Manang's Chicken Tomas Morato

Manang's Chicken
2nd Floor Lansberg Place
Tomas Morato, Quezon City
+63 (02)376-5058

Last Saturday, I was invited to a special event at Manang's Chicken. I was excited about this event because I only got to see and taste Manang's Chicken at the food bazaars (last was at the Best Food Forward Event). The event was held at their Tomas Morato branch.


Manang's Chicken started decades ago, when "Manang" (the family cook) served it and became a big hit with the family. As the years passed, they started serving it during family occasions and guests would all love it. The family thought of selling the chicken, but didn't really took it seriously, until in 2010, after Jill Borja (President and CEO of Manang's Chicken) got to read a blog asking concessionaires for Mercato Centrale. It was through that weekend market that they were established their name and it is now one of the successful businesses that started its humble beginnings by selling at weekend markets and bazaars.

A look at Manang's Chicken's timeline:

• December 2010 - Started selling chicken at Mercato Central
• January 2011 - The company became more serious about the business and set up Giabella Foods Corportation
• June 2011 - Established their first branch in Ortigas
• September 2011 - Established another branch at Katipunan Avenue
• November 2011 - Opened two more branches at SM Megamall Food Court and one along Taft Avenue
• December 2011 - Opened their branch at SM North EDSA
• January 2012 - Opened another branch at Glorietta 4 (Food Choices)
• February 2012 - Established their own commissary somewhere in Laguna (as they used part of their house as their office / commissary)
• March 2012 - Opened their latest branch at Tomas Morato Avenue.

Future plans for the company includes opening two more branches - one at BF Homes Paranaque and another at Visayas Avenue (Quezon City). They are now also thinking of going into franchising.

Quite an awesome story of success, eh? Anyway, leading the team of Manang's Chicken are two sisters: Jill Gerodias-Borja (pictured above), the President and CEO of the company and Jenilee Gerodias-Slagle, the Chief Operating Officer (Commissary) and is the one handling the food side of the business. 

The Tomas Morato branch was very easy to find. From EDSA Kamias (or Kamuning), I just rode the jeep going to Pantranco and as soon as jeep turned right to Tomas Morato, you will be able to see that big Manang's Chicken signage after a few minutes (maybe even seconds).


The dining area wasn't really that big, but with a good placement of tables and chairs, it looked spacious enough that it can accommodate big groups of people.


Their counter is clean and it allows you to have a peek into their kitchen, which is also clean. With the exception of the soft ice cream and the potato chips, the kitchen staff only cooks whenever an order is placed, to assure freshness of the food.


Their main product is of course Manang's Chicken, which is served with three kinds of sauces - Original, Mild Spicy, and Extra Spicy. The secret to the chicken is the sauce, and when I had my first taste of the chicken, I chose the Original one, just to know what all the rave was about and it had a mix of saltiness and sweetness. Well, I wasn't over the top giddy about it, but I did like the total packaging of the dish - no need for gravy and/or ketchup... the sauce is enough.


The Ultimate Crispy Chicken Sandwich. Well, most of the invited guests already tasted Manang's Chicken sometime in their (or our) lives, so for the event we were served something new on the menu. Well, not that new, because they first had the Crispy Chicken Sandwich, which is a fillet of chicken cooked the Manang's Chicken way (yes, your choice of sauce) on a bed of coleslaw in an authentc pan de pugon bun. That sandwich was a good way to snack at an affordable price, or a good food to eat for people who are watching their calorie intake while still enjoying the same kind of Manang's Chicken people love, but of course, for some people, that pan de sal sandwich might be a little too small for them, so for people who wanted to have a sandwich as a big meal instead of eating the rice meal, they introduced this sandwich. Still the same concept, only that it was made bigger.

It was my first time to taste the sandwich and I liked it better than the rice meal - maybe because of the coleslaw and that the sauce weren't too much. What I loved about was that the chicken fillet was thick and it was the real thing - not some chopped up chicken meat pressed as a patty. The sandwich itself was a very filling meal, and for 109 pesos (sandwich only), it was already a good value for money as we all know other burgers can be a a lot pricier than that. If you want it as a full meal (with regular chips and a glass of drink), you pay only 135 pesos. Still reasonably priced, I say.


Chips and Dips. One of Manang's Chicken's food that I couldn't get enough of. It was thick, crispy, and less greasy! They offer two kids of dips - Garlic Mayo and Cheesy Cheese, and while I liked the cheese one more, I found that it was more appetizing alternately dipping the chips between the two dips.


Velvet Sundae. The star of the event. Manang's Chicken is all about making fancy food to be "maka-masa", and taking inspiration from brownie a la mode, which we all know can cost a lot, they now offer the Velvet Sundae, which is a "symphony of moist velvety cake and fudge-covered vanilla ice cream with chocolate chips." Like most of their food, the cake is baked fresh upon ordering (the base of the cup was warm). It was indeed a heavenly dessert - having a cake and ice cream (with the fudge and choco chips) all at the same time. The price? 49 pesos.

But of course... don't expect your Velvet Sundae served on a fancy plate like this - they just served it this way because it was the first time they served this dessert and we were the first few people to try it out.

To know more about Manang's Chicken - their products, promos, newest offerings, and the list of their branches, please check out Manang's Chicken Facebook Page.

Big thanks to Manang's Chicken for this invitation.

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So... what did you have last weekend? If you're new to the Weekend Eating meme, you can read the rules and get the badge codes HERE. My heartfelt thanks to everyone who joined last week.

Ted's Old Timer La Paz Batchoy

Ted's Old Timer La Paz Batchoy
Across La Paz Public Market - La Paz, Iloilo

Second day in Iloilo and again... K and I welcomed a new day at Madge Cafe, having the same type of coffee we had the previous day. I told K I would only have the coffee, because I saw a nearby branch of Ted's Old Timer La Paz Batchoy across the market, and I would love to try it and sort of compare it with Deco's.


Actually, I already got to taste Ted's Old Timer La Paz Batchoy when mom and I went to SM Fairview months ago. Like Deco's, Ted's also have established a name of their own and has branches all over the country. The look of their store looked similar than the one at the mall, so I think every branch have the same feel.


For easy ordering, they have printed a big menu board. What I love about their menu is that they offer different varieties to suit one's taste. For the noodles, they offer Meke, Miswa, Sotanghon and Bihon. For Meke and Miswa, they have the Extra Super, Super, and Special. I forgot how each differ from one another, but by checking the prices, I guess it is safe to say that Extra Super had the most amount of toppings. If you're not into pork, they also have Chicken Batchoy, though the menu didn't indicate what type of noodles they use for this kind.

Their selection isn't just concentrated on La Paz Batchoy, they also offer fried dishes - chicken, pork chop, bangus, as well as Sisig.


Extra Super Meke. It was breakfast and I am in La Paz, so of course I went for the Batchoy. I chose the Extra Super Meke, which, like Deco's, had slices of pork, internals, and topped with crushed chicharon and toasted garlic bits.

Taste wise, I liked it, but I loved Deco's more. The broth wasn't as rich and flavorful, but I still had a satisfying breakfast because it was tasty as well.

To partner my hot bowl of soup, I ordered some puto again, which interestingly is a peso cheaper than Deco's. No difference in the taste, really.

Tummies full, we decided to roam around because K saw "Old Railroad" on the map and he wanted to see it. Unfortunately, we didn't get to see it because some people couldn't understand what we were trying to say. It was okay, we did get to enter the La Paz Church as well as the park fronting it.

It was around 9am when we got back at Urban Inn, and the moment we entered, the receptionist asked if I am Jennifer because I had a package. Receiving it, I was surprised it arrived earlier than expected (brother sent it late afternoon yesterday and I received it 9am the next day - wow). Now that I have my cell phone's USB Cord as well as sister's M2 memory card, I can now take pictures to my heart's desire!

Rai-Rai Ken (SM Iloilo)

Rai-Rai Ken
Upper Ground Flr., SM City Iloilo
Diversion Road - Mandurriao, Iloilo City
Philippines
(033) 336-1985

After a very fulfilling breakfast at Madge Cafe and Deco's, it was time for K and I to hit the road and explore Iloilo. I was having mixed feelings - happy to be able to see new places, sad and disappointed to be using my cell phone to take pictures. I have no problems with using my cell phone for I started my photography / traveling / blogging journeys with my cell phone, what pains me was that I was running on my phone's memory (which wasn't that big), so in order to have pictures from every stop, I had to minimize the size of pictures to 640x480. Well, a light at this dark tunnel - I asked brother to send me my cell phone's cord as well as sister's extra M2 memory card, so I can take pictures with big resolutions and upload it right away on my netbook so I could start each day with fresh space from my cell phone.

We visited different churches that day and we ate breads from this bakery fronting Miag-Ao Church. With pictures not worthy for blogging, I will now share what we had for dinner.

We went to SM Iloilo to buy things we needed - water, some toiletries, some junk food. We were lucky because there was SM Iloilo Culinary Festival happening that time, and were just in time to have pictures taken before they wrapped the event up.


Choosing where to eat dinner was an easy thing to answer for me because there weren't much food places in SM Iloilo, and most I have already dined at here in Manila. The only place there that I haven't dined at was Rai-Rai Ken, so we went there. :)


The place was still bare as it was around 5pm when we entered...but a few minutes after, diners started coming in. The staff were so friendly and accommodating... and K and I liked their uniforms! :)


Beef Yakiniku Teppan. Thinly sliced beef with special Yakiniku sauce. K's choice of meal. Well, compared to Beef Teriyaki, I found this dish much better because it was a little saltier. :)


Ebi Tempura. Tiger Prawns in crispy batter. K ordered a side dish of 3 pieces Ebi Tempura just so he could test his skills in using the chopsticks. Well, he needed some practice, so we were both laughing while eating dinner.


Rai-Rai Ken Bento. Beef, Chicken Lollipop, Deep Fried Gyoza, and Shrimp Tempura. I am a person who would love to try different dishes at once, so I went for their bento. The beef was the same as what K had, so I was teasing him that he should've just went for the same order. Anyway, the chicken lollipop I loved, but the gyoza not that much because it was a bit chewy. I still prefer my gyoza steamed and fried at the base.


Miso Soup. All bento dishes are served with Miso Soup, and I liked that there weren't really much soup on my bowl. I do love soup, but not that much, so this was just enough for me. I loved slurping it while chewing the Shrimp Tempura. Weird, yes. :)


Salmon Balls.  Salmon with Potatoes. It didn't have much salmon so it was more of Potatoes with Salmon for me. My main meal was already heavy, so I only got to eat two of these.

For this trip, K and I have been eating dishes from different countries. We've had Filipino, Thai, Italian, Korean, and Japanese. It was just awesome that we can taste different flavors without really leaving the country.

ABC Wednesday | N and O

I wasn't able to post my "N" picture last week because I was out of town, so this week, a two-in-one post.




N is for Nuts.

These pictures were taken during the Best Food Forward 2 event at the NBC Tent. It was a big event showcasing different food products and seeing this table full of nuts just made me go nuts about it! Well, I do love eating nuts, and I think Nutsiriya did a good job for selling different nuts at affordable prices.

If you want to ask my favorites? I could name peanuts, walnuts, and pistachios.



O is for Oolong Milk Tea.

One time last month, my friend Ria saw me online on Facebook and asked if I wanted to go to the mall to eat some snacks. I told her I wanted to try Tea-rrific! because their milk tea varieties are the cheapest I have seen. The one on the left was the Oolong Milk Tea, which Ria chose as her drink because the menu said "Oolong tea is good for weight loss." I on the other hand went for the Wintermelon, because I do love the taste of wintermelon on milk tea.

True, their drinks are the cheapest...and they didn't disappoint. Their drinks are quite good, actually!