zambo resto review: Mang Paeng's Inasal

first heard about this place last March, when the kaladkarins  told me they had lunch there after their fire brigade competition.... i'm not really a chicken BBQ fan so i did not bother to try it... but when my dude wanted to have some BBQ one day, i suggested that we check out Mang Paeng's. I'm not sure if i heard it right that there are several Mang Paeng's already in zamboanga... but what we checked out was the one in Sta Maria... along Governor Ramos, somewhere near the side of the Sta Maria Parish Church. That place used to be St. Mary's Grill... 

we intended to try the chicken BBQ... it was really good! for only Php70 you'll get this already.... :D

we noticed the chicken pianggang in the menu... it's a Malaysian style way of cooking BBQ... it taste like there's some coconut milk somewhere during the preparation... i've already heard about people raving about the chicken pianggang in Mindpro, i still can't get myself to try it, so i grabbed the opportunity to have a taste of what pianggang is once i saw this in Mang Paeng's menu.... i initially thought it's sauce-rich... but it looks like the usual BBQ... but i love the spicy and flavor richness of the chicken.... this is a must try!!!

and this is my super star during that meal! i'm a very vinegar lover... and this.... their vinegar is just one of the best i have tried.... hehehe... it may just be me... but really i love their vinegar mix! :D

photographed their menu.... just in case you want to check out what else is available in Mang Paeng's.... definitely it's a no pork place! :D

   

--------------------------------

Mang Paeng's Inasal

Governor Ramos Avenue

Sta Maria, Zamboanga City

Tel No. (062) 955-0288

zambo resto review: Country Chicken!

been on a hunt for a good gourmet resto in zambo... there's just a few to consider but there's only 2 that i favor... Lantaka Hotel's resto (though i'm not totally impressed still) and Country Chicken. I am no stranger to Country Chicken because this had been my family's go-to resto during special occasions when we were still little.... i can remember their bilao and clam soup... that's what we always order back then... then i haven't been there for so long... until last year, when i met up with my elementary classmates... i made sure we'll meet there hehe... before that i always try to put off plans of trying country chicken, it's my last hope of a good gourmet resto in zamboanga... i always get disappointed with the restos we try around the city... and based on some friends' recommendation about gourmet food in Country Chicken, i hold on to the idea that at least there'll be one good resto here... i'm not so sure if the gourmet dishes had been in Country Chicken's menu... i can only remember the bilao.

the december meetup at Country Chicken did not disappoint me. I am raving about their pizza! and pasta too! although not as good as some of my fave restos in Manila, it's still good! It met my expectations.... hehe. Went back there several times after... and then we got a treat from Ma'am June Bugante who promised us a Country Chicken dinner once she starts to work again.... as the Region's Department of Tourism's Director! coolness!

this was served to Ma'am June before we arrived. The Chef wanted her to try this new patte that's not yet in their menu... it was supposed to be made of  olive oil with eel or something that exotic.. i forgot already, even failed to remember the name (i know blogger-fail again!). but this was good! 

and the bread that goes with the patte! made me miss Italiani's free focacia bread... hehe the soft freshly baked feel of this bread complements the patte.

ceasar's salad with parmesan cheese, nachos and bacon bits! this is one of my major frustrations here in zamboanga, there's only one variety of lettuce... just the iceberg lettuce... so any green salad you'll find in any resto here (or even if you want to have a home-made green salad), it'll just be iceberg lettuce...

this is callos i think.... name slipped my mind again! ugrh! hehehe but this is one of my fave dishes served that night!

and pasta! just as how i cook my version! super like... :-)

their homemade ice cream! tastes like sorbetes. I was too full to appreciate it but enjoyed it somehow...

ambiance-wise... pasadong pasado!!!! i love the homey feel.... :-)

and what's good food without good people to have good chitchats with! :-) Kaladkarin's food trip again!

i got too excited about the pizza served that i forgot to take photos of it... t'was my fave pa naman.

it was just me, edsel and ma'am june who really enjoyed the gourmet dishes.... the rest of the kaladkarins wanted to have rice, so the usual bilao was served. I guess this is one major reason why gourmet restos do not flourish here in zamboanga.... most people here prefer rice-heavy meals, that's what they're used to...

--------------------------

Country Chicken

Pasonanca, Zamboanga City

02 June 2011

camera: Canon Powershot D10

zambo trip ng mga igits - 2 of 2

we were supposed to go to Sta Cruz island that day.... but just that weekend, weather's bad for zamboanga city... major fail for the planned trip to the pink island... big waves that the small boats that would take us there even backed out (although there was one group who still dared the waves)... i cant take the risk, i have this little buddy inside me.. too sad though, it would have been dianne, etz, ray and ryan's first time to go there (and some CMZ friends who came that morning at Paseo del Mar to join us). we forgot to summon the power of itlog....

just to make sure the day's not wasted we just brought them to Puerto Villa, a beach resort somewhere in Patalon.... when we got there big waves still welcomed us... but it contributed some fun to the Patalon trip (pseudo-body surfing of some sort for them! hehe although, you will definitely end up with a bruise or wound because the beach's not pure sand... stones are aplenty!). i've been to this resort in Patalon several times, and most of the time i find it boring, except for that day... the big waves really added character to the beach... 

my travel buds from manila... ryan, ray, ezra, dianne and etz

i was not able to really prepare good food for their trip but still found a way to have something to answer their seafood galore craving (wala nga lang crabs... suri!)

my dude and his buddies... they were the first ones to play crazy with the waves

first time i saw ray play with waves this big was during our bataan trip... i didn't expect he's the type who would have fun for something like this! hehe

we had 2 underwater cams with us that time... while ezra and me were doing my underwater preggy shoot, this is what kept them busy... nice! :D

videoke session at Bojol... t'was their last night anyway... just trying to make the most of their time... i think we tire them too much!

and as if we were not yet stuffed that day... we still had a little late dinner at chinito's! (my fave find that night.... grilled sinigang! yummy!)

zambo trip ng mga igits - 1 of 2

it's nice to have friends come over and visit me here in zamboanga... although i know their ulterior motive is to go to Sta Cruz island... hehehe just kidding... they're my travel buddies back in Manila. This is ezra's 2nd time and first for Ryan & Ray (naiwan sila ng plane last time), Dianne (marami kasing excuses dahil takot pumunta ng Zamboanga) and Etz.

Last time i have friends over, my preps was over the top... and we had so much fun going around zambo & sta cruz island. (2009 zambo trip ng mga igits posts: GE Pips in Zambo , Mt.Pulong Bato, Freedom Park, Jardin Lobregat, Camp Atilano & Tree House, Sta Cruz -1, Sta Cruz - 2, Canelar Barter, Sta Cruz - 3, Fishpond, Sta Cruz - 4, Kape Zambo, Cawa-Cawa). But sadly this time, i barely did any preparation because of work and my pregnancy... i hope somehow they still had fun during their super quick trip...considering the planned sta cruz island trip was cancelled due to bad weather.

Guiwan Market

i was this unprepared that i have to drag them to the market after picking them up from the airport... :D but looks like they had fun going around that small place... hehe


Fort Pilar Shrine

last time i brought the previous group here there was a mass going on, we made sure there's none at the time we went there.

Zamboanga National Museum

they didn't get to come here last time too! so we made sure this is one of our first stops...it started to rain after we went around the museum. btw, they've closed the "aquarium"-like part of the place.

Canelar Barter

they have a shorter trip this time so we made sure we'll have their barter needs covered soonest so we'll have the rest of the time going around.

Pasonanca Park

weather's not really nice to us that day. We made a quick stop at the Pasonanca park for a little shoot and for them to see that famed Tree House.

Kape Zambo

and to end the day... we spent time to just chillax at Kape Zambo. Sound trip and food trip galore.

--------------------------------------

everywhere around Zambo

11June2011

some photos used were from Ezra Montemayor (as indicated)

colette's buko pie now in zamboanga!!!

i'm not really a huge fan of Colette's buko pie... i was actually turned off when i cut the first and only colette's i bought during one of my Laguna trips before was only half filled with buko... but last month an officemate brought a colette's at the office and told us that it's already availble in zamboanga. i took one slice and surprised to see a different version of colette's... it's buko galore! and their pie here is only Php175!!! compared to the Php200+ in manila (even in laguna i guess). 

so one weekend, we went out of our way to visit the store... they cook the pies there. good thing the displays were newly cooked so we got really fresh pies! 

it's a bit weird to find a Colette's sign here... hehe 

good ol' classic Colette's Buko Pie!

they also have Buko-Langka & Buko-Pandan Pie variants

and the Buko Pie Supreme... i guess it's the topping that's different about this one. But i find this too much for me... so i'm sticking with the classic buko pie... :-)

Dulce Recuerdos de Zamboanga - name of the store. They also sell other famous food from various places.

they also have a packaged lokot-lokot! now aside from the usual barter's coco jelly this is something i can bring as pasalubong.

Colette's or should I say Dulce Recuerdos de Zamboanga's exact address. It's near Claret School.

just so you won't completely miss it, it's inside this building. the only building you'll find at the back of Jollibee-San Jose, Zamboanga City.

zambo foodtrip: VG Queen Health Food Center

this is a nice foodie find for me! after trying the nice veggie resto in Tacloban last year, I was really hoping there's also a veggie resto here too... when i told my friends about this they recommended VG Queen to me. We've been planning to go there since last year but...well at least finally we get to try it now! :-) I was told that you are required to finish everything that's on your plate. So we're up with the challenge... hoping food is good. 

It's located at Campaner St. That's the street that leads to the back of McDonalds (the one located in front of Zamboanga Cathedral). Just at the part of the street that's about to curve, you'll find this old building with the yellow VG Queen signboard.

it's not as posh as the veggie resto i've encountered in Tacloban... so don't set your expectations too high. setup is more carinderia-like. The owner is a chinese so you'll see a lot of chinese stuff inside the shop.... and lots of Vegan & food wastage reminder. :-) 

it's basicall self-service. you may stuff your plate with as many as you want. they will charge you Php20 per 100grams. veggie BBQ and rice costs Php10. they have a lot of choices... only thing i didn't like is i don't know the names of the dishes... :D

this is my plate... i guess i overestimated my capacity to eat... took a lot of pasta... i was the last to finish, was forcing all of these in my stomach even though i was already full with just half of what's in my plate. the BBQ's ok, nothing to really rave about. Pasta is good. the mongo sprouts are a fave! it's still crunchy and feels like it's not cooked but doesn't tastes raw. and there's this intestine-looking veggie dish that's also a favorite!

except for the fact that they're serving healthy food, i don't have anything specific to rave about the place. it's nice that there's a vegetarian resto in zamboanga... i've heard they've been operating for years already i hope they'll exists longer... i've noticed that during lunchtime there are a lot of customers too! so i suppose they really have their support. :-)






---------------------------------
VG Queen Health Food Center
Campaner St., Zamboanga City
Tel No.: (062) 991-9191
29 June 2011