Savory, Thrice Up!

As Eddie was in town, Gwammy ordered food from Savory Chicken last night, for the whole family to feast on.  As usual, the chicken was flavorful, the sauce was unique and the aroma filled the household!  We also ordered sweet sour pork and the ever popular pancit canton which was gone in 30 seconds!  It appears that Savory Chicken house has three incarnations, as the owners have decided to split management three ways in order to avoid family tensions.  We ordered delivery from "Savory Chicken" Ever Commonwealth Branch (this family group I understand has three branches).  I understand that there is "The Original Savory Chicken" group which has several stand-alone restaurants and in the malls, the latest incarnation created by the third generation family members has the brand name "Classic Savory Chicken."  All these restaurants trace their roots to 1950 (the first store is at the foot of Jones Bridge, right at the start of Escolta) and all of these restaurants serve the same chicken recipe that they are known for.  Truly a great way to enjoy chicken.  Just right at an average of P300 per head.

Santol

After eating Thai food last night, my thoughts drift to the Bangkok Santol tree we used to have in Rich Street many many years ago.  May is santol month, when trees just bloom with tons of either the local variety (smaller, darker, slightly sour) or the Bangkok variety (gold, larger and sweeter).  Someone gave Vicky a kilo of the fruit, and tasting them this lunchtime brings back memories of youth, when my sisters and I would brave the swarms of higad (caterpillars that gave off itchy spores) that would inhabit the santol tree just to pick the ripe fruits.  Tree-climbing was fun, and I even remember that Erica almost fell--she stepped on a branch that couldn't hold her weight!  Nice to reminisce...

Thai Dara

Our 4th Order of Pad Thai Noodles!

Eddie was in town for the enrollment of Vina, so we had dinner with the folks & family last night in Thai Dara along Granada St. in New Manila.  This place is operated by Chef James, who on more than one occasion, has given Thai cooking demonstrations in SM Hypermarts.  The place is cozy and seats some 25 people on the ground floor, and maybe another 20 people at the second floor.  We were the first to arrive at 7:30 pm, and place just filled up to capacity in around 20 minutes.  The kids started off enjoying their lemon-mint juice while waiting for the food to arrive.  Vicky & Annella ordered the all-time favorites of Pad Thai noodles (4 orders were gone in a jiffy!), tasty fried lumpia; we also had yellow curry chicken and red curry beef (this was spicy!), sliced chicken & pork sate, and Sassy Fish with green mangoes (fish was fried super crunchy).  This restaurant is a good place to enjoy authentic Thai street food, and with an average spend of P400 per head, we truly had a good night!

ATG

The rainy weather has brought about a melancholy pause today.  As I glanced over the thank you note from the family of my friend J, my thoughts also drifted to my investment banking mentor ATG, who passed away a month ago from a heart attack.  A very cordial fellow, the man was a true idealist who instilled in me the value of being mentally honest.  His first passion--baseball!  His second passion--hobby kits, both planes and tanks!  He had a long banking career in the money market, first with the Bank of America, and then with the foremost local merchant banking consortium, AEADC.  He later went on to grow a consumer marketing business related to his third passion--golf!  As I continue to work on structuring some of our pipeline deals, I will always keep his wise words in mind.  Rest in peace, my good friend, AMDG.

J

Yesterday, I received a beautifully written thank you note from the family of my late friend J, who passed away early this year from pneumonia.  This brought a lot of memories of childhood, as we were batch mates from prep school.  J was an outstanding ultra-marathon runner; he has completed the 100+ km Bataan Death March run as well as numerous other marathons both in the Philippines and abroad.  I understand that last November, he completed the New York marathon and that is probably where he contracted the virus.  He was an outstanding dancer, and I distinctly remember our nights at Where Else? over at the Intercon in the late 70s.  Always at the forefront of the fashion industry, I understand he was the Philippine marketing driver of some of the world's most recognizable apparel brands.  He even worked on a local fashion publication, and whose advice in everyday style was always welcome.  He is survived by his wife and 2 children. Truly a gentle, warm soul, J--we already miss you!

Little Store on the Hill

Being already at Chicken Charlie, I hopped over across the street to the Little Store on the Hill which has been a regular stop-over since around 2005.  This little Oriental deli is filled with goodies from 

China, Taiwan and Thailand.  I ordered their famous Chinese style lumpia, a large stuffed vegetable roll for only P75.  This is what I get whenever I have guilt pangs from over-indulging!  It's just vegetable, yet it's very tasty with a sprinkle of garlic, coriander and hoti (dried Chinese seaweed).  Also got some maki-mi (noodles in thick pork soup), but this was no longer as tasty as I remembered it to be.  The store has a small dine-in section, and one popular marketing gimmick is that counter dishes are sold at a 20% discount after 7pm.  They also have a freezer section, and I noticed that they have beef tendon available for sale.  Now this is hard to come by, and just perfect for kare-kare and callos!  The deli also carries some exquisite and tasty Chinese sausages, which you can fry and eat by itself, or use in cooking for that extra flavorful dish!  This is a bit different from the Macau-style sausages which are thin, hard, dry and sweet.  The deli is open until 8pm, and most often I get there with just a little time to spare!

Chicken Charlie

Dropped by Chicken Charlie which is located on Abad Santos St. very near Wilson St. in San Juan.  I heard about their soy-garlic chicken, got a box of 3 drumsticks and  7 chicken wings which came to P288.  I found the chicken quite tasty, and their unique frying method makes the chicken skin quite crispy.  The place isn't that big though; I counted maybe 6 tables, but you would notice a steady inflow of customers, half of which, including myself, just order take-out.  The chicken cooking style is quite similar to Chicken Bon Chon, and what surprised me is that the chicken wings are cut in exactly the same fashion!  One chicken wing therefore, became counted as 2 chicken wing pieces!  That I found a bit odd and a bit on the borderline of clip-joint practices... Well, tasty food, but you can only expect so much for hole-in-the-walls...