Davao’s best crabs and shrimps are now available in Manila
RUMOR has it that the President, a certified Davaoeño, eats in this seafood place whenever he is in his home city, and even gathers his friends to dine with him there.
A homegrown casual- dining restaurant best known for its kamay-kainan (eating with the hands) fashion, Blue Posts Boiling Crabs and Shrimps gained fame for its wide selection of seafood served in a food grade boiling bag mixed with signature sauces along with corn cobs, sausages, and boiled potatoes.
When it opened its first branch at J.P. Laurel St., in Davao City back in 2013, a huge crowd of people would wait in front of the restaurant waiting to get in. This prompted them to open a second branch at the Lanang Business Park, just five minutes away.
Noticing that even visitors from outside the city, especially those coming from Manila, would order take-out for them to bring home, the folks behind Blue Posts thought of expanding its reach, opening its newest branch at SM North EDSA’s The Block in Quezon City,
The restaurant is officially opening in Manila tomorrow, just in time to mark Davao’s Kadayawan Festival.
“The success of boiling crabs and shrimps in Davao is from the visitors, particularly those coming from Manila. What we did is to bring Davao’s food to Manila, and everything we serve here are mostly native dishes,” Blue Posts CEO Anthony Ang said in an interview with BusinessWorld during the launch on Aug. 17.
With the tagline, “It’s Time To Be Messy,” Blue Posts off ers a unique dining experience — a concept built on the Filipino tradition of kamayan or eating with bare hands. Foodgrade wax papers are laid out across the table in place of plates, and a special plastic bib is given to each customer to save their clothes from the messy style of dining.
The restaurant’s blue and orange walls are decorated with fish nets and life-buoys. Customers are also allowed to write on the walls. The 176- sq. m. space can accommodate 80 persons.
Knowing that competition is tight as seafood restaurants are nothing new in Manila, Mr. Ang said that their three distinctive sauces and how the seafood is cooked are what make it stand out from the rest.
The three sauces are: Blue Posts Boil, a Cajun-style sauce in which the catch is boiled; Garlic Fried, a garlic filled sauce drizzed on seafood coated in the signature Blue Posts batter; and Asian Sambal sauce, a recent addition to the menu, when the catch is served in sambal paste. Diners can also choose the level of spiciness from regular and mild, to spicy hot.
To guarantee freshness, Mr. Ang said crabs will be shipped to Manila every day while shrimps are brought in three times a week. Besides crabs and the shrimps, Blue Posts also offers dishes such as garlic tuna belly, grilled native chicken, and sinuglaw ( grilled pork belly and fish ceviche) with green apple.
But before digging in to the main dish, Blue Posts recommends customers start off with appetizers such as gumbo soup, calamares, and crab and shrimp rolls. Finish it off on a sweet note with a dessert featuring another of Davao’s best products, Pomelo cream and corn.
Another feature is unlimited drinks done with Nestle Mixology which offers different flavored iced tea drinks guests can mix and match.
After Quezon City, Mr. Ang said they are targeting to open the next Metro Manila branch at the SM Mall of Asia in Pasay City by the end of the year.
“The food in Davao may be diff icult to bring here, but we’re doing this to share our pride to everyone, especially now that our President is from Davao,” he said. “This is the time and kaya namang dalhin (and we are capable of doing it).” —