'Pop Talk' reviews three Pinoy comfort food restaurants

For a lot of people, rainy days mean snuggling at home and eating comfort food. However, if you don’t want your bed weather menu to be limited to the usual sinigang, champorado, and sopas, you can head over to restaurants that serve Pinoy comfort food favorites with a twist.

 

With a panel composed of “Eat Bulaga” You’re My Foreignay Grand Winner 2014 Shine Kuk, Chef Dino Ferrari and blogger Leah Sureta, GMA News TV’s “Pop Talk” visited three restos that give a different spin to usual rainy day dishes. Here are the reviewers’ final verdict.

 

Manam Comfort Filipino

Ground Floor South Wing SM Mall of Asia

P100 to P500

 

We love going to restaurants that serve Filipino comfort food, mainly because it reminds us of warm homemade meals spent with families or friends. The people behind Manam Comfort Filipino, a newly opened dining destination at SM Mall of Asia, understand this, but do not let themselves be limited by conventional Pinoy recipes.

 

While the resto offers classic dishes like oxtail kare-kare, crispy sisig, and sinigang na baboy sa sampaloc, Manam also has seafood kare-kare, corned beef sisig, and sinigang na beef short rib and watermelon in its menu. The good thing about this is that the traditionally prepared dishes and their corresponding variations are both delicious. The ingredients might be different, but the basic taste of the dishes are retained and enhanced.

 

"Ang lambot ng karne niya. Timpladong timplado na," blogger mom Leah commented on Manam’s sinigang na baboy sa sampaloc. She also loved the sinigang na beef short rib and watermelon, which is the resto’s specialty. "Nung first time kong narinig yung sinigang with watermelon, medyo sabi ko parang yucky yata ‘yan. Pero I'm surprised kasi talagang ang sarap-sarap niya.”

 

"Perfect match na may sourness, na may kaunting sweetness, and saltiness. At saka 'yung presentation pa lang, talagang mukhang masarap so you really want to eat it,” Chef Dino, who also cooks sinigang with watermelon, said. “I hate to admit it pero mas masarap 'to kaysa ‘yung sa akin."

 

Final verdict: 9 pop points

 

Roberta Flavors of Asia

45 B Maginhawa St. UP Village, Quezon City

P165 to P300
 

Who says our bad-weather menu can only have Filipino food? At Roberta Flavors of Asia, various Asian-inspired dishes take center stage. The resto offers Thai pomelo salad, hoisin, stuffed jalapenos, black pasta and more. They also have Pinoy dishes like tawilis, gambas, catfish mango salad, fried crabstick, seafood sinigang, and binagoongang lechon kawali. However, Roberta’s main specialty is actually the tinola sa pakwan, a dish that uses watermelon as its soup.

 

Even though the reviewers are not used to this version of tinola, they still enjoyed the dish. "May kaunting hint siya ng ginger so may lasa pa rin ng tinola and yet may kaunting sweetness,” Leah said.

 

Chef Dino added, "It's more like pochero meets tinola. That's exactly what I feel when I eat this. 'Yung tinola 'di ba you eat it with a lot of sabaw, with a lot of rice. This one parang it can be good by itself lang."

 

Final verdict: 6 pop points

 

Bagoong Club

122 Scout Dr. Lazcano St. Sacred Heart, Quezon City

P180 to P530

 

As its name implies, Bagoong Club is a dining place that features dishes that use bagoong as its main ingredient. The restaurant’s interior is pleasantly homey and its food is adventurous and innovative. Other than using unusual ingredients, Bagoong Club also combines different recipes to come up with a new dish. Bulalo sa monggo, a fusion of bulalo, monggo, and Bagoong Club’s special bagoong, got nothing but praises from the “Pop Talk” reviewers.

 

"It's so good. Ridiculously good. Comfort food na super flavorful," commented Chef Dino.

 

Korean You’re My Foreignay 2014 Shine Kuk, who is familiar with monggo or mung bean, also loved the dish. "I really enjoyed the bulalo sa monggo. It's so amazing. There's monggo bulalo, crispy tilapia tapos ang daming sauce ng bagoong. It's a great idea… I want to bring my grandma and grandpa. They will love this place."

 

Bagoong Club also serves kare-kare, puting adobo, inihaw na pusit with bopis, crispy tilapia and more.

 

Final verdict: 9 pop points