Good food that we have probably forgotten

For most of us who were born the in eighties, we’ve all grown up to the famed fast food/dessert shops that have since re-evolved themselves to either greater versions of themselves, closed down, closed down but revived or shadows of their past glorious selfs…

After ‘tripping’ wikipedia into looking if Ma Mon Luk actually had an article there (and by God there was), i was suddenly brought back into a wave of images and events in the past 20 years (just like the thing that happens to one when you’re about to die)…

and believe it or not, it’s a whole damn lot…

Let’s start with those who are simply shadows of their old self…

1. Ma Mon Luk
Those of you who pass by Quezon Boulevard would agree with me when i say that you no longer even notice the sign of Ma Mon Luk in Quiapo. This restaurant, which spearheaded the Chinese Fast Food Restaurant boom the past years (re: Chowking, Hen-Lin, Dimsum and Dumplings, Luk Yuen), as we all know is the entity the started the food that is so endeared to filipinos as rice and chicken, Mami. Reading through the articles, it seems that only two remaining stores of Ma Mon Luk are open…in Banawe and in Quezon Boulevard…and they are only SHADOWS of their glorious past.

How Ironic that in sunny california, there are about 4 stores of Ma Mon Luk open, known as "Asian Noodles - Home of the Ma Mon Luk family from Manila Chinatown." How Filipinos completely forget their past.

2. Tropical Hut
During the 80’s, I would say that the top three burger chains then were McDonalds, Jollibee, and Tropical Hut. They were like everywhere. Now, you can actually just count the remianing branches of this burger chain. Well, working for people support, we have Tropical Hut as a neighbor…and being that my Mom used to work at a travel agency directly infront of the Buendia Branch, I can say that the Tropical Hut there was basically the same way it was when was kid…literally. No changes, no renovation…no nothing.

Maybe the owners just don’t think about expanding anymore. That’s sad. They have a good product. After all, they are the only burger chain left who actually uses real hamburgers. Go to Tropical Hut and see the difference.

I really hope they realize their niche and stop being simply mediocre.

3. McDonalds
Two things. McDonalds is a burger chain, not a chicken chain. I can say that’s McDonalds here in the Philippines is the only McDo (as we call it) who pushes the chicken more than the burger. That’s stupid. You wouldn’t believe how many burger varieties have been lost and never to be seen here through the years. If they plan on just pushing chicken, then just close shop and be a Ronald Mcdonald’s Fried Chicken store for crying out loud.

Second, everyone who has had Mcdonald’s in other countries or back then will understand the difference between how their products were in the 80’s, 90’s, or how McDonald products are in other countriues than how they are here now. It is simply pathetic.

Sure they’re expanding. Sure they have a delivery service that I am just thankful to be fast.

But sadly, McDonald’s is really just a shadow of their past. At least, Jolibee has stayed more or less the same or greater.

4. Cindy’s
The outlet that could have easilly been #4 burger chain in the 80’s is simply down to, like, three remaining branches. Actually, the only branch i know left is at Galleria. (Which is no longer existing) Never ate there anyway.

Now let’s go to those that has been revived:

1 Yoshinoya
Didn’t think about it eh? The very very original Yoshinoya was located at the ground floor of Robinson’s Galleria is…just infront of Chowking. This was in the 90’s. That was probably just a test, and after some years, they just disappeared.

Well, now they’re back, and back for good. That’s great. Don’t you just adore the chicken and beef bowls?

2. Dairy Queen
All this news about Dairy Queen closing shop, I didn’t evem get to feel it, cause all along, there was this Dairy Queen in Galleria that was open. Guess they were still working as Dairy Queen even if Dairy Queen was already out of the country. It eventually became Snowstorm, and it sucks. I don’t like the taste of the Ice Cream.

Thank God the real Dairy Queen returned. Better as well that they are now almost everywhere…and the ice cream’s now non-fat, so it give me less guilt…though i know that it has more calories anyway, since i used to work for an ice cream shop myself.

Now to those that are greater versions of themselves:

1. Pizza Hut
I just simply adore the Pizza Hut Bistro right now. Slowly, all Pizza Hut restos are becoming the Bistros now…and its for a good thing. I just love the pizza and pasta now. They don’t seem smaller than they used to. Admit anyway, since the depreciation of money in the 90’s, a Family size pizza doesn’t seem family size anymore.

2. Shakey’s
I like the fact that they went back to their original marketing plan, and logos and stuff. Brings notalgia and stuff, which works them great. It gives them real identity. Yet, what makes it stand out is the fact that they now have faster, better service, which is what I have been critizing them about ever since. I don’t know if why everytime I eat there, their service just sucks.

 

Lastly, to the one food entity that I know a lot of you guys miss a lot.

1. Coney Island Ice Cream
Eskimo Roll. Pistachio and Bubble Gum Ice Cream. Damn. I absolutely loved the Eskimo Roll, even through it’s transparent to the aluminum packaging. When I was a kid, I never really ate their Ice cream because I really only ate the Eskimo Roll. Ive heard of stories from a lot of other people about their ice cream flavors though. It’s a pity i was to young to enjoy it.

They ended up getting back as Go Nuts Donuts Ice Cream - since the owners of Go Nuts are the original owners of Coney Island. After a lackluster marketing of it, it was gone.

Hope everyone gets to realize how we much we as a people forget our past, and let go of a legacy that we can actually call our own and call great.

Japanese - Komoro Soba

Taken from OpenRice.com "Komoro Soba"

I always promised myself that if I were to do a food blog, the first restaurant that I will ever review would be a restaurant that I practically grew up with - Komoro Soba.

Komora Soba is a Japanese Casual Dining Restaurant that can be located at the SM Megamall A, Ground Floor - just across Toy Kingdom. It has been in it's location since mid-90s, and regardless of the competition, has seemed to find a niche in the Japanese Restaurant Market.

Yakisoba (Taken from a Nokia 6300 phone)

The one main thing I like with Komoro Soba is that it is one of the very few Authentic Japanese Restaurants that markets itself to the lower and upper middle classes. Now, when I say it's authentic, it has to be of course owned, cooked and managed by someone who has had food from Japan.

The resto's owned by this nice Japanese - Filipino Family, wherein the Japanese patriarch is the head cook of the restaurant, while his wife manages the store. It always was a treat whenever I eat at Komoro Soba @ lunchtime, and it was always the Japanese owner cooking the food and managing the kitchen (which can be seen through the glass windows - always nice to watch them cook your food, similar to other Japanese Restaurants in Japan).

Tendon with extra order of Kaki Age (Taken from a Nokia 6300 phone)

Food - 3 and a half checks

Given that they cook your food before serving, I like the fact that it's always hot and fresh. You know that it's not just cooked somewhere and re-heated.

The rice that they serve with their ricebowls is very delicious. Big strands of rice that are very tasty. You could see it's well washed and cleaned before cooked. :)

The restaurant is known for it's very fulling Hot Soba soups, which can be topped by Tempura or Tonkatsu among others. I'm not a soup person really so I'd normally have Tendon, Gyoza and occasionally, Yakisoba.

The TENDON is actually pretty good. One thing I'm very particular with Tempura is that if it's mostly shrimp or all batter. I mean, come on, when we order tempura, we expect to eat shrimp not flour, right?

When you bite into the Ebi Tempura, you get a big, full prawn inside it. The Tempura sauce make it a lot more delicious, with it's sweet and tangy taste.

The KAKI-AGE, that's part of the bowl, is good as well. As said above, it's pretty authentic to the KAKI-AGE recipe. It's really a mixture of different vegetables, and not just carrot and pumpkin mixed all together. Definititely not a lazy version of Kaki-Age, where restos would just slice through the vegetables, deep fry it and that's it.

Even without dipping into the sauce, the KAKI AGE is very delicious in itself. The secret really is the batter that the restaurant uses that makes their deep fried goodies taste well, even without the sauce.

My only beef into these two dishes is that it tends to, at times, be very oily. Too much oil overpowers the taste of the dishes that the batter mixture naturally gives it. I've had some times wherein the tempura was soggy, and not crispy.

However, most of the time that I eat there, it is well cooked and the batter, soft and crunchy. :)

The YAKISOBA is very tasty and filling. Key here again is their thick, delicious noodles. You get a nice hearty mix of veggies and meat with it, which makes it a meal in itself.

Serving and Money Value - 4 checks

A lot, the serving of each of the dishes is always a lot. You really can't wrong with it. Fact of the matter is, you got so much value for your money when you eat in Komoro Soba - compared to when you eat at other Japanese Casual Dining Places.

Also, they are very consistent in making sure that each dish is nicely plated - just as every Japanese dish needs to be.

It goes back to the fact that it's really very authentic - NOT A COMMERCIALIZED VERSION OF THE DISHES. The dishes that you get aren't something that is adjusted for the fast paced dining of most people. It remains true to the real recipe of each of the dishes.

With PHP 200.00, you can eat a lot more things here, compared to when you eat at, let's say *****-*****. And that's the reality and the fact.

Ambiance - 3 checks

Komoro Soba is currently desgined a modern inner-town Japanese restaurant. One thing that helped them with this new design is that it made the restaurant 'wider' compared to how the layout used to be. As such, they were able to sit more people in the restaurant.

I'd probably like it better that they continue playing real Japanese Pop Songs in the stereo, instead of English or Filipino songs. J-POPs really good, and it adds again to their authenticity of being a modern Japanese resto. I just find it weird being in a Japanese resto and hearing Filipino music.

Would I go back?

Hell yeah.

Over-all: 3.5 checks

Komoro Soba

SM Megamall - Building A

EDSA corner J. Vargas Ave.,

Brgy. Wack-Wack, Mandaluyong City

The Layman Foodie

This is me, and I am the Layman Foodie. This blog really started up with the idea that me and my partner eats a lot. Where ever we go, what ever we do...somehow, food is related to it. :)

A couple of years into our relationship, I suddenly realized that we always end up reviewing the food that we eat. As a joke, I told my partner that I'll be starting a foodie blog. That idea got lost again as we ate the food infront of us. Hehe. Well, that is until now.

This blog is going to be a no frills, honest to goodness, we review it as we taste it blog. I've read a lot of food blogs before. While there were really great ones, a lot of them were pretty biased due to comparisons with other restos. Well, fine, it's okay to compare but it's not okay to cloud your judgement because of that.

Think of it this as a "Simon Cowell" type of blog. I like it, I say it. I don't like it, live with it. No bias.

Written for the Layman. By a Layman.