Executive meals, carinderia prices
H ot and hungry, caught in a C5 traffic gridlock worsened by a traffic accident, we decided to seek refuge--and lunch-at either Pancit Malabon or Lydia’s Lechon which were side by side right along the highway. As we parked, our attention was called by a menu printed on a huge tarpaulin in front of an eatery called 128 EL’S. Salmon head
sinigang caught my eye. As the place was neat, clean, and air conditioned, we abandoned earlier plans for pancit and lechon. It turned out to be one of the best decisions we ever made.
Furnished like a classy company cafeteria with a stainless steel-and-glass food counter, the restaurant has food fit for an Ayala Avenue executive lounge, but at prices within reach of ordinary employees and taxi drivers.
The main courses could be ordered as a value meal with rice and the sabaw of the day (bulalo or sinigang) for only R80 (mongo), R110 (fried chicken), R120 (chicken pastel), R139
(crispy pata), R150 (Japanese salmon head sinigang sa miso). Or they could be ordered solo to share or take out.
FAMOUS CLIENTS TAKE OUT
Over lunch, we noticed someone familiar at the next table; it was a scion of one of the richest businessmen in the Philippines. Now a congressman, he was with members of his staff, on the way to the House of Representatives to attend the day’s session. After their meal they ordered dinuguan and puto for late snack in the office.
A driver parked and came in to pick up the phoned-in order of his employer, a very famous chef and food columnist who was hosting some friends for dinner later. Her choices: papaitan, sisig,
kaldereta and kare-kare to balance an all-seafood smorgasbord she’s preparing for the event.
Another well-known personality, mother of a Cebu mayor, came for mongo, kaldereta, and whole Japanese galunggong fried crisp. The fish was as big as bangus and had no trace of fishiness at all.
Other tables were filled with call center agents who work and live around the area. They left orders for the day’s dinner to be delivered to their workplace several hours later. Many of their co-workers come in for breakfast after working overnight or before their early morning shift. RETIRED EXECUTIVES EL’s is the brainchild of Elizabeth Lopez de
Leon and Loida Hernandez who both realized they were too young to retire when they were retrenched by one of the country’s largest firms. Together with the retired chef of the company’s excutive lounge, they started modestly with a tent-roofed eatery by the roadside along Macapagal Avenue (across the street from the PNB building) for drivers of taxis and private vehicles.
The turo-turo became such a big hit it was forced to operate 24/7. It will soon move to a sturdier building across the World Trade Center just a few meters away, with the same menu and reasonable prices.
Meantime, demand from regular customers convinced them to open a second outlet east of the metropolis, along C5 (Eulogio Rodriguez Jr. Avenue) where we found them by accident of
fate.
Over lunch, we noticed someone familiar at the next table; it was a scion of one of the richest businessmen in the Philippines. Now a congressman, he was with members of his staff, on the way to the House of Representatives to attend the day’s session. After their meal they ordered dinuguan and puto for late snack in the office.
COSTING SECRETS How can they maintain such low prices? Beth de Leon, daughter of a general, said she goes straight to the source and pays cash. She also buys in bulk and maintains many freezers and coolers to keep stocks at premium temperature, avoiding wastage. All her savings are passed on to the restaurants’ diners.
Meticulous marketing strategies enable them to rise above the competition. One example is their fried chicken legs (twice the size of regular inasal) which are imported, not affected by fickle wet market price soars. The same holds true for imported Japanese salmon heads and
galunggong (mackerel), as well as premium pork and beef from the US and Europe.
HEIRLOOM RECIPES
The restaurant benefits from decades of experience of their chef, who learned heirloom recipes from socialite wives and mothers of executives where EL’s owners once worked.
“Others make kaldereta by boiling beef until tender, then adding a mix and sauce. We first brown the beef, then slowly braise the meat in spices for many hours until the flavors seep into every fiber,” Beth explains. “The same attention to detail goes into regional favorites like gotong Batangas, papait and humba, “she adds.
128 EL’S is at E. Rodriguez (C5) corner Carlos Caparas, Barrio Ugong, Pasig. For inquiries and delivery orders, call (+639) 17 109 6716 or (+639) 30 360 6848.