Manang's Chicken Opens at Wilcon City Center

It was the end of 2010 when the Gerodias family started selling Manang's Chicken at a weekend market and the raves from the people prompted the family to branch out, making their double deep fried chicken with secret soy garlic sauce available for more people. To date, they have eight branches... the newest being the one in Visayas Avenue.


This Manang's Chicken branch is located at the second floor of Wilcon City Center along Visayas Avenue in Quezon City. I am not much familiar about the place, so I was asking myself why did they choose this location, and when I got there, I just realized the Wilcon City Center is right infront of a school and there are so many residential area nearby, making this a great place to do business.


As with any Manang's Chicken counter I see - theirs has a peek of the clean kitchen - ensuring that food served are clean and fresh.


This joyous celebration is attended by different family members and friends as well as different people from the press - traditional media people and bloggers. It was indeed a great day to celebrate!

They provided a buffet style of food and dishes served at every Manang's Chicken outlets:


Manang's Chicken in Original Sauce. I always go for the wings... so seeing how big their chicken pieces are, I think the next time I dine at Manang's Chicken, I will go for their chicken cuts.


Sesame Beef. Manang's Chicken promote good times with the family and friends - so for people allergic to chicken, they can opt for this dish. I love how tender the meat cuts are and I loved the taste of mashed squash eaten with it.


Garlic Pork Liempo with Vinegar Dipping Sauce. Another dish for people who's not into chicken. The liempo cuts are easy to chew and it has a good taste by itself, but for me it was the toasted garlic bits and the vinegar that made the dish sooo good!


Crispy Pancit. Noodles for long life! I love eating the crispy noodles together with the soft ones (soaked in sauce).


Macaroni Salad and Coleslaw. I wasn't able to taste the Macaroni Salad as I opted to eat rice. The Coleslaw I loved because the cabbage and the mayonnaise mellowed the seasonings of the chicken and pork.


Potato Chips with Mayo Garlic and Cheesy Cheese Dips. This was served prior to the event - each table has a plate of chips (which they replenish as soon as its emptied). I really love their Potato Chips because it's slightly thick - very crispy and not greasy.

If you're near the area and you want to eat something good without burning a hole in your pocket, I suggest you go to Manang's Chicken. Their meals are very affordable and guaranteed to make your tummy full. Their branches include:

• SM North EDSA - UG, The Annex
• Katipunan - G2, One Burgundy Plaza
• Taft - 2nd floor, Green Podium - One Archer's Place
• Ortigas - G/F. AIC Gold Tower - Garnet Road cor. F.Ortigas Jr. Road
• Visayas Ave. - 2nd floor, Wilcon City Center

For more details to be updated with the latest news, please check their website - http://www.manangschicken.com/ or their Facebook page - http://www.facebook.com/manangschicken. You can also follow them on Twitter (https://twitter.com/#!/ManangsChicken).

Big thanks to Manang's Chicken (Giabella Foods Corporation) for the invitation.

    

Lunch on a Stormy Out of Town Trip

Mid-week last week, mom told me about a trip to Anawangin Cove. One of her bosses told people at work inviting people to join in, and knowing the package price was only two thousand pesos, I told mom to grab it and join the trip because I know other packages cost more than that. Mom asked me to travel with her (so she will have a photographer), and since a trip to Anawangin Cove is something I dream about, I joined, too.

Our trip was scheduled last Saturday morning. We left around 4am and reached Pundaquit around 8am. It rained shortly upon our arrival, and because one of us brought a baby (more or less than 1 year old), we couldn't take the boat going to Anawangin Cove as most boats didn't have tarp as roofs. All we could do was stay at the cottage in Pundaquit and hoped for weather to be favorable on our part.

It was nearly lunch and still no sign for us to go. Thing was, the rain would stop for a while, but the tides at the shore was way too strong.



For lunch, we were served Ginataang Sitaw at Kalabasa na may Hipon and Inihaw na Bangus. The Ginataan dish was a little soupy, but I love the kalabasa! Of course I loved the hipon! The inihaw looked pale because it was wrapped in aluminum foil upon grilling (to protect the relish inside), but it tasted good.

In the end, we weren't able to set foot in Anawangin Cove, but all was good. With the tides that strong and with such stormy weather, we decided it would be best for us to travel back home and just re-schedule it.

Top Ten Finds at Yummy Eats 2012

Just like what I wrote on my last post, sister and I were at the Yummy Eats 2012 event at the Rockwell Tent in Makati.



Upon arriving, we exchanged our complimentary pass (given by Yummy Magazine - thank you so much) for the Yummy Eats 2012 passport. A very awesome piece of souvenir, and because the tent was packed with lots of people, the passport had everything foodies need to know - Things to do, the directory of all the concessionaires, and a map where to locate each concessionaire.


The passport also has a page for the stamps. Each concessionaire offers free taste, but of course, to prevent someone from visiting the booth over and over for free food, one must surrender the passport for stamping - means you already visited the booth for the free food, but of course, everyone is welcome to come back and  buy the products as each concessionaire has enough stock for selling.

There were about 51 concessionaires, but I wasn't able to stop by every booth to sample their dishes. Based on the ones I tried, here are my Top Ten choices. No ranking as they are all good - I just picked my 5 favorites from the Sweets Lane and 5 favorites from the Savory Lane.

Let's start with the Savory Eats Lane. My top 5 favorites in alphabetical order:



Chicken Delish
Annalyn Jusay | 09163361833 | annalyn.jusay@gmail.com

I first got to taste Chicken Delish at the Best Food Forward event, but was able to taste the Pinoy BBQ flavor. At the Yummy Eats event, they were giving a piece of chicken with the Sweet and Spicy glaze (their best seller) for the free taste and I find it something really interesting. At first bite, it was like "just fine," but as I eat more and more of it I started loving it. The glaze was really tasty and the chicken had a very light flavor - making me taste more of the chicken goodness with the glaze.


Pepita's Lechon
Dedette dela Fuente | 09178660662 / (02)425-4605 | pepitaskitchen@gmail.com

The lechon, or roasted pig is definitely part of Filipino's rich gastronomic culture and history. I didn't quite like the sauce as it was a little runny for my taste, but the lechon itself was sooo good! The meat was tender and juicy and the skin was just heavenly! My sister and I cannot really get over its taste that up until now - nearly a week after we tasted it, we still are raving about it.


Qitchen Queens
Shar Tan | 09228380308 / (02)721-5360 | qitchenqueens@gmail.com

Everything we tasted from Qitchen Queen's booth were all good, but it was the Crab Artichoke Dip that I loved the most. It was creamy, I could taste the artichoke and the crab and it was a good pair for toasted bread.


Wabi-Sabi
Ibarra Padolina | 09189622935 | wabidashsabi@gmail.com

Quite a lot of veggie cracklings were made available to public maybe over a year ago, but most were made from green peas. Wabi-Sabi's veggie cracklings are made from tofu and oh my gosh, they taste like real pork!


Whisk Salad Dressings, Dips, and Sauces
Czarina Yu | 09285050335 | facebook.com/ilovewhisk

They had a few dips, salad dressings, and sauces they let people taste, but it was the Spinach-Artichoke Dip that I loved the most because it was chunky and it had the right flavor.

My Top Five Choices from the Sweet Eats Lane, in alphabetical order:


Choclery Artisan Chocolates
Kathy Ong | 09178958168 | choclery@gmail.com | facebook.com/choclery

What I loved about their chocolates was the surprise inside. Looking at it from the outside, you might think it's just a chocolate bar and that the flavor was incorporated to the chocolate mix...until you bite it. I especially loved the chili chocolate as even if the kick of spice was there, one could still enjoy the goodness of the chocolate.


Cupcake Boutique
Klar Joseph | 09175335527 | thespoonisflat.com

I am a big fan of cupcakes (that is no secret), and I just love Cupcake Boutique's red velvet cupcake!


J.Co Donuts & Coffee
Alvene Ngo / Trina Lim | 8448441 loc 114 | alvenengo@cfi.com.ph / trinalim@cfi.com.ph

I have been reading and hearing a lot of raves about J.Co Donuts and I was thankful that they were part of Yummy Eats 2012. I got to taste two flavors - Green Tea and Alcapone - sister loved the Green Tea, I loved the Alcapone, and I am now eager to visit a J.Co Donuts & Coffee branch to buy my family a whole lot of donuts.


Mochiko
Nowie Potenciano | 09998840624 | facebook.com/mochikomochi

Mochicko is something my sister and I love the moment we tasted it. I told myself I will not include them on my list as it's already a favorite of ours, but tasting the Oreo & Milk mochi just blew me away!


Pinkerton Ice Cream
Alexandra Rocha | 09173611329 | pinkertonicecream@gmail.com

Guava Basil Sorbet. Something that seemed to be a weird combination, but believe me when I say that this one's awesome! My tummy cannot tolerate that much dairy product, so tasting this was a great change.