Lately I’ve been thinking about my dad, Antonio Concepcion, who passed away in 2006. It’s because I realized he would’ve loved the things that I’ve been doing: eating out and watching gigs around town.
His love of restaurant food could be traced to his clan having operated its own eatery named Ang Masarap na Pancit Malabon, across St. James Academy, in the heart of Malabon, from “peacetime” (before World War II) until about the early ’70s.
His affinity to music was even more interesting. Dad’s parents, my lolo Arsenio Concepcion and lola Juanita Pangilinan, were actually musicians—Arsenio was a percussionist in the Manila Symphony Orchestra during the time of Austrian conductor Herbert Zipper, and Juanita played the cornet in Banda Malabon Pula.
So now, I imagine daddy being with me in spirit during my nights out. He would’ve gotten a kick out of them (although he would probably keep tabs on the number of beers I drink).
Little Asia (Venice Piazza in McKinley Hill, Bonifacio Global City; tel. 7980354) has a tagline, “a symphony of flavors,” to describe its mixed Asian cuisine. The menu can be confusing due to the sheer number of items, but fortunately the restaurant’s owner, Charlemagne Lim, is present when we visit.
He suggests that we order the house specialty, Little Asia’s Crispy Chicken (P245). He says it’s a recipe of his own lolo, Vicente Ting, and is the reason why his family opened a restaurant. The chicken is tender and juicy, and tastes fine even without the gravy that comes with it.
We also savor the natural ingredients in the Pumpkin and Carrot Soup; the spicy zing of the Thai Eggplant; the melt-in-the-mouth goodness of the Drunken Lengua in Mushroom Brown Sauce; and the crunchy Fried Green Beans. We, likewise, like the creativity of the chocolate-coated Sweet Potato with Vanilla Ice Cream.
How did we put that all in without groaning in fullness? By skipping rice.
For Father’s Day today, Charlemagne says Little Asia is giving away a free beef dish for P1,500 worth of orders.
Flavored beer
Bone & Barrel Bistro (G/F City Walk 2, Eastwood City) is a new bar operated by the same owners of Red Crab restaurant. It specializes in all sorts of beef dishes, including Sizzling Bulalo.
The Mignon Skewers (grilled cheese-stuffed fillet mignon wrapped in bacon, P295) go well with flavored beer which seems to be the trend in Eastwood City. We finish three mugs—two flavored with cucumber and one with salted caramel. The refreshing taste makes us crave for more, as we wonder why we don’t seem to get drunk. Is it because the beer’s base is San Miguel Draft?
In any case, another attraction at Bone & Barrel is the music upstairs with DJ Jay Fuentes, who mixes house and retro quite well. We like his segue of “Losing My Religion” and “In Between Days.”
Oldies music
Two places in the Ortigas area in San Juan that we love going back to are Chef & Brewer (G/F AIC Gold Tower, F. Ortigas Jr. cor. Sapphire St., Ortigas Center; tel. 6387023) and Musica (G-Strip, Greenhills Shopping Center; tel. 5840051)—both of which feature live gigs.
On Tuesday nights, Chef & Brewer features a band called MOBB (or Men of Blue Blood, to signify most of its members’ Ateneo roots). The oldies music that it plays obviously attracts a mature crowd, though the folks that we join at their table—lawyer Larry Gadon and medical doctors Cecilia Catapang, Gabriel Balalta and Noel Jusay Lacsamana—would surely say that they’re still too young to be called “seniors.”
A few in the crowd get up and dance to MOBB’s covers of The Supremes, Roy Orbison, Spiral Starecase, Three Degrees, Barry White and The Beatles. The band’s version of The Foundations’ “Baby, Now That I’ve Found You” almost goads us to hop on to the dance floor.
Saturday night at Musica has the band Joey’s Mailbox playing pop-jazz and R&B favorites. Female lead singer Andrea Valle is arguably one of the best in the city—her sweet yet powerful voice adaptable to a wide range of songs.
And when bandleader Joey San Andres joins her in a duet of the Stevie Wonder/Dionne Warwick classic “It’s You,” we can’t help but groove and order more beer.
