Sunday, February 12, 2006
Walang sabaw?
By Stella A. Estremera
IT'S one of those quick lunch cum brainstorming for whatever with buddy Carlos the other week that saw us in this new restaurant where the "Kusina Dabaw" used to be along Sta. Ana Avenue.
Outside the simple sawali and bamboo structure were tarpaulin banners announcing their offerings, the likes of "Baby back ribs" and "lechong manok". What caught our eye, however, was that one that said, "Eat all your rice."
That's a real first: A restaurant that tells anyone who passes by and who may be interested to check out their offerings to "eat all your rice..." "Opo!"
Inside, the restaurant is divided into two -- as most restaurants in this part of the world is: aircon and non-aircon.
Since it was a hot that day, we opted to stay in the cool confines of the aircon section that was made even cooler by the earth tones of the interiors -- a stark contrast to the glare outside.
The menu looks good, grilled baby back ribs (pork or beef) being the place's specialty, we thus had to try that. We chose the beef.
For appetizer, kinilaw, and just something to feel really sinful about: chicharong bulaklak. Looking through the menu, they also offer soups, the likes of sinigang, bulalo and tinola. There is a big but here though...
The soups are "ulam" that's good for three to four people. There are no single serving soups here. No amount of making "kulit" to the waiter could bring down that serving to just two.
Since we already ordered baby back ribs, kinilaw and chicharong bulaklak -- the baby back being also good for three to four (which means we have already ordered way beyond our tummy capacity), we had to scratch out the soup.
But I wasn't about to give up yet as I told the waiter, "Dong, paki-usapan mo na lang yung kusinero na pakapinan na lang kami ng sabaw." Like, hey, if you have bulalo, then I can imagine you keep a vatful of steaming beef stock inside your kitchen just waiting to be served. A cup of soup from that shouldn't make much difference, and anyway, we were willing to pay.
Just not for an order of "ulam na sopas" that's good for three to four when there were only two of us.
Our orders arrived after just a few minutes. But not a single cup of soup arrived. Apparently they simply do not serve soup, not unless you order the whole boot and caboodle. Oh darn...
Anyway, the baby back ribs' finger-licking. The chicharong bulaklak quite okay, and the kinilaw was fresh. But all these soon got stuck in my throat. No soup to soften my rice with. It was only then when I understood what that tarpaulin banner outside was warning us. It was warning us not to complain if food gets stuck in our throat, after all they said it: Eat all our rice!
We did, pushing this down with glasses and glasses of water.
As Kris Aquino would say it, "in fairness", the food was okay, the service fast, and the staff friendly, but it's not recommended for the Bol-anons among us who cannot eat without soup, especially if there are only two of you. The least the owner could do is add a single soup serving order in their menu if they don't want to give any for free.
The grand sum of our twosome lunch? P666... That should give you second thoughts...
(February 12, 2006 issue)
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