Saturday, January 29, 2005
Bean Sprouts
The square is coming up…sprouts! Jenara Regis Newman gets a mouthful of green.
Think bean sprouts and you think veggie. It is that, and more, at this new eatery simply called, well, Bean Sprouts. Located at St. Patrick’s Square along Elizabeth Pond, Bean Sprouts offers food to take out, though one can also eat in as there’s space for about forty diners.
Owners of the place are eight Murillo cousins with Ginny M. Bedonia- Noel, Mito Murillo and Raul Murillo representing their three families. Chef-by-experience is Mito, who used to be based in Australia but trained in Japanese cooking in Japan (his wife, Akiko, is Japanese and his mother-in-law, Setsuko, is a chef…both, as well as Mito himself, are involved in Sen Ryu, the Japanese Restaurant along Salinas Drive).
The trio’s concept for Bean Sprouts is oriental fusion cuisine. There’s a bit of Thai, Malaysian, Chinese, Japanese and of course, Filipino, in the full range menu, from appetizers to soups to pork, beef, chicken, seafood, rice and noodle dishes, house specialties and Asian favorites, vegetarian dishes, desserts and drinks (no beer, no wine…yet?). So where does one find the bean sprouts? In all the fried rice dishes, as stir fry and as salad in the vegetarian menu, in the chicken and shrimp omelets, in spring rolls, in bean sprouts with spicy dried anchovies, and in some of the noodle dishes.
You don’t like bean sprouts? Then try prawn cutlets, deep fried oysters or sesame prawn toast to appetizers, bird’s nest soup or crab with sweet corn soup or tom yum gai for soup, pork cutlet with sweet chili sauce, chili beef, beef with snow peas, Thai green curry chicken, Kong Pao Chicken, steamed tuna belly, squid with snow peas, fish head curry, or callos for your main entrée. For dessert, deep-fried coconut ice cream is highly-highly recommended (it’s a ball of vanilla ice cream wrapped in dessicated coconut and deep-fried before serving…truly a treat!). Tofu custard should also be interesting. There’s also a section of the menu called afternoon delights, which includes callos, and which is available at all hours, that is from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Dining in Bean Sprouts is truly an Asian cuisine treat. Service is fast, except for some steamed dishes which take about 15 minutes. If you don’t have time to eat in, then order for take out (the number is 254-0009 or 412-6657; soon, they’ll deliver within a five kilometer radius) and dine on Asian culinary delights with your family.
(January 29, 2005 issue)
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