WillKhitie

Post art school finals celebration. After 2-3 days of barely any sleep, this was warranted.

Dinner at an Ilocos Eatery near the school, cue the shameless porking.

Seated and waiting for our order, a half kilo of Bagnet. A northern Philippines variant to lechon kawali (pan-fried pork crackling), it's actually hard to explain what makes it taste or feel the way it does.

There's this entire process of steam cooking them, letting it dry, yada, yada... to arrive at the end product. Incredibly crispy, crackled, outer skin, that breaks with each bite into a hot, steaming tender inside.

What a poor excuse you Pinoys have for hamburgers. Cheez Whiz?? Shit, I dont even want to know what that meat topping is. Patty looks thinner than a McD's burger too.

What? You no like hi-low? It's buy one take one for 35 pesos. It's as real as it gets.

On a fancier note, dinner for three. Vegetarian-ish, at Nomnom. Appetizers were deep fried Pasta, with ricotta and veg inside, followed by Samosas.

Followed by a Spinach, and cheese enchilada.

Mains were Baked Seafood Pasta, and a white cheese, garlic and mushroom Pizza.

Right before New Years eve on the 31st.

Too late, too drunk, and too hungry. Burger Machine.

Cheese(?), bacon, and coleslaw.

Total prep time for burger, 10 minutes. Total time taken to consume, 30 seconds.

Watching the Bourdain episode in the Philippines, I'm left shaking my head at how terrible it was. People that we're taking him around, might've lost the plot.

I think the charm of eating in Manila is that you can almost have anything you want, any time. Given that you're willing to wade through the twilight traffic.

Mister Kebab at 4:30am. A cold beer with friends.

First time at this place, which had a pretty extensive menu. I opted for the beef and brains, never a bad choice. Not photographed though was the amazing sizzling lamb, that had everyone raving. Maybe next time.

Seriously envious of those Jackers. Those look like they belong to a acid taking crack addict skater who just bakes in the sun all day, amazing how they've faded over time.

I can only wish that my pair will even come close, I've had mine since they came out on Selfedge and they're still no where close to the fading you've got. Ridiculous.

Over a couple days prior to New Years.

Lunch, Curry Ramen.

Sangria chased with pintxos.

Random eats before the year ended.

Best roast of the year, the slices didn't even make it to photos.

Pork chops, fried and braised in soy, and a little sugar.

Seasonal desert, Biko, and Fruit Salad.

Towards the main attraction of the night, Half kilo aged Ribeyes.

Quick look at how much food there was going to be turned over. Older brother and sister-in-law manning the stove.

Quick sear, and a flip to get medium rare.

Ready on a Christmas plate.

Christmas Dinner, in a new width.

Cesar Salad in various states of assemble, and the finished product, covered in salty parmegan.

Callos served.

Prawns, buttered and baked.

For a lunch meeting. Soba, and Tempura.

And some kitschy American food for a dinner out. Deep fried Sausage, and Onion rings.

Nothing like Criss-cut fries to bring a happy end to a long day. Though a bit chunkier than I would've wanted, at that point, I wasn't at all too choosy.

Food leading up to Christmas, these are from the 21st.

Bone marrow on toast, speckled with sea salt for a snack.

and take out Burgers, double patty with garlic cream cheese.

Later that night was a drinky drink with a couple friends. One of whom just came back from Cebu bringing...

CnT is the same Lechon that Bourdain had when he came over to the Philippines. Other than the flavor, there was just this amazing level of tenderness and aroma that was present in each bite. I would go as far to say that its probably the best pork I've ever had.

Those look about just right on you Ed. Considering how they fit you, it might just look like an anti-fit mess on me.

2am Ramen.

Food for Two at Charlie's.

French fries drowned in chili and molten cheese.

Buffalo wings. A basket of hot and a basket of nuclear.

Fin.

In homes... Grilled Pork chops, Pesto, and Beef Mushroom stew.

On roam... Nabekayi Udon and Paella two ways. Negra, and Valencia.

what in da hell is shatterlicious?

and palm corned beef looks like that

no hate tho, lovin the food

It's what happens when crispy pork skin shatters in your mouth like bukake spray, rly.

As for the corned beef, the Can can do the talking.

Weekday lunching. An upscale catina concept, its simple food made the best way possible.

Pork Humba, pork braised in banana flowers, pineapples, soy, sugar. Savory, fall of the bone good.

Taro and shrimp mash, in a bundle of Spinach, cooked down in coconut milk with a generous amount of green chilis.

And with increasing frequency in my meals, Cebu Lechon, which was simply damn shatterlicious.

Restaurant's take on canned corned beef, its basically a steroid injected version of the ones you'd find on grocery shelves. Sitting in a can with all of the oils and spices, I can only see this as something that would get better over time.

Some leftover action, spicy shrimp made into bread topping. This had really interesting texture. The spicy oiliness and the coconut milk mixing with the mayo and then into the bread made for a great snack.

A crazy weekend party yielding equally as crazy party food. A quite literal meat loaf. It was my first time eating it, and I had to come back for seconds just to wrap my head around the idea, and let it sink in.

Out and about, Dinuguan again. (Filipino equivalent of a pork blood stew.)

And at home, Adobo, Spicy Shrimp in Coconut Milk, and Cebu Lechon.

More of the same the past few days.

Beer, Garlic and shrimp, plus the combo flavor.

Ditto, I also share the same mis/fortune of having relatively good food all the time. Being Filipino, something decent is always present on the dining table, one can get pretty jaded/spoiled by it though. And yes, it does so very much so suck when one's trying to keep light.

Eats the past couple of days.

Bagnet, on pork flakes, ontop of adobo rice, teamed up with mixed veg.

Italian fare dinner, first up were the pastas.

Roast chicken, Quattro Formaggio, and cake to finish.

Home food for the past few days.

Banana bread loaves to start.

Burgers for dinner.

6am breakfast the next day, Strong Vietnamese coffee and pastrami to start.

Back in time for a late lunch. Pork and shrimp, in the form of Lechon and ampalaya stir fry.

A couple days worth of eats.

Earlier this week, beef tendon, mushroom dumplings, and a curry broth.

and Sunday dinner, the main attraction, roast pork.

Baked, caramelized, buttered sweet potatoes.

and some shrimp cakes, made with calabaza.

Here's dinner over the last two days.

Wed: Soda to go with..

Spicy chicken wings, and a roll up pizza.

Thur: Restaurant versions of Filipino home food, Sinigang..

and Adobo.

Yogurt was perfect after all the msg.

I wouldn't mind some frosted mini wheats, add some chocolate milk and they become infinitely better.

As for eggplant though, I don't like to fuss to much with mine. A really simple preparation that I prefer is having them sliced and then grilled. Garnish with some toasted sesame seeds, and enjoy with some soy sauce.

As for me, plain bar food during the Pacquiao boxing match.