There was only a handful of Pinoy restaurants in the ’70s and ’80s. We were teenagers then, and friends Jun and Jimmy Rodriguez would treat us to a restaurant around the Mabini area called Tipanan.
It was one of the first places where I really enjoyed Pinoy food. Of course, there was Barrio Fiesta whose crispy pata is still the best for me, even today.

I remember chatting once with Rod Ongpauco (inventor of the crispy pata) about how he, as a student, would drive to San Sebastian, pass by La Loma and buy the unsold left-over pata from the lechon, then season them and have them fried at Barrio Fiesta. He would give his waiters a commission for every pata they sold. And the rest is history.

Today, crispy pata is so popular, it is offered in almost all Pinoy restaurants.

A Quezon City resto claims to be able to cut its pata with a popsicle stick, Malabon has another version with a mildly sweet sauce, while independent stall Annalisa offers another delicious version of this dish.

Food lover

In the ’80s, one of my favorite Pinoy restaurants was Tito Rey’s. Rey Bautista was not only a food lover, he also knew how to cook good Pinoy food. He knew what we Pinoys enjoyed eating. Rey even opened in Daly City in California and ran a successful bar-restaurant there. Then he disappeared from the culinary scene.

Today, that food is back in his brother Chito’s Kuya’s restaurant. I know he has a branch in Bayani Road in Taguig. Recently, I was able to check out his place just across from ABS-CBN on Mother Ignacia Street in Quezon City. I can now say this will be my new hangout.

The resto serves below-zero beer and every so often has live entertainment. But apart from those attractions, there’s Chito’s food that is worth looking into.

We started with ordinary cheese pizza, which was good. The secret to a good pizza is the crust, and this place makes a pretty good version.

Then came a different batchoy—with just tender pork meat innards, unlike the Iloilo batchoy with noodles. The hot broth was very soothing.

Other dishes worth checking out are the dilis bagoong rice, simple yet delicious, the rice well-seasoned, with slight saltiness coming from the crispy dilis; and the kuripot rice—
breakfast fried rice with chunks of tapa, tocino, longaniza, spam and salted egg, a dish that tells me Chito is an imaginative, creative eater and cook.

Roxas adobo

There’s also Roxas adobo, a version of which I used to cook in Paris after long hours of fencing in the kitchen. This is crispy, dry, dark, oily, tender and sticky pork belly adobo—to me the best version there is. I like to fork out a piece, then bounce it on my rice to get some of that flavor all over, and then pig out.

But the dish that really jumped out at me was the TKO (Total Knockout Obsession), or Knockout Knuckles. Tito Rey’s crispy pata resurrected! I tried it, and it is still the best-tasting chili crispy pata in the country—tender, crispy, spicy, oily chunks of crispy pata topped and loaded with crunchy garlic and swimming in olive oil and sauteed jalapeño chilis. With ice cold Light—patay! Calling my friends in ABS-CBN across the street!

Pinoy food is alive and kicking, and you’ll find it at Kuya’s in Quezon City.

But let’s give credit where credit is due. Thank you, Rod Ongpauco of Barrio Fiesta, for inventing crispy pata. Salamat pare, mabuhay ka!

Happy eating!

Kuya’s by Chito Bautista, 147 Mother Ignacia St., South Triangle, Quezon City. Call 7097880.

As I write, I am in Hokkaido on my Japan food tour. You can’t imagine how good the food is. I will have another on Jan. 14-19, covering Fukuoka/Hiroshima/Osaka. If I may say so, I’ve perfected this tour. Outstanding food in each of them. Tokyo food tour on Feb. 14-24.

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