Off Tangent in the Orient

“You’ll have to try the coffee braised beef hot pot. But don’t forget the buchi; it’s got Reese’s chocolate filling.” These were words alien yet familiar; the usual suspects found in a Chinese restaurant’s menu. As Chow Fun’s owner Danio Caw did his roll call of dishes each came into sharp focus, wheeled in on the Lazy Susan of my mind. The hotpot, when brought in, was a bubbling bowl of dark caramel-hued stew meant more for the small, amazing eateries I imagine lining Beijing or Taipei’s side streets. Instead, it’s off Wilson Street, flanked by a Chinese herbal drugstore and facing a Buddhist temple.

Forget Starbucks, get your caffeine jolt from Chow Fun's Coffee Braised Beef. Right: Modern art - Chow Fun style

Free Zen meditation classes at the Ocean Sky temple facing the restaurant

Like other neighbourhood favourites Ristras, Chicken Charlie, and Kanzhu, Chow Fun is casual modern. Instead of red and gold decor, productions Yue Minjun’s grinning paintings hang on concrete walls. Chairs are deliberately mismatched, and so are the overhead lamps, which crowd above each table.

Chow Fun's modern interiors by designer Gwyn Guanzon

As with interiors so with the menu too: Expect a cross-section of China’s food map that delightfully goes off-tangent. The tender braised beef could nearly, effortlessly slide down your throat, but it’s the robust, assertive coffee flavour that makes it stand out. Duck spring rolls are crisp and oily, kind of like pulutan begging to be hand with a cold bottle of Tsing Tao. While a mildly gamey taste will coat your mouth, the dish is served with three sauces – orange, chilli, and vinegar.

A duck! Precisely!: Fowl-filled spring rolls with three kinds of sauce

Bigger portions include a Lechon Macau on hefty mound of fried rice. It’s a meal on its own, and while the pork is crisp enough, you’ll want it crunchier if possible. There’s a pork bun version too for merienda stop-overs. 

Lutong Macau: There's no secret to Chow Fun's hearty Lechon Macau with rice

While most dishes are good, a few are more stellar than most like Chow Fun’s House Fried Chicken. Don’t let the pedestrian name fool you – this amazing chicken could be enough to wean most off of their Bon Chon addiction. Without anything else, it could be the dish most fried chickens could aspire to: juicy white meat under a crispy skin with excellent texture.It comes coated in pepper and dried plum powder – think champoy – that reels you in with sweetness, then becomes peppery, and finally back to sweet.

The House Fried Chicken comes coated in powdered plum, and a vinegar dip on the side

And the buchi? A molten, gooey Reese’s core left us weak-kneed and pining for more!

Chow Fun's buchi comes in two versions: Dark chocolate and Reese's filling. Lord have mercy

And more there ought to be: Despite not being over six months old yet, and still refining a fluid menu, Chow Fun shows a lot of promise. Dynamic and slightly unhinged, upbeat and creative instead of staid, it puts its own stamp on what Chinese cuisine can and should, proving to us that bending rules are often fun.           

CHOW FUN Modern Chinese Bistro

Ground Floor, 103 J. Abad Santos Street, Little Baguio, San Juan City

Tel. 6241009 / 5700826

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The Times They Are A-Changin'

We know, we know. It's been a quiet past few weeks - okay months - and you're probably wondering, "Where'd they go? Are they still alive?" We've been right here all along folks.

At our Pampanga food trip with Chef Jam Melchor (far right) of Villa Cafe.

But caught between blogging and the demands of real life, we've opted to keep mum for the time being until we could sort out our lives. And my how we've sorted them out. Here's what we've been up to lately:

Bianca just finished her Master's Degree in Multimedia Journalism in Columbia earlier this May, and after months of investigating crime scenes, interviewing guys who sell M&M's on the subway, and yes, exploring a monster makeup convention, she's finally ready to make good use of her newly minted degree.She'll be interning with Mashable starting June. For now however, she's vacationing in Austin, Texas, sampling tacos, slow-cooked beef brisket, barbecue, and giant doughnuts. We have never been more jealous.

Our resident baker Twinkle has also moved up the ladder of luxury, doing PR and marketing for no less than Bulgari and Hermes Philippines. Can you expect hundred thousand peso-handbags and purses next to homemade key lime pies during our shoots from now on? Probably not yet - although we've come close. Last month Twinkle (or should we say 'Angelina'?) teamed up with swimsuit designer Twinkle Ferraren for a Twinkle-Twinkle shoot. 

     Jon continues to wow crowds with his superb knowledge of pop culture during Trivia Night and Geek Fight. Lately though he's taken on a bigger role, helping run Burger Boys. By day he scours the metro for cheap foodie finds and buffets, and by night he, uh - well he's been caught up playing Diablo 3. Last April he returned to his home province of Pampanga with us in tow to do a Kapampangan food trip. 

  And as for Ryan? He's all over the place these days - shooting, writing, and attempting to be a grown adult. On some days he hikes off to Makati in a dress shirt and tie, other times he's in jeans and sneakers. He still dreams of visiting Europe, but in the meantime, has to deal with a dozen flavors of homemade ice cream in his freezer he has to rate. Check out his monthly restaurant review in Yummy magazine. And speaking of Yummy...

Oh yes. A whole day of eating this Saturday! See you there!

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EAT IT UP: Probiotic Pops by Sugarleaf

POP CULTURE: Beat the heat with these homemade healthy pops with flavors (left to right) like Spirulina, Baguio strawberries, and freshly-squeezed oranges. Sugarleaf owner Angelo Songco (rightmost) comes up with new flavors each week.  

Bring up popsicles and I revert to my nine-year old self fussing over his Twin Popsies. These were (are - they're still around) bright orange sheets of ice the color of road construction cones that tasted of sugar, syrup, and maybe a drop or two of citrus. In short, sheer magic for the blistering hot summer of '93. Nineteen years later and I still love popsicles though time has made me a little more choosy.

So when Angelo Songco who owns healthy-leaning cafe Sugarleaf came out with his own line of homemade pops, it seemed that nine-year old me and his yuppie, slightly jaded counterpart could finally agree on something. So far there are three flavors - a glowing blue Spirulina that's mildly tastes of sea, Mountain Province-picked strawberries, and orange, awfully reminiscent of the kiyat-kiyat I had snacked on earlier that day.

Each tastes fresh in a way usual frozen desserts don't, and though not as creamy or sweet, they're pretty satisfying too. Try them or other kooky flavors at a Sugarleaf near you.

Sugarleaf
Ground Floor, Health Cube Building, 226 Wilson Street, West Greenhills, San Juan City
Tel. 385 0387
Ground Floor, MEDICard Lifestyle Center, 51 Paseo de Roxas corner Gil Puyat (Buendia) Avenue, Makati City
Tel. 891 7323

Visit www.sugarleafph.com

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Eat It Up: Hermanos' Fish Tacos

Fish be with you: Irresistible fish tacos at Hermanos are simple yet satisfying.

Just because you can't eat meat, it doesn't mean you can't have a little fun. Every week of Lent I'll be sharing a different meat-free find from the different restaurants in Manila starting with last time's adorable watermelon steak by Pipino. Mexican food seems to have gotten a second wind in the local dining scene. Recent entries like Órale!, Chihuaha, and Achiote are leaving a new generation of foodies smitten.

Then there's Hermanos Taco Shop on the very edge where Quezon City and San Juan meet. Run by San Franciscan chef Rene Rodriguez and the Mora clan, the quaint tacqueria plies sumptuous burritos, sirloin carne assada smothered with fries, and more chimichangas than...well...a chimichanga party.

Or a cooking show with Deadpool.

But it's Hermanos' fish tacos (P150) - wicked golden-fried dory crescents - that haunt me to this day. Drizzled with lime sauce, stuffed with cabbage, and tucked in soft tortilla blankets, they're the house best-sellers and with good reason. It's crisp and tender with wild Mexican flavors that'll make you sit back and say Holy cow.

Well, holy fish to be specific.

Have it with chips and salsa. Have it with horchata, that weird, wonderful rice, milk, and cinnamon drink that's a staple during Mexican holidays. It doesn't matter. This fish taco could very well make a believer out of you.

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Eat It Up: Watermelon Steak

Pipino's irresistible watermelon with asparagus, taro miso mash, and pickled mushrooms
will have you smitten for summer and beyond

As a rule, I don't grill my fruits. It's just one of those things - like walking with wet socks or eating a whole jar of mayonnaise with a spoon. I'd rather not, thank you very much. Fruits by all accounts are meant to be served chilled, preferably in bite-sized juicy chunks, or, in the case of watermelon, sliced into big wedges you dive your whole face in. That's what makes watermelon, well, a watermelon.

Last week however, vegan snack shack Pipino in sleepy Teachers Village came out with a 5-course Valentine's meal that included, among other things, watermelon steak. This was unheard of in my dining vocabulary, though New York Times food columnist Mark Bittman would have you think otherwise.

Says Bittman:

"Watermelon is not a vegetable, obviously, but it’s so wonderful when grilled [...] Grill a watermelon slice, and it dries out and sobers up, losing its sloppy sweetness, and it takes surprisingly well to savory accompaniments. Add a slice of good melting cheese, a hard roll, a few pickles and a lettuce leaf, and look out: watermelon burgers."

Pipino's new watermelon steak is just that: A thick, red wedge that's actually pretty to look at. On biting, it does't give too quickly, and releases nearly that same smoky flavor you'd associate with your favorite T-bone. Here it's served with asparagus and pickled mushrooms that adds welcome zing. A clump of taro miso mash satisfied my need for carbs.

Will it fly with diners? For vegans it's a no-brainer. But as a regular guy who can appreciate a fine slab of rib-eye, it's definitely still worth trying. Just don't expect to be filled up in a way only honest to goodness, proteiny meat can. Have it if you're coming to grips with your Lenten fast or curious to sample creative vegan cooking. It's definitely a notch higher than masquerading gluten and tofu as animal parts, and you get to love fruit in a whole different way. Now if someone could start cooking watermelon burgers...

Pipino
39 Malingap Street, teachers Village, Quezon City
Contact (63) 2 4411773
Visit www.pipinovegetarian.com 

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This Diet Ain't Proletariat

Gong Xi Fa Cai! What I know of Chinese New Year I've learned from ampao red envelopes containing McDonald's coupons. That and a Mandarin hat my dad once bought complete with a fake braided pigtail. This my ten-year old self wore one United Nations Day in grade school as he shuffled around the classroom and repeatedly bowed to every classmate. Karma would catch up ten years later in America when guards at my school dorm consistently mistook me for a Chinese food delivery boy. That however is for another time.

My knowledge of Chinese cuisine is only slightly better. Weaned on episodes of Cooking Master Boy and Stephen Chow's God of Cookery, I treat good Chinese food - whether it's Wok Inn's pork 'sipa' fried wontons or fresh noodles in Binondo's Ling Nam - with fanatical reverence. After all, the only proper way to appreciate a chef's cooking is by rolling all over your food before fainting.

The same goes for Cooking Master Boy's delicious-sounding 'China Within A Fish Stomach', which would be the most insane fish relleno ever made.

Until that day comes however, there is Komrad. Since it opened late last year, the quirky noodle and dimsum parlor in Eastwood has been attracting curious office workers and families, all of whom dine under the watchful gaze of Chairman Mao in a chef's jacket.

Seeing red: Vintage decor from China's communist heyday adorn Komrad's walls. 

Komrad is part of the Red Crab Group of restaurants whose head chef, Peter Ayson spent some time in Beijing and other Chinese cities researching on what the locals dined on. His search led him to Chef Chen Xuen who was operating out of a small eatery. Back in Manila, Ayson and Xuen have designed a menu that is authentically small-town, hearty, backwater China yet still ripe with cosmopolitan inventiveness.

Here's a different face to Chinese cuisine, at least one that's a safe remove from whatever you've tried in a Hap Chan or Kowloon. Taking the forefront are Hunan and Sichuan cooking, vibrant traditions infamous for their liberal of chilies, shallots, and garlic. (Mao Zedong hailed from Hunan Province hence the socialist concept.) Be prepared: Komrad's dishes are fierce and lusty, gratuitously oily, and often enough gleefully fried. I wouldn't have it any other way.

Xuen who is in his early thirties is himself quite the character. Shuffling back and forth between kitchen and dining area, he handed me dishes with a cheeky smile (and a twinkling silver tooth to boot) and in halting Filipino described what was at stake: Ito baboy. Ito manok. And later after dessert, Bayad kayo ha with a wink. 

Stalinist starters: Luscious chilled tofu with pork floss (left) and the Yakimeshi-like Komrad fried rice (right) 

The menu hearkens back to the hearty, spicy fare of China's heartland; food meant to warm you up during the cold winter months, and to open your pores come summertime. Even Chairman Mao swore by a bowl of jiggling red-tinged braised pork each day for the bright-eyed proletariat. For starters there's chilled tofu served in cascading slices swimming in soy sauce and topped with pork floss (P225). The eggplant and red bean fritters (P135) are a close second with their addictive crunch. 

For dimsum, opt for the fried Shanghai dumplings (P125) - pork balls each wrapped in a chewy, doughy mantle. There's another type laced with truffle oil, but really it's barely there. Not everything with truffle oil ends up amazing. 

Party food: Komrad's fried Shanghai pork dumplings (left), and Chef Xuen's take on Kung Pao chicken (right)

Further on, there's bite-sized Kung pao chicken almost like KFC poppers with dried chilies and peanuts (P198). These are gratifyingly crisp and mildly dry. Mind the sudden bursts of heat though, and be sure to have a glass of iced tea nearby at all times.

At one point, Xuen even brought out a small plate of pig ears in a bed of chilies, shallots, and garlic (which at this point you should be used to) that suspiciously smacked of leftovers. It's not officially on the menu, but hell, all this impromptu pulutan needed was some cold bottles of Tsing Tao to make it into perfect bar chow.

If you're adventurous look into the cumin pork ribs (P359), a rarer specimen with its telltale whiff of the exotic filling your nostrils almost immediately.

"Some customers have approached us saying their server needed deodorant, but really it's the cumin they're picking up," says Ayson with a grin. One of the staff chimed in: "Parang amoy Bumbay o Arabo!" Smell and taste are quite different however. The ribs are downright delectable with a mild, pervasive heat that coats your lips. It's not for everyone, but it is worth trying on your first visit.

Collective guilt: The sinful cumin pork ribs (left) stand out in an already quirky menu. The equally kitschy decors (right) make good use of China's revolutionary past.

So is Komrad revolutionary? Not entirely. Somewhere out there I imagine discovering the real authentic experience in a grimy little noodle and dimsum parlor in some Beijing alleyway, and not a communist-themed Eastwood restaurant. But even then, it's my gut feeling that Komrad comes close. The uncommon dishes, bold use of spices, and hearty servings will satisfy diners throughout Year of the Dragon. And if this were a lost scene from God of Cookery, I'd be rolling all over my pork ribs too.

Komrad - Mao's Hunan and Sichuan Kitchen
2nd Floor Veranda, Eastwood Mall, C5 (E. Rodriguez Avenue), Libis, Quezon City
Contact 9213440

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Craving for: Fresh Tuba from Chef Tatung's

by Ryan

While doing an errand in Sikatuna Village, a friend took me to Chef Tatung's, both the home and restaurant of Myke 'Tatung' Sarthou. It was a spur of the moment side trip, and we didn't get to try a meal (this time), but Tatung gave us a tour of the redone place. He also served some refreshing tuba-turned-sherbet perfect to fend off  the afternoon heat. The blue flower was picked from his own garden.

Tatung's menu has gone through some changes: first European then Pan-Asian and finally, as if realizing he had to return to his own roots, he's back to the basics of Filipino although with his own personal touches.

See you soon, Tatung. I'm bringing back up.

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Diwal-icious at the Mandarin Oriental

by Ryan

Sometimes one good thing leads to another: While tracking down a baker from Ilo-Ilo known for her homemade yema cake, Twinkle and I ended up with invites to a Visayan-themed luncheon at the Mandarin Oriental. As it turns out, the baker in question was also guesting at Paseo Uno for this week's Diwal-icious Visayas: Bounties of The Sea. Not only did we have our fill of yema cake (flown in from Bacolod no less), but also of Chef Pauline Gorriceta-Banusing's other specialties inspired by Ilo-Ilo's thriving culinary scene.

Just this week: Diwal-icious at Paseo Uno

Expect a variety of shellfish including diwal
'Angel Wing' clams (upper right)  during the week-long festival

The food fest revolves around diwal or Angel Wing clams - succulent, juicy shellfish flown in from Capiz. Placed in the endangered species list years ago, diwal has made a bold comeback thanks to the concerted efforts of Capiz locals, the government, and the scientific community. So serious are they about seafood that they hold a yearly seafood festival in Roxas City to celebrate the return of diwal.

Personally I've never been much of a seafood fanatic past the occasional fish and chips. (Which is a shame I know given that I live in a country of over 7,000 islands.) Live shrimp and lobster at Chinese restaurant aquariums intrigue and horrify me, and when cooked and served whole, impress me more as subjects for dissection than potential dinner.

Mmm... Can somebody say facehugger from Aliens?

Bring on the Filipino flavors. Clockwise from upper right: Shrimps in aligue, tuna kilawin, fresh lumpia

Still, it's hard not to resist Mandarin's current seafood buffet (even though diwal's scientific name, cyrtopleura costata, still unnerves me). Expect baby lobsters, shrimp cooked with crab fat, blue marlin, seaweed salad, and pink salmon among the cast. As for the famous clam, you'll be surprised by how much meat there is in each shell. Found fresh, it's already surprisingly sweet. But at the buffet, a little garlic and rock salt adds some welcome contrast. Abroad, diwal is called Angel Wing clams; a prettier, gentler name taken from it's long, oblong-shaped shell reminiscent of angel wings.

Sweet, delicate, juicy Adriana Lima -er, Angel Clams

And while you dine on Visayan seafood, God forbid this be an Ilonggo buffet without all-stars like chicken inasal, chicken binakol, and batchoy.

I'm only happy when it rains...and I'm eating batchoy

Chef Pauline's Chicken binakol has subtler flavors

After what seemed like endless trips back to the buffet table, Twinkle and I finally sunk our forks into Chef Pauline's winning yema cake. Part of The Philippine Daily Inquirer's list of 25 best desserts for 2010, the yema cake will spoil you from first to the last mouthful. Texture-wise it's very dense with layers of meringue icing and yema spread that, as a whole, surprisingly, isn't as sweet as you'd expect. There's a welcome sprinkling of cashew on top as well. Last holiday season, Chef Pauline received a total of 113 orders a few days before Christmas, prompting her to fly from Ilo-Ilo City to Manila on board with more than a hundred boxes of yema cake. Now that's dedication.

The infamous yema cake

Thankfully, she's found an easier way since then: Manileños can order 5 days ahead from Chef Pauline and expect their cake flown over and made available for pick up at her family's restaurant, Freska, at the Promenade in Greenhills. In the meantime, you can savor as much of it as you want the whole of this week, or hoard taro-based toffee bars and servings of ibo (a type of local suman) drizzled with molasses and slivers of Guimaras mango.

Twinkle trying to pry the yema cake recipe from Chef Pauline...

Diwal-icious Visayas: Bounties of The Sea is available at Paseo Uno, The Mandarin Oriental, Makati City from September 19 to 25. Buffet starts at Php 1,800.00++. For more information contact +63 (2) 7508888 ext. 2412/2413.

To order Chef Pauline Gorriceta-Banusing's yema cake contact +63 (2) 7443446, +63 09209039603, or e-mail paulineiloilo@yahoo.com.

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InDinePendence Day Part 1

Street vendors have started selling Philippine flags once again which could only mean one of two things: Either the symbol of our nation can also double as a handy pranela or Independence Day is coming up. Whether or not you paid attention during Araling Panlipunan class, June 12 combines two important milestones in Philippine history – the start of the hot-blooded rebellion against Spain, and later on, graduation from American colony to nation of jeepney-honking, balut-eating patriots. There's no denying our heritage is rich and vibrant, and you don’t even have to go textbook thumping to find out why. Just ask esteemed national historian Professor Yoyoy Villame:

So in honor of Independence Day 2011, Forkplay celebrates our liberation from the drudgery of bland food with 12 of our favorite Filipino dishes (in 2 parts) as redone by some of Manila's top chefs and restaurateurs. Whether it's Claude Tayag's scrumptious pan de bagnet or the deconstructed adobo of KYSS, we've been lucky enough to sample some of these bites, and lived to tell the tale. So we hope you celebrate this Sunday as 'InDinePendence Day', which we admit is blatantly corny, but still, it's a great opportunity to check out how Filipino cuisine has evolved in a globalized world. Let's get started!

Forkplay's Top 12 Favorite Modern Filipino Dishes (in no particular order)

Bacon chicharon. Good things St. Luke's ER is only a few blocks away.

12. BUFFALO BACON CHICHARON

Where: 2nd's, Bonifacio High Street, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig

Claim to fame: 2nd's plush interiors might look like the snazzy set of Mad Men or Boardwalk Empire, but this is undeniably comfort food at its most posh. Their irresistible bacon chicharon, whether served in a pile or with the Brutus (Caesar) salad, is a broad, crisp strip of fried pork that comes with a muscovado mustard and spiced vinegar dip. 

Always order at least two of Chef's Bruce's buko pie martini.

11. BUKO PIE MARTINI

Where: Chef's Table, Infinity Tower, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig   

Claim to fame: Chef Bruce Lim just might be the Indiana Jones of local cooking. He's traveled around the country, picking up peculiar lambanog flavors from Quezon or kilawin from Tabon-Tabon, and possibly eating cooked bat on at least one occasion. Chef Table's buko pie martini is a hot, sweet, and creamy concoction that's made on the open counter of Bruce's kitchen. One is never enough.

Claude Tayag's pan de bagnet. One of the few reasons  to wrench yourself from bed
on a lazy Saturday morning and drive all the way to the Fort.

10. PAN DE BAGNET

Where: Mercato Centrale, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig / Bale Dutung, Angeles City, Pampanga

Claim to fame: There's an ongoing debate among the Forkplay bloggers whether it's better heading to Mercato Centrale on mornings or evenings. If there's one reason to opt for morning's though it's Chef Claude Tayag's pan de bagnet - a Kapampangan homage to porchetta that combines delicate slices of fried pork with lettuce, tomatoes, and bagoong, drizzled with a zesty Asian sauce, in a crusty ciabatta bun. It packs quite a punch for lunch or a mid-morning heavy snack.

This bold-flavored pizza is almost as racy as Rizal's 27th girlfriend.

9. FILIPINO PIZZA

Where: Gourdo's, The Fort Strip, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig

Claim to fame: Longganisa bits, farmer's cheese, slices of green mango, and salted egg - these are the last things you'd expect to describe a pizza, and yet for all its unusual ingredients, Gourdo's patriotic pie paints a good picture of how Filipinos eat. Big on contrasts, each bite can be sweet, salty or sour, gooey or grainy. Some will find it amazingly versatile, others, quite schizophrenic. Bold and creative, this pizza is a must for the more adventurous diners.

Sisig and noodles. Fat and carbs. Heaven and hell.

8. SISIG PASTA

Where: Hyphy's, The Veranda, Robinsons Galleria, EDSA corner Ortigas Avenue, Quezon City

Claim to fame: Hyphy is San Francisco slang for 'hyperactive', which describes much of the menu: a frenetic, gastronomical whirlwind tour through SanFo's many districts and cultures as put together by Chef Bruce Lim. Their sisig pasta will raise a few eyebrows: Pork maskara and a tangy cream thrown in with chilies, cheese, and calamansi. Every forkful is potent with flavors, but it can get cloying after a while so make sure to order other dishes as well.

Gratifying and guilt-free: Pino's kare-kare will make you think twice about vegan cuisine.

7. VEGAN KARE-KARE
Where: PIPINO, 2nd Floor (above Pino restaurant), 39 Malingap Street, Teacher's Village, Quezon City
Claim to fame: Sure, PIPINO is a vegetarian/vegan restaurant, one of several that orbit around UP and the Loyola Heights area, but if you're expecting folk music, faux meat, and the scent of patchouli, think again. Chef Ed Bugia, Alessa Libongco, and their partners have come up with solid, satisfying vegan fare that anyone can appreciate. The homiest of the dishes has to be the house kare-kare, a heart-warming stew of vegetables served with brown rice and black bean-based bagoong. Perfect for rainy weather, and days you want to detox from the week's binge without cutting back on flavor.
   

Where to next? Check out bibingka soufflé and leche flan turon in part 2 of the list on June 12th.

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Cash and Curry

Welcome to the future. Beep boop beep.

Over the years, I’ve nursed a secret love-hate relationship with Bollywood movies. Bombastic, over-the-top, and always packed with cheesy song and dance numbers, I lack the willpower to watch an entire film in one go, preferring instead to take things piecemeal. At Swagat, for instance, a low key Indian diner in Makati, the sari-clad staff will let you mull over roti and curry while watching an endless stream of Bollywood clips: From break dancing Sikhs to weepy princesses to mustachioed matinee idols. (You can also rent Bollywood DVDs and buy jewelry.) You’ll get the same treatment at Swagat’s younger, more upscale sibling, Namaste in Burgos Circle. The tandoori might come from an authentic clay oven, but the atmosphere is just as homey. Owner Komal Khanchandani hovers around like a doting Indian mother, gently prodding diners if they want seconds of crackling papadom.

Roghan Josh at Namaste

Currently, I’m still reeling from Enthiran, Bollywood’s biggest billeted film ever. Equal parts Transformers, The Matrix, and I Robot, it’s the Indian action genre at its most outrageous. Dr. Vaseegaran (played by Asia’s second highest paid actor after Jackie Chan), builds a super-smart robot that looks like him called ‘Chitibubu’ because, you know, it’s a kick ass name in Hindi. When not programming Chitibubu to do the Hammer dance or beat up his lab assistants, Dr. Vaseegaran still has time to flirt with Aishwarya Rai’s character. What a horndog.

Eventually Chitibubu goes rouge, rampaging across a three-hour film filled with exploding cars, smoldering looks, and musical numbers. Suspension of disbelief does not begin to describe Enthiran. Especially so when Chitibubu rides a policeman like a surfboard then multiplies into mean, leather-clad Oompa Loompas who merge into a giant cobra, and gun down dozens more of Indian officers. Throughout most of the climactic battle scene, you’re left shaking your head at how a loveable Indian robot could graduate from break dancing to large scale destruction.

It’s the perfect popcorn flick, but since it’s Bollywood, samosas might be a good substitute. The thing is Indian cuisine continues to fascinate and confuse me: I’ve gawked at aerodynamic wraps of dosa in Singapore’s budget terminal, double-dipped my bread in masala sauce at a Bangalore food court, and hoarded biscuits from the local Indian grocery just because the child on the packaging is adorable. 

Who can say no to those eyes? Those eyes!

In a way Indian food and film keep crossing paths: Couples ply each other with fruits as they playfully chase through forests, weddings are always a feast, and action stars tear through kebabs with relish.   

I have yet to finish Enthiran, but from where I left off, Aishwarya Rai survives, although most don’t including my fragile mind. Somewhere along the way, even before Chitibubu magnetically turns the policemen’s machine guns against them, I lost track of time. It may have been the desert courtship scene. Here, the lead actor who is well over 60, wears a thick toupee. Hiding his gut under layers of scarves and jackets, Dr. Vaseegaran sways his hips to the singsong tunes of Tamil music. There, frolicking amid the sand dunes with his leading lady, I realize I’ve gotten more than what I had bargained for. -- Gastro Boy

This is what all women fantasize about.

Craving for curry? Head to these outposts of Indian cuisine right in Makati and Manila:

Swagat Indian Cuisine

For close to 8 years a mainstay along Rada, you can chow down on your chapati next to Indian expats and AIM students. Swing by during Diwali season to see Swagat decked out with colorful lights. Beware though; you'll easily lose track of time with all the Bollywood DVDs they play.

119 FCC Building, Rada Street, Legaspi Village, Makati City

(632) 501-5079 / 752-5669

Everyday 11:00 AM to 11:00 PM

Namaste India

Fairly new, Swagat's upscale sibling has a built-in clay oven for an even more authentic feel without charging an arm and a leg. Look for favorites like the Roghan Josh, Chicken Rashmi, and Malai Kabab. There's burfi to be had too - a coconut-based sweet that's just like our bokayo.

Unit 1A, Burgos Circle
Forbestown, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig City

(632)  403-6088
Everyday 10:00 AM to 11:00 PM

Assad Mini Mart

I just love Assad. From wacky snacks to piping hot samosas over the counter, this is the place to go if you want to dabble in cooking Indian at home. Should the exotic offerings puzzle you, the staff's on hand to explain what goes with what else. There are two branches: UN Avenue in Manila and along Jupiter Street in Makati.

Eurocrest Building, Jupiter Street, Bel-Air Village, Makati City

1268-IJK Midtown Hotel Executive Homes
United Nation Avenue, Paco, Manila

(632) 5261349 / 5265034

Everyday 10:00 AM to 7:00 PM

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