Chicken Bacolod

September 11, 2007

Our lunch was taken at Chicken Bacolod in Greenbelt 1. Gentley was kind enough to drive us to the mall today, as the Company vehicle was banned from the streets on a Tuesday. We decided to eat cheap today and we picked Chicken Bacolod.

Chicken Bacolod serves the ever famous chicken inasal or grilled chicken marinated in yellow ginger root extract that gained prominence in the Manokan Country somewhere in Bacolod City. Aside from the grilled chicken, it has the ever tasty and delicious La Paz Batchoy, a noodle stew served with lots of garlic, pork skin and whole egg.

I would always order the chicken breast at Chicken Bacolod with garlic rice. Today, however, I cajoled the group to try out the crispy crablets as a side order. Mimi did order the chicken leg and a bowl of hot La Paz batchoy, which she willingly shared with the group. I opted not to partake of the batchoy as it is cholesterol laden and I am on a quest to lower my cholesterol as I'm feeling the dizziness and symptoms of high blood pressure this past week.

I did enjoy my grilled chicken breast but the crablets was a disappointment. I did expect the crablets to be baby crabs, but these were a bit bigger already. It did not came out as crispy and crunchy any more. The claws were a bit bigger and harder to munch on. This sentiment was shared by the group and we vowed not to order this again in the future.

I was amazed when Gentley made a confession that he had not tried making the calamansi - soy sauce dip before to go with the grilled chicken. As filipino as we are, this is almost disfunctional as we filipinos are so used to having this dip with lots and lots of chili to spice up the dip. Anyways, Gentley never claimed to be a fan of grilled chicken and he found the chicken and the dip to be a good complement.

I paid only about Php130 for my meal, including the soda which I also ordered.

Afterwards, I went out to Ace Hardware to buy some knick nacks, some screws and other stuff. Maidette, Mimi and Gentley however, went to Razon's to get some desserts, the ever famous halo-halo of Razon's.

Marina Seafood Restaurant

Although its midnight madness sale in Glorietta, we braved the flock of shoppers that normally trooped to the malls at this time. Indeed, people came in droves and it became a happy please to be.

We never had a plan for a restaurant today. Along the way, Mimi suggested to try out the Isabella's Chicken at Chicken Inasal. This chicken is a product of a telenovela (soap opera) on local television about a certain chicken recipe that's stolen from its rightful creator and marketed in a successful chain of restaurant by the stealer. That's how powerful television is in the Philippines, it can prompt people to do things, even try out some chicken preparation. I was glad Chay was not happy at all with Chicken Inasal. She prefers the other Bacolodian chain, Chicken Bacolod. Apparently, these two chains have different recipes for their flame broiled chicken in yellow sauce.

We compromised on Marina Seafood Restaurant. This is a filipino restaurant that serves seafood like yellow fin tuna, squid, shrimps, crabs, clams and others. Of course, one can still order such food as chicken, pork or beef in various preparations. Marina is a great place for value for money dining and its seafood is always fresh.

We ordered the sinigang na ulo ng maya-maya (stew of fish head - soured with tamarind), grilled tuna belly, grilled aubergrine salad, and adobong kangkong (water spinach). The sinigang na maya-maya was soured to perfection. The soup was steamy hot where leeks of string beans, slices of raddish, aubergrine, onions and tomatoes. The fish tasted good and fresh. The tuna belly was truly a headliner. It was juicy on the inside that came great with the local lime dip with soy sauce and lots and lots of hot, hot chili peppers. The salad was as appetizing as it looked on their menu. Grilling the aubergrine lends it a distint aroma that sizzles in the mouth when combined with julienned tomatoes and white, sweet onions. The fish sauce that came with it was a delight as well.

We had a wonderful lunch and we paid Php210.00 each for our meal. We lingered for a couple of minutes inside Glorietta trying to window shop on the on-going sale of midnight madness. If clothes where a need, a lot of choices can be had scowering through the shops that priced down its goods to as much as 70% reduction. Me, Gentley, Mimi and Chay all went back to the office thereafter with Alvin driving the van.