MILLIE: There are times when I don’t know what to eat and there are times when I crave for certain dishes. Most of the time, Karla and I crave for the same stuff at the same time but on rare occasions, she craves for binagoongang baboy and I just want a pizza. Lucky for us, we found the perfect resto that serves a menu line that knows no borders and can satisfy our mood of the moment. What do I mean? Kuya’s has burgers and pizza, Mediterranean cuisine on one side of the menu, and sinigang, gising-gising, bulalo, bibingka, and puto bumbong on the other. Isn’t that weird? Well, yeah, but if it satisfies our cravings, then it’s cool! My friend Wawi says it’s a hodge-podge menu while my friend Luscious says it’s confusing. But just the same, we wiped our plates clean amid endless cheer and laughter! Either we thoroughly enjoyed the meal or we were just plain hungry.
KARLA: One can only be overwhelmed by the menu line at first glance. But once you’ve read all the items one by one, you’re all bound to salivate at one point. For some reason, when I first looked at the menu, my eyes immediately locked on the dessert section, found the peanut butter pudding, and I was sold. The anticipation of dessert already got me hyped up for dinner.
We started out with spicy dulong with crackers as Tito Chito (Bautista) also insisted we try the Chickenining Pusit. Specialty dishes of Kuya’s use mostly his own recipes with added generations-old hand-me-down recipes of his Lola like the huge vegetable lumpia served with lumpia sauce with crushed peanuts or garlic. One dish we truly enjoyed was the sinigang na Malaga. I’m a pork sinigang and chicken and pork adobo baby, but just like any typical Filipino, I just can’t help but say “My lolo’s (or lola’s) sinigang is better than yours.” Apparently, in this case, I have to disagree. Kuya’s sinigang na Malaga is better than any fish sinigang I’ve had before. I couldn’t help but dump rice into my consomme cup and even got seconds and thirds. Haha! The soup is a complex taste of sour and spicy at the same time. I say complex because this isn’t the instant mix-tasting sinigang, which pretty much everyone has gotten used to. Tito Chito explains that his secret is not just using one souring element such as tamarind or sampalok. He uses three special elements that will surely make you pucker your lips, namely green mango, kamias, and guava.
On our second visit, we came with Mom’s Why Not gang. Reading through the menu, I noticed more items I didn’t pay attention to the first time around. Looking at the appetizer section, I saw that there are three kinds of sisig on the menu: Sisig Angeles Sisig Kano, and Sisig Española. As the waiter described it, Sisig Angeles is the regular sisig we all know. Sisig Kano, however, is made from liempo. I’m guessing it is called such since it is known that other nationalities aren’t so adventurous when it comes to our local delicacies. And finally, Sisig Española is Spanish chorizo on a sizzling plate. After hearing this, everyone voted to try the Sisig Española.
Aside from those listed above, we also ordered the crispy tadyang, Crispy pork binagoongan, one of my favorite dishes, and sizzling bulalo, which is also my favorite. Mom decided to order the sizzling bulalo because it reminded her of Aling Asiang. Aling Asiang was our restaurant, named after my great grandmother Engracia Cruz Reyes who founded The Aristocrat 75 years ago. Aling Asiang was a restaurant in our old building and is now in Greenbelt 5. We served Filipino favorites and from what I remember, at age three, my favorite was the sizzling bulalo. Some employees even have this vivid memory of me ordering the bulalo and finishing the whole order by myself — and feeding myself! Mom says I would eat the whole order with rice and lots and lots of garlic, but the bone marrow was usually eaten by my Lolo Joe. It was my super favorite that when I first traveled to the United States in 1991, I requested for a cup of water on the plane. Shortly after I got it, I kept repeating, “Bulalo! Bulalo!” My confused mom was asking me to calm down and at the same time trying her best to understand me. Until finally, I dunked my fingers in the cup, inserted my index finger in the tube ice, and said, “See Mom! It’s bulalo!”
MILLIE: Chito opened Kuya’s in December of 2009. It is actually a two-in-one resto — the other outlet is Jed & Julian’s, named after Chito’s two sons, and his first resto in Malate in the ’90s. Although really a banker by profession, Chito claims, “I’m a seasoned cook. Kung mali ang lasa, I fix it.” It is said that he has a discerning palate.
A foodie at heart, Chito uses his own recipes. He also owned Sorbetes Pinoy, had a Fatburger stand and a small business supplying potato chips to resto clients called Chito Chips.
Chito has done extensive research in the US, Europe, Asia, and Australia in the course of his travels. It was good to reminisce when he came to visit me in Lausanne in the ’70s with my cousin Butchie. I was then staying in a small studio-type apartment and they both had to sleep on the floor.
“Pinoys’ eating habits have changed,” he says. “They mix all cuisines but not in fusion fashion, all authentic and traditional. Wholesome at lahat ng gusto naming kainin nandon.”
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Kuya’s at The Fort is owned by Chito Bautista, brother of the late Rey Bautista of the famed Tito Rey’s. It is marketed side by side with Jed & Julian’s and they’re located at #21 Bayani Road, Fort Bonifacio, Taguig City. For reservations and more inquiries, call 889-0240 and 782-2802.
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Send e-mail to milliereyes.foodforthought @gmail.com and karla@swizzlemobilebar.com. Find us on Facebook: Food for Thought by Millie & Karla Reyes.