Blue Posts: Eating ‘kamayan’-style
Pomelo salad, sambal crabs and shrimps, garlic crabs and shrimps, Blue Posts shrimp and crab boil; grilled tuna belly, grilled native chicken, Cajun prawns, buttered cereal shrimps, 14 cups of plain rice, bottomless drinks, whew!
All that food was part of a post-holiday celebration with my crew of eight at the Blue Posts Boiling Crabs and Shrimps.
The hearty dishes were laid out on wax-coated paper-lined tables, à la boodle-fight—as in eating kamayan style.
Blue Posts Boiling Crabs and Shrimps has brought the tastes and flavors of Davao to Manila. Originally meant to be a bar, Blue Posts evolved into a fullfledged restaurant after owner couple Anthony and Jen Ang’s trip to San Francisco.
While eating at the famed Fisherman’s Wharf, the Angs noticed the casual-dining seafood restaurants with queues that snaked around the area.
Thoughts of Davao’s bountiful seafood catch filled their mind.
Anthony and Jen also considered the Filipinos’ penchant for no-frills, finger-licking kamay-kainan custom.
At Blue Posts, the wait staff hands out bibs and plastic gloves.
Among the dishes, I loved Blue Posts’ pomelo salad—a perfect balance of sweet, salty, spicy. This is suha picked at its prime, firm yet juicy.
Smoky, juicy tuna belly
The tuna belly was impeccably grilled—charred and smoky outside; soft, juicy and succulent inside.
The riblets were crisp and crunchy, loaded with fried garlic and slivered chilies. They made a perfect accompaniment to the sambal sauce that I slathered over my rice.
I fancied my riblets dipped in an assortment of vinegar. Each sauce gave its own unique twist and turn of flavor to the ribs.
The simplicity of flavors and the bite of the native grilled chicken paired well with the seafood.
The shrimps were cooked in various ways. Surely you’ll find a method to suit your taste. I personally preferred the sambal shrimps.
Blue Posts offers seafood, particularly crabs, shrimps and mussels cooked five ways: Blue Post (in signature Cajun sauce), Garlic Fried, Garlic Lemon Butter, Sambal and Salted Egg.
The dishes were also well presented. From the menu, diners usually opted for crab, shrimp and mussels.
These are placed in a boiling bag mixed with the sauce of their choice. The level of spiciness is adjusted according to the diner’s preference.
To the bag, you might add corn on the cob, Hungarian sausage, pork sausage, and/or potatoes.
Using one’s hands that makes eating more natural and exciting, meals at Blue Posts are comforting, hearty and devoid of pretense. In Manila, Blue Posts is at SM City North Edsa, 4/F, The Block, tel. 9229934; SM Mall of Asia, G/F, North Entertainment Mall (to open Jan. 23). In Davao, it’s at J.P. Laurel Avenue, Bajada, tel. 82-2218360; and Lanang Business Park, tel. 82-2959022). A new branch will open at SM Ecoland Davao on Jan. 21.