A Day w/ Kat

dessert pies at Pi

Kat approached me to my station one day asking me if I care to join her to try out Parrillada Grill in Maginhawa Street. Her invitation seem felicitous since I've been meaning to try Parrillada for quite sometime now. Heck! Just to be back in Maginhawa and get the chance to explore again its treasure trove of food is enough to give me an exhilaration akin to those tripsters and hippies who have been heavily shot with cocaine. Not that I know how it was like to be high on coke but I would guess you already get the picture, right? Hehehe! ;)


Straight Up Good Food At Parrillada

inside Parillada Grill

bursts of color with heart decorations, both red and pink

menu

An added bonus on this expedition to Maginhawa with Kat is that I finally learn a new route going here. An inexpensive option, I might also add. Before, I would commute all the way to either Cubao or Kamuning, then right after I'll hire a cab going here. Too rigorous for a trip and I'm burning too much money for travel fare that could be spend on more worthwhile matters, like food, of course. Thanks to Kat's geographical wisdom, all I have to do now is take a jeepney right to Anonas, and hail a tricycle stationed on the old McDonald's store that will lead me straight to Maginhawa. Nifty! And I'm paying much, much less for my fare. Hooray!

When we met at the Anonas station, we chatted almost ceaselessly as we travel from our trike ride until we reach Parrillada. I also learned from her that she already went to Parrillada previously, on an assignment as an official photographer of their food months ago. Those photos taken by her are now being showcased on the official menu and on the restaurant's wall fronting the street. The funny thing is, she never actually eaten a single morsel of the food that she photographed. She was even offered by Dre Miraflor, one of the owners, if she could only grab a bite of the suman dessert especially prepared by his Mom for the resto. But Kat has to decline since she's also slated to attend another assignment that day. So this particular visit would be her very first time to try out the food in Parrillada.

fruit shakes

sinigang

The refreshments were the first to arrive and our hot soup. I wasn't able to take note of the exact names of the food we ordered so I'm just committing it all to memory. It was a humid early afternoon so Kat and I zeroed in on the shakes. Milky glaciers encapsuled in tall glasses to quench our thirsts. I opted for the Banana Shake, since I love bananas in all shapes and sizes (and I didn't mean that in a salacious way, thank you!) while Kat had the Watermelon Shake, the shake tinctured in red, a facsimile of the color of love, one might say.

We were dumbstricken when a large, I mean LARGE, bowl of our Sinigang Na Bangus Belly was placed before us. "This dish alone can feed up to four people," Kat said, still mesmerized by the sheer size of the dish. Soups like sinigang is best consumed when it's scalding hot. And this one is. Flavor is rightfully sharp and sour enough for my eyes to involuntarily squint a little with each sip. I would have grind that whole green chili to spike the soup a little however I was told by Kat that she's not too fond of spicy food.

roast beef

seafood pasta

yang chow fried rice

More dishes came in succession. The Roast Beef Plate suffices with meat that yields easily when prodded even with just the use of spoon and fork. Covered with just enough gravy to lubricate the whole lot. I speared some julienned vegetables placed on the side of the plate and ate it in between bites of the meat and spoonfuls of white rice. The Seafood Pasta could have been stellar if we have eaten it while it's still hot, but since Kat and I were too busy updating ourselves with our own 'kuwento' and finishing up our own viands and rice, we scarfed down on the pasta when it was already too cold to my liking. I also felt that the pasta could afford to be a little bit more saucy. The Yang Chow Fried Rice suffices and can already be a meal on it's own. You might say having pasta and rice in one sitting is already an overkill. But what can I say? Kat and I love our carbs. He-he!

mixed vegetables

suman sa latik

The winning dish which Kat and I couldn't get enough of is the simply named Mixed Vegetables. When asked what the dish is about, the server replied that it's just like a regular chop suey. But that didn't stop us from enjoying the dish immensely. The vegetables were cooked just right to retain its natural crunch, and how I surreptitiously forking most of the baby corns to my plate. I'm addicted to this stuff. 

In spite of our plea because we felt getting heavy already, Dre still sent to us from the kitchen a complimentary Suman Sa Latik. This favorite Pinoy rice delicacy was drizzled with a very light palm sugar dressing and a hint of coconut sauce. Sufficient, simple and a straightforward dessert, such as all the dishes we tried here in Parrillada. No frills and fancy frou frou. Just straight up good, home-style cooking.

Special thanks to: Dre Miraflor and Krisie Miguel.

189 Maginhawa St. cor Makadios St.
Quezon City

www.facebook.com/ParrilladaGrillandRestaurant

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Fanciful Pies At Pi Breakfast & Pies

key lime pie

Everyone who knows me knows how big I am on desserts. So, even as we're digging our hefty meals at Parrillada, I made it sure I would still have room for those sugary, sweet pies that I've been dying to try. When the clock struck 4PM, Kat and I immediately sauntered over to Pi Breakfast & Pies in Malingap Street. I first heard of Pi when Tales From The Tummy's Richard Co posted a photo on his Facebook Page of a facade of this new breakfast place owned by Pino's Chef Ed Bugia. I went there on the very day it was posted only to find out that it's not yet "officially" open to the public, and only a select few was invited for this "soft opening". Sniffing, I went elsewhere but I made a solemn promise that I'll be back to try out those pies.

And that momentous moment happened with Kat to help me eat the pies that I could muster. I can't help but feel giddy as soon as our buns hit the seats inside this breakfast place. The place is a bit frumpy yet compact with more seating space at the al fresco area and at the back. When we were handed the menu, my head did a tailspin in deciding which to order. I would have want to order a slice of each but I have to practice restraint. And I don't want to come across to Kat as this uncontrollable oinker of a person.

candy bar pie

s'mores pie

butterfinger pie

The pies we had were no less exceptional, with Kat leaning towards the Butterfinger while I had my eyes on the S'mores. There's only one jarring flaw among these celestial pies that we ordered and that manifested on the Candy Bar pie. Man, this pie is unbelievably too salty. I even have to re-check if we were given the correct kind of pie. I could even feel the salt crystals with each bite I take. This could have been my favorite, a pretty pie this one with a curly cue pretzel that seemed to be embossed on it's chocolate covered top, if the saltiness was lessened a little. Maybe it was supposed to be that way, I'm not sure. But definitely not what Kat and I were expecting for a pie named as such.

To balance all the sweetness that we're taking, Kat and I take turns forking our way through the Key Lime Pie. Slightly sour, creamy and not too sweet. We finished this pie before the rest. Indeed, a downright good pie.

PI BREAKFAST & PIES

39 Malingap St.
Teachers Village
Quezon City

441-1773

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A Thrift Book Shop Like No Other

bookmarks mural

Kat expressed her interest to visit a well-known thrift bookstore in U.P. Village called Bookay Ukay. I know more or less where the said bookstore is located but haven't been there yet myself. Kat is an amazing writer. The articles she posted on the now defunct Multiply site were gems to read. She's one of the first I've known within our circle of cliques who started in the world of blogosphere. I've been prodding her since Multiply took down their site to resurrect her blog albeit with other blog engine sites. She told me that she already have plans to start it this year but I get this feeling she's taking her time. Waiting until that spark of creative flair hit her with utmost suddenness that there's no way to abate it but to put those thoughts into words, into a readable medium. And as we rode another tricycle ride to Bookay Ukay, I was hoping the eccentric vibe of the place would somehow ignite that fire in her to start writing again.

"Trabaho lang"

knickknacks at the counter

may favorite bookmark is on the second one on the lower right :)

A  bookstore with an attitude would be an apt description of Bookay Ukay. It's very evident on the striking mural made of bookmarks of unparalleled artistry that greeted us once we're inside the store. Each bookmark has a different story to tell while some were like puzzle pieces completing the others. Kat pointed to me a part of the shelf containing book series of the juvenile fantasy hit The Twilight Saga and the best-selling erotica Fifty Shades Of Gray. Tacked just right below it is a sign that says, "Trabaho lang". We were nothing short of amused by it. At the counter, some curiously must have knickknacks can be bought. What especially caught our eyes is a wall clock with a word 'Abante' encrypted on it where its second hand moves rebelliously counter clockwise. Remarkable idea, I would say.

I watched Kat with keen curiosity as she studied and read the various signs and posters plastered almost all over the store. Sometimes, she would pick up a book and leaf through it. I once saw her holding a book about photography, she being a Canon user and a photography hobbyist. I would presume that based on her movements and the way she gleans through the store that she's absorbing it's creative energy. 

I would want to purchase quite a few of those statement and artistically done bookmarks, but I was told by the guy at the counter that those are not for sale. I couldn't hide my dismay in my look. I could imagine reading a book would be more enjoyable using those one of kind bookmarks. I also noticed, while the entire thrift book shop flows with it's brandish attitude of non-conformity, it lacks the books that I expected to find of a radical bookstore of it's caliber. Majority of the books here are Western books; and only a little space is reserved for local artists and writers. Maybe stocks isn't replenished to full capacity yet when we visited but I was really hoping to nab something that's hard to find or cannot be bought on well-known, established bookstores. Books by Ninotchka Rosca, Carlos Bulosan or Genoveva Edrosa Matute. Or Nick Joaquin's Reportage On Crime, a copy of which I'm not finding anymore on local bookstores though a new edition was already been released by Anvil Publishing a few years back.

photo for posterity: Kat and chubby me

It was really an enjoyable afternoon spending it with you, Kat. With this food trip, I've learned how important art is to you, how you take joy from the most simple things in life and how you value yourself as a Christian. And some sprinkling of stories that I would not dare put into writing here lest I would want to be banish for 'friendship treason' by not honoring my word on not to tell a single soul. Here's hoping for an encore of this gastronomic escapade and that one day, I'll get surprise (at the same time, thoroughly excited) that you finally published a new article via the World Wide Web. It's about time! *wink*! ;)

55 Maginhawa Street
U.P. Village
Diliman, Quezon City