Saturday, October 27, 2007 Bite into Bliss By Mayette Q. Tabada
BY any variant, joy, once tasted, suffuses memory.
This may explain why the former MacJoy, launched under a new name, “My Joy,” last Aug. 1 still takes hold of the picky taste buds of Cebuanos, even those who have never been brought by parents or dates for tacos and iced tea after Sunday mass at the Basilica.
The recent Supreme Court ruling upholding McDonald‘s use of its trademarks was “a blessing in disguise,” says Ingrid Espina, whose parents Luisa and Victor, along with an aunt, Theresa, opened the first branch in Colon St. in 1987.
With the same pluck that egged on the older Espinas to “do something on their own” long before fast food changed the Cebuano palate, siblings Marjorie, Ingrid and Brian now help their elders in stamping My Joy in the Cebu foodscape.
Despite the variant brand name and the fiesta motif—the old fuschsia now rioting with sassy yellow and apple green—My Joy is still comfort food with one unique zing: it is 100 percent Cebuano.
“My Joy is food,” rhapsodizes law student Leylander in his blog, mycebuphotoblog.wordpress.com. “They serve the best pork belly, pork chops, mango pandan and tacos. I’ve been eating pork belly and chicken with iced tea shake and mango pandan for lunch for the past two weeks. LOL. I just love it! Proudly Cebuano!”
A Google search leads to other blogs dissecting My Joy’s food fusion influenced by the American (burgers), Mexican (tacos), Filipino (halo-halo, fresh fruit shakes), and Cebuano (grilled chicken, pork belly and fish fillet).
A thread in opononline.com attests to Ingrid’s proven list of bestsellers: tacos and halo-halo for the merienda crowd, and grilled dishes, pan-fried and then served on a steak plate, for those tucking in a meal. In an opononline.com post read 365 times, Yako and Kula rave over My Joy tacos while Syrenn gives the thumbs up to iced tea.
While the Juan Luna St. branch heavily caters to churchgoers pouring out from the nearby Basilica Minore del Sto. Niño, the third floor outlet at Ayala Center Cebu draws office workers, students and families.
Both branches carry on another My Joy tradition for the past 20 years: once ordered, the food is prepared and cooked, not just reheated. Ingrid guarantees that an order is served within five to 15 minutes.
For all their much ballyhooed persnickety appetite, Cebuanos swear unwavering loyalty to food that, once proven, is patronized, through brand changes and other vagaries. Few clinch it better than My Joy.
