth the price I paid for it =) The pizzas were pricey (just a bit cheaper than Picobello which has great ambiance!) for a place like this but the taste is truly authentic Italian. Fresh tomato paste (with tomato flesh!), lots of cheese and olive oil, chewy thin crust, all baked to perfection. Delicioso!!! Despite my huge appetite, I still wasn’t able to finish the 8 slices so I took home the leftovers which I ate the next morning. Surprisingly, the crust was not soggy and the pizza still tasted great. Here's a closer view of the pizza:

Doesn’t look great huh? And served on a paper plate pa, my goodness! Hehe! But as I said earlier, it lacked the finer points of an Italian resto-- it is, after all, just a sidewalk eatery! But one that is worth coming back to =)

PERSIAN PALATE

When I see "Persian" in any signboard, I automatically associate it with kababs. It's one of my comfort food in times of stress and kababs taste sooo good esp when it's from Majid's! So I was really excited to see this restaurant (tucked into the side of a prominent hotel here in Dumaguete) in one of my afternoon strolls in Silliman. Of course, I had my dinner there.. I ordered Budget Chicken Curry (budget coz the usual order is HUGE) and I was astonished to be served with a RED curry! I mean, I grew up eating yellow or orangey-colored curry, and now this. I tasted it.. Man, it was FRESH! The sauce was pureed fresh tomato (thus the color) with the usual curry flavor. But with the tangy tomato paste, the chicken curry's taste was a whole new world for my tongue to savor. It was a bit sour, a bit sweet, a bit magic.. Hehe! The over-all flavor was perfectly blended! Yummy! Still, I wasn't able to finish the meal coz, even if it was budget size, the serving was still big for me. I have a huge appetite but with a small stomach, I just simply cannot eat beyond its capacity. LOL!

As for the food prices, it's a bit high than in Davao. Cheapest meals (with rice & viand) start at P70. But considering the huge servings (almost good enough for 2!), the prices are just right. The resto also serves desserts and drinks, the usual kababs and shawarmas (only P25!). The ambiance is great! When you're inside the resto, you'd feel like you're transported in a cafe somewhere in Europe. There's just enough space, pretty homey decors, amazing Indian murals! I really wanted to take pictures of everything but the place was packed with foreigners. I was the only Pinoy there (I was alone) among Koreans, Americans and Indians. So, you see, I had a great "international" dinner! ;p Maybe I'll do the photos next time.. Coz I will surely come back there!