Food court confidential

In these trying times, a number of Filipinos are eating in food courts whenever they choose to dine outside, either on their own or with their family and friends. Food courts offer meals that are not only cheap but served fast and hot, although at times, of lesser quality than what we would all prefer. Being in the food court business for the past 10 years and running close to 20 outlets in malls all over the metro, I become wary of eating in some of these establishments at times too, knowing how the food is prepared to scrimp on costs in order to keep prices affordable. Basically, going to a food court is convenient because of the wide variety of food choices it offers. The tenant mix in most food courts consists of the following: a hamburger joint, a Chinese fastfood outlet, a couple of chicken stores, a lechon store, an enticing Filipino buffet place where you can have bopis and the like for P50 or so per set meal, a Pinoy comfort food store that sells tapsilog and tocilog and food you can very well cook at home, a Japanese-Pinoy outlet, a joint selling steaks for P99 and below, a sisig place, a pizza and pasta store, an “inihaw" or grilled food specialty outlet, a pork barbecue store, a Korean food place, and a seafood specialty store.

In a sense, one food court is not much different from another. And the way that the food is cooked is, more or less, the same: food is prepared so they would still be good for re-heating. There is also the clever management of leftovers and the use of alternative ingredients to come up with a “2-ulam" meal deal that is set at P65 or below, or whatever is the designated floor price in a mall. Really now, can anyone still get a decent meal worth P65 and below these days? The answer is YES. There are still a lot of good finds in the food court for just 65 bucks. And P65 is hard-earned money for anyone and we would all want every cent of that to go a long way in getting us a good, satisfying and nutritious meal that won’t give us a bad case of indigestion. Indeed, seeing those steaming foodwarmers and platters filled with enticing food can be tempting. I do go hungry just looking at all the gorgeous food displays laid on counter upon counter. But there are a few things to watch out for when choosing a really good meal in the food court. Here are some insider tips on how to enhance your dining experience and how to stay away from establishments that may be out there just to get a quick buck out of you. 1. Beware of the “pangat." In food court lingo or among the food court kitchen crew, “pangat" does not refer to the way “sapsap" is cooked. “Pangat" is short for “pangatlong araw na" or the third day that the food has been sitting there in a foodwarmer and being re-heated and served to customers who will likely not be back the next day. In some unscrupulous establishments, the “pangat" even becomes the employees’ meal when no longer re-heatable. If you see that the chafing dishes in an outlet continue to be full to the brim, make sure to ask if the food is fresh or cooked on that day. 2. Observe if the food server is scooping your food straight from the foodwarmer in front of you or from another platter beneath the counter. Some outlets keep the freshly-cooked food displayed in the foodwarmers right out front but keep yesterday’s version of the same dish in a separate container below the counter. When customers are not looking, they would get the food from yesterday’s leftovers, serving it to unsuspecting customers. 3. Those 3- or 4-ulam meal deals may be too good to be true. One way by which food outlets try to creatively rid their inventories of leftovers is by offering set meals consisting of 3 to 4 viands. These dishes may not all be leftovers but the “sahog" (ingredients) in the pancit might be yesterday’s chopsuey or one of those 3 viands is some other “ulam" that did not quite leave the store the day before. If you’re picky and want to be sure about the food you eat, then better to stick to just one dish that you are certain is freshly-cooked. 4. Watch out for strange permutations of dishes or dishes that are most likely concocted by mixing 2 to 3 leftover dishes. It’s the carinderia’s old way of recycling food – today’s nilagang baboy will be tomorrow’s pork adobo and the day after’s afritada. Also, if you see that the name of a dish connotes a weird combination of ingredients, perhaps, like a stewed chicken hamburger steak, be very afraid. 5. Be on the lookout for those killer sauces and additives. Gravies and sauces are smart ways to mask or hide the real state of the food. Yesterday’s burger steak or porkchop may be as tough as the cowhide leather your shoes are made of but it might taste a bit edible or even good when swimming in gravy. Also, while you’re at it, you might as well observe if the only thing that is fresh on the food in that foodwarmer is the garnish that’s on top of it. Over-garnishing or putting slices of crazily-cut carrots, green beans, and tomatoes and onions, is often a way to “project" that the food is appetizingly “fresh." 6. When buying a smoothie or a shake, is there more water and ice than fruit juice? This has happened to me several times when all I get from a 16oz cup of watermelon shake is just a couple of sips of sweet water and a whole lot of kabag from trying to suck some juice out of the crushed ice. Stay away from these juice outlets that only squeeze you out of your money. Or better yet, ask them not to put ice into that shake – get your juice pure and simple. 7. Go for grilled food or food that is cooked in front of you. You can’t go wrong with fish or even liempo that is grilled before your eyes. The 15-minute wait for freshly-cooked food, even if it’s just a stick of pork barbecue, is worth it. Another thing I enjoy in these food courts is the freshly-made lumpia in those Chinese outlets. The ingredients are put together in front of you and you can ask them to leave out ingredients that you don’t really like. 8. Check if the servers and kitchen staff are wearing proper uniforms and look neat and tidy. The best way to determine the level of sanitation practiced in an outlet is by looking at the kitchen staff. Never trust those wearing dirty aprons in the kitchen or wearing t-shirts that are “tansanized" or “mukhang tansan na ang kuwelyo" (shirts with collars resembling bottle caps) to be extra-clean and careful with the handling of your food. Also, check if they are wearing caps or hairnets. 9. Whenever in doubt, do ask if the food was cooked that day or the previous day. Not a lot of people would dare ask the crew if the food they are serving is fresh, but this would surely get them to either lie through their teeth or be straightforward and honest. Whatever answer you get, you’ll definitely have a gauge if the crew is being truthful. From the intonation of their voice and the way they look at you when they give you an answer, you’ll most likely know if they mean “bagong-luto" (freshly-cooked) or simply “bagong-init" (freshly-heated) when you point to a dish of beef caldereta and ask them, “Bago ba ito?" (Is this fresh?) 10. Opt for steamed dishes rather than fried or cooked in lots of oil. There are several outlets that serve healthy options in the food courts. Steamed pork buns or siomai are always good and flavorful and come with soup and rice. If you can also have your meals in the “paluto" section, then that would be a whole lot better. Nothing beats some simple “halabos na hipon" or steamed shrimps in the “paluto" section even if you have to pay P150 or so for the cooking. 11. Soup dishes that are assembled in front of you are fresher than a dish that is simply scooped out of a foodwarmer on the counter. Whenever you can, opt for sinigang places in the food courts where the soup is poured over the meat of the dish – whether a salmon head or a piece of boneless bangus or a few slices of pork. The vegetables are also fresher as they are added into the soup upon each order and not overly-cooked inside the kaldero. These are just some of the ways by which you can still enjoy a healthy meal in the food court. Eating in a food court can save you some money and still be rather pleasurable if you know what to look for and what to watch out for. Do have fun going around the food courts and discover a world of good food plus a few revelations. With the ever-growing need to stretch our peso, it pays to know where to go and how to get the best value for our money. - GMANews.TV