Ebun: A boon to lovers of good food

MANILA, Philippines - The fresh sea breeze along the humongous Mall of Asia brings a whiff of lip-smacking good news: Here, Ebun, that well-loved Pampango/Filipino restaurant, has found a new home, opening its doors and heart to its faithful legion of customers who love good food with a passion.

Ebun spreads its wings and continues to soar with its cherished no-fuss homecooked Kapampangan and Spanish fare, which has dazzled us all these years, as well as new offerings that promise to warm the cockles of our hearts even more.

Join me for a culinary flight at Ebun, which only recently opened at the theater mall, ground floor of MOA but is already fast becoming everybody’s favorite dining stopover.

But before we take off, shall we warm up and rouse our drowsy appetites with some appetizers? I’ll have the sizzling tofu (P111) for a perk-me-upper.

You can have the gatang kuhol (snails in coconut milk, P139). Oui, the French call it escargot. Okay, we can also order the okoy special (P122) that’s shrimply delicious. Among the good old favorites are the Pinoy gambas, kilawin tuna, and the immortal tokwa’t baboy.

No poor man’s dish: Balot ala pobre

Throw in some salad — ensaladang ampalaya, mango salad, eggplant salad (all at P99) for a fresh and refreshing beginning.

For something souper delicious and hot, I find the bulanglang bangus belly sa bayabas (P286) so belly good! The aromatic smell of guava is a balm to sore muscles and weary spirits. Surely, it’s not your usual sinigang sa sampaloc (tamarind sour broth). And have you tried Ebun’s sinigang na lechon sa sampaloc (lechon in tamarind sour broth)? It’s a lot like paksiw na lechon, only it’s a soup dish. Now, you can have your soup and eat your main dish, too.

At Ebun, there are a lot of ways you can feast on your favorite lechon: lechon de leche (available every Friday and Saturday at P99 per 100g), lechon paksiw (P347), crispy fried lechon (P347), binagoongang lechon (P358), lechon sisig (P347). It seems there’s a fiesta every day at Ebun and everyone’s invited.

Everybody’s favorite: Ebun’s Everybody’s Morcon is chock-full of chorizo de bilbao, sausage, and queso de bola. Photos by WALTER BOLLOZOS

Ebun has also beefed up its signature favorites with more meat treats. Meat lovers will surely love its adobo beef spareribs, redolent of fragrant minced garlic and onions, vinegar, and soy sauce. If you love chicken pork adobo, you’ll fall for this one, too. Then there’s the beef shank caldereta (P290) that uses the bone marrow (like bulalo).

Surely, while offering everyone’s standard favorites, Maritel Nievera, the innovative beauty-and-brains restaurateur behind Ebun, likes to give a scintillating spin to tired old recipes and forever excite our taste buds. There’s also Ebun’s beefsteak (or bistig) that uses bangus belly, instead of the regular beef. Trust Maritel to get only the best belly from the best bangus in the country — where else but from Dagupan, home of the prized Bonuan bangus, famous for its rich, milky taste. The belly-delicious milkfish is bathed in a zesty marinade of of toyo, calamansi, and onions.

For seafood lovers, there’s Ebun’s seafood kare-kare that mixes the freshest seafood catch — shrimp, squid, mussels, fish — in one stunning stew fragrant with freshly ground peanuts. Of course, Ebun’s kare-kare is best eaten with the fresh alamang bagoong from Bataan, which Cabalen (Ebun’s sister resto) makes.

Fit for a king is Ebun’s balot ala pobre (P123) that’s much like steak ala pobre, only more exotic, offering a more enriching experience.

Delicious news: Welcome to Ebun’s new home at Mall of Asia.

I’m sure everybody will love Ebun’s Everybody’s Morcon (P236), which is chock-full of chorizo de bilbao, sausage, and two kinds of cheese (like queso de bola).

And if there’s one Ebun dish whose memory will forever linger in your tongue, it must the Lengua Español (P318) that’s cooked in white wine and olive oil, and smothered with olives. Si señor, this lengua makes a truly hearty meal.

Talk of the town: Ebun’s Lengua Español is cooked in olive oil and white wine, and smothered with olives.

There are no shortcuts — and customers certainly won’t get shortchanged — at Ebun. Everything is done from scratch; nothing is half-baked. For instance, every day, Ebun’s very competent cooks still extract kakang gata (first coconut milk extract) from grated coconut to whip up the resto’s gata selection: gatang sigarillas, laing, gatang kuhol, gatang kangkong, gatang tilapia, Bicol Express, etc. They still cook their roast pork loin humba, an old best-seller, slowly for two hours.

 If you’re the kind whose day starts around merienda time (like me), Ebun’s got you covered, too, with its mesmerizing merienda lineup: goto/arrozcaldo (P85), lumpiang sariwa and lumpiang prito (P100), tokwa’t baboy (P90), dinuguan at puto (P150), bibingka special (P155), puto bumbong (P112), Isang Dosenang Halo-halo (P134), Halo-halo Guagua (P90).

And as no Filipino (or Spanish) meal is complete without dessert, remember to leave room for the turon saguin (P74) or ginatang halo-halo (P81), buko salad (P90) or leche flan (P45) or all of the above if you’re a dessert person like me.

Fish offering: Pinaputok na tilapia

To wash it all down, you might opt for native chocolate (P62) or salabat with kamote (P45) or hot tea with pandan (P45).

Clearly, Ebun’s popularity has spread by word of mouth (contented mouths, we’re sure). And droves of satisfied customers are happily tweeting about it.

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Ebun’s new home is located at the theater mall, ground floor, Mall of Asia.