The Mingoy’s dining experience

Let’s get one thing straight. Spanish food as many Filipinos know it isn’t the same as the Spanish food Spaniards eat in Spain. It is neither hot, like Mexican cooking, nor as flavorful, like Filipino cooking. It may be a bit simple sometimes, but it is aromatic, full and even stark in taste; for the Spanish, food serves just one function – to nourish.

Thank heaven there’s Mingoy’s Restaurante, one of the few Spanish restaurants in Metro Manila that offer Spanish food the way many Filipinos imagine Spanish food should taste like. An institution for many gourmets, it has been open since 1971 when Domingo "Mingoy" Jocson first opened his ice cream parlor at the old Magallanes Commercial Center in Makati City.

Yes, an ice cream parlor. Mingoy’s ice cream parlor had the reputation as the only ice cream parlor that also sold oysters. Later on, he also offered paella for takeout. His work as part-time night manager at La Tasca gave him enough experience to convert his ice cream parlor into a full-fledged Spanish restaurant. With his wife, Amalia, they served paella, lengua, oysters, callos, and bacalao. Later on, they added other specials like agachonas, gambas, calamares, and salpicao, among others.

In 1992, with the help of childhood friend Kurt Bachmann Jr., Mingoy’s moved to Alabang. And just last year, the Bachmanns opened a branch at The Fort Strip to the delight of its Makati-based clients.

When Mingoy died in December 2003, he sold the restaurant to Bachmann. Bachmann’s daughter Yvette Bachmann-Lacson carried on Mingoy’s uncompromising standard in the kitchen at Mingoy’s two branches. Starting out first as a cajera in 1992, she eventually learned the taste of Spanish cooking under the guidance of Mingoy himself.

"I still remember the paella test he made me take," Yvette now recalls with fondness. "He placed in front of me five paelleras of paella valenciana and I had to tell him what was in each one. And I had to tell him which was our paella. We did that with all the different paellas Mingoy’s offers."

Indeed, Mingoy’s has an extensive list of paellas. Some may even say that it is just far too many for a Spanish restaurant. Consider these: Paella carne, paella valenciana (with pork), paella española (rice dish with chicken, seafood, and sausages), paella marinera (seafood paella), paella negra (black paella with squid in its ink), paella con champignon (mushroom paella), and paella de verduras (vegetable paella).

And that’s just the paella list. Mingoy’s counts a number of especialidades, both Spanish and Filipino. Spanish specials include bacalao a la vizcaina, lengua con setas, callos madrileño, agachonas adobado, and salpicado. Filipino specials are kare-kare, goat caldereta, laing, Bicol express, bistek Tagalog, baby back pork ribs, beef spareribs, corned beef and crispy pig knuckles (crispy pata).

Yvette keeps a tight kitchen with the family yayas promoted as cucineras at Mingoy’s. At The Fort Strip, she says her cucinera Lavinia is her lucky charm.

"I never gave her the recipes," she declares. "She learned all the dishes purely by taste through trial and error."

On the other hand, brother Robert Bachmann is in charge of marketing Mingoy’s and overhauling its old look. With the help of designer Anton Gonzales Mendoza, he gave the restaurant a theme that is more relevant to its offerings. "It’s like an old convent that has been converted to a restaurant," he says.

The doors were patterned after the massive doors of San Agustin church, while the candelabras are held by giant angel sculptures. Special mirrors were specially made to resemble antique mirrors. The tables and wove cane chairs were also made to specification, just like the grillwork that frames the windows and the second floor balcony where an acoustic duet performs on most nights. And yes, the ceiling fans are antiques that have been restored to good working condition.

All these add to a unique dining experience that is uniquely Spanish-Filipino the way many Filipino diners expect.

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Mingoy’s Restaurante has branches at The Fort Strip, Global City, Taguig, with tel. no. 815-9187, and at Casa Susana Arcade, Madrigal Ave., Alabang, Muntinlupa, with tel. nos. 842-1904 and 842-1905. Visit its website at www.relzbach.com.