Best-looking takeout of roast duck, white and soy chicken, ‘lechon’ Macau
When it comes to evolving and adapting, father and son Rikki and Eric Dee of Foodee Global Concepts have stayed on top of the game. The pandemic made them explore the best possible way to have their clients savor at home the specialties of their restaurants.
Theirs are some of the best-looking takeout/delivery dishes I’ve received. Their food arrives looking fresh and appetizing each time, handled with care by their pool of riders.
Eric, Foodee COO, says it’s mandatory to arrange the dishes beautifully in takeout containers. Since plating the food is no longer possible, the Foodee staff makes sure that orders placed in disposable containers look good.
Among the Foodee brands, my personal favorites for takeout are Kam’s Roast and Mesa (Kam’s Roast, tel. 0945-3303441, 79405987; Mesa, tel. 0917-5435854).
I love Kam’s assortment of duck, white and soy chicken, char siu, lechon Macau and century eggs with pickled ginger. The meats come with marinated cucumbers that are sweet, sour, spicy and crunchy. Delicious! I kept this platter all to myself for three days, reheated it, and it still tasted good.
The dishes from Mesa are equally praiseworthy. The Binagoongang Baboy is excellent. I love the addition of inihaw na talong that lines the bottom of the container. Over it are chunks of pork glazed in sweet shrimp paste sauce.
I also like the Sisig, Sisig
Rice, Shrimps with Salted Egg and Tinapa Rice. The Inihaw na Baboy is also nice.
Leave it to the Dees to think of everything. To delight their clients who order a Mesa spread at home, a bottle of Coke Litro comes with the order.
Fruit Loot
The highlight of my week
was fruits from Fruit Loot (tel. 0917-8960002; follow @fruitlootph on Instagram). I haven’t had such an interesting selection in a long while. Inside the box were sweet red grapes, donut peaches, nectarines, Rainier and Santina cherries.
I fancied the red guava with kiamoy powder as well as the Dazzle and Kanzi apples of New Zealand. The guavas were beautiful, slightly sweet and a tad sour with a creamy texture. Dipped in salty-sweet kiamoy powder, they were hard to resist.
The Dazzle apple is crisp and sugar-sweet, like apple juice. The Kanzi, in one bite, is both sweet and sour, with seemingly subtle hints of cider—delicate and winey.
Sushi bake craze
After making sausages for a long time, chef José Miguel Gianan saw an opportunity to be creative by leaving his stamp on what is by now the ubiquitous sushi bake.
While everyone seems to have his own rendition, Gianan views the craze as an opportunity to be more creative, “baked sushi chefy style,” he quipped.
His are inspired by the sushi and maki rolls of a famous Japanese restaurant in the early 2000s. The Sushi Bake House, his budding business, has four variants and come in small, medium and large bronze tin cans (tel. 0915-4382076; follow @thesushibakehouse on Facebook and Instagram).
On the menu: Salmon Sisig Salmon Aburi with Onsen Eggs, Sriracha Teriyaki Kani Salmon Aburi, Spicy Kani Salmon Aburi with Sambal Wakame and Kani Aburi with Mango Capelin Fish Roe.
Chicken pie
Maryann Go of Pastry Princess makes old-fashioned chicken pies (tel. 0945-6191165; follow @pastryprincess_tm on Instagram).
Tucked inside her special sweet crust is a hearty chicken cream filling with chunks of carrots, potatoes and mushrooms.
This is a pie from years gone by, simple yet tasty, special in its own homecooked way. Each bite is satisfying and easy to eat. It keeps well, too.
Liquid cleanser
Bebeta Food-grade Liquid Cleanser effectively cleans fruits and vegetables (tel. 0917-5279117). This food-grade antibacterial also safely washes baby bottles, accessories and toys. It is said to be effective in removing milk and juice residue as well as the odor of leftover breast or formula milk.