LAST week, a gaffe. I referred to MacDonald’s chicken as “Chickenjoy”.
For which I was promptly chastised by a niece, on Facebook, yet. “Aunt, Chicken joy is Jollibee.” My reply was, “OMG, really? What’s the Macdonald’s chicken called?” Her response, “McChicken.”
Among others, a BFF also sent me a text. It ended with “By the way, Chickenjoy is Jollibee.” Yes, a gaffe. It took my students to inform me that chicken in MacDonald’s is called “Chicken MacDo”. Hence, an erratum note, mea culpa. An apology too, to my co-columnist today, Michael del Rosario. Sorry guys! Chicken MacDo, Chicken MacDo, Chicken MacDo.
My current MacDonald’s favourite, however, is called “Chicken Fillet a la King.” It is a creamy sauce over a piece of breaded chicken fillet.
You can have it with rice, as I do, and enjoy a complete meal.
The other MacDo thing I like is a plain, flat cone with a blob of vanilla ice cream atop it. It reminds me of the base ice cream in John Hay, available when my generation of Baguioites were children.
Speaking of food, there are three Baguio restaurants that are on a list of “Top 15 Philippine Restaurants by Reservation Only.” The three are Eve’s Garden, Foggy Mountain Cookhouse, and Mama’s Table. I have yet to try any of the three – Eve’s being in a farm in La Trinidad, Foggy in San Carlos Heights, and Mama’s on Ambuklao Road. Of these three, the one most recommended in my circle of foodie friends is Mama’s Table. It is on our to-do list, asap.
This business of “by reservation only” strikes newbies as a new thing, but it’s not. The first ever such place in Baguio was called Forest House, in a -- precisely -- house tucked away in the greens of Pacdal.
It was owned by a German woman named Mrs. Krupp, and you had to call her a day or two before you went to eat there. The name Forest House was later taken over by her niece Nena Larrucea (Claravall) and is now used by Ari Verzosa, in my grandfather’s old house on Loakan Road.
Chicken MacDo! Chicken MacDo! Chicken MacDo!