A Love Affair With Manang(s Chicken)

When I saw the swarm of people waiting in line in front of the stall bearing the sign that said Manang's Chicken at Midnight Mercato, I felt a flutter in stomach similar to the butterflies I get when I'm particularly infatuated with the boyfriend.

I guess I should tell you that I am partial to anything that is chicken. Fried, steamed, boiled, or pureed (just kidding!), chicken is my meat of choice. Seeing a chicken stall so popular was exciting for me, I wanted to know what the fuss was all about. (Not so) Soon after, I had in my hands a container filled with Manang's now-famous Chicken wings.

Inside were six hefty pieces of chicken wings, double deep fried, smothered with Manang's secret soy garlic sauce of your choice (original, spicy, mild spicy, or extra spicy), and sprinkled with a dash of sesame seeds. It was love at first smell. The scent of the deep fried chicken in soy sauce was so tempting that I couldn't help licking my lips in anticipation.

As soon as I sunk my teeth into the fried chicken that had been tempting me all the way from the stall back to our table, I was head over heels in love. Right then and there, I knew it was the beginning of a lasting love affair (I was 'oooh'-ing and 'mmm'-ing so loudly, it was almost embarassing).

Double deep fried crispy chicken with Manang's secret soy garlic sauce (p120)

Since the first time, I've been back for more nighttime tyrsts with Manang's Chicken and have had a foodgasm each and every time. I just can't get enough of Manang's oh-so-delicious, mouth-watering, better-than-other-soyfriedchicken Chicken. My only gripe is that they're only available whenever Mercato Centrale and Midnight Mercato are open for business. Despite that, my love affair with Manang's Chicken continues.

*Sorry for the yellowy pictures. I took these inside the car on the way home. The chicken pieces in picture were inhaled long before I could take better shots.

Manang's Chicken

Location: Mercato Centrale / Midnight Mercato

Contact details: 0920-9210935

Other Info: Manang's Chicken Facebook Page, Mercato Centrale Website, Midnight Mercato Website

Kantina: The Newest Market To Hit The Town

We're cutting into the Delightful Davao series today to share this new find called Kantina.

Watch out Banchetto and Mercato Centrale, there's a new food market that has just launched and is ready to serve night noms to late night crowds who want to have a simple warm meal before heading home. Kantina is the latest one to join the night market bandwagon.

We found out about it only by chance, and boy, am I glad. Friday night date and I were heading out to the parking lot of Market Market after dinner when we noticed a few tents set up at the far end. Curious, we made our way towards the tents and were surprised to find food stalls a la Banchetto and Mercato Centrale (initially, I thought it was a bazaar). 

Kantina opens on Fridays starting at 10pm and doesn't close shop until the next day at 9am (one of the latest I've seen, Banchetto is open until about 7am and Mercato only at 3am). The area is much smaller than the previously mentioned night markets and there were only about twenty food stalls. The good thing about it is that no stall sell the same nomz (except maybe the two grill stalls).

At Kantina, you can have shawarma, siomai, lutong bahay like dinuguan, pansit and palabok, grilled seafood, barbecue, isaw, and tenga,  bibingka and kakanin, cheesecakes and various pastries stall and drinks of course.

Because we already had dinner (I was sad. I really wanted to try the sugpo-slash-lobster. They were huge!), we were eyeing the dessert stalls and ended up getting freshly made Puto Bumbong and a slice of Strawberry Cheesecake. To make the long story short, the hot kakanin made me feel like it was Christmas again and the cheesecake that tasted like starchy Jell-O killed the fantasy.

Sugpo-slash-lobster (p100), Puto Bumbong (p30), Strawberry Cheesecake (p45)

Kantina is a small scale night food market that targets Taguig office drones heading home late from a long day at work and don't have time to cook warm meals at home. I'm really glad for this current night market trend, it used to be a chore to find an inexpensive place to eat at if you get home past mall hours. Now we have night markets.

Kantina Night Market
Location: Parking lot (the one near the open food court), Market Market, Taguig
Contact details: 0927-563-9234
Other info: Open every Friday from 10pm to 9am the next day; Kantina Official Website; Kantina Facebook Page

Fantastic Food Finds at Mercato Centrale

Food markets have gained popularity recently, what with the success of long-running markets such as the weekend Legaspi and Salcedo markets in Makati, the widely known Ortigas night hangout, Banchetto, and the huge Sidcor Market in Quezon City.

The newest one to jump in on the bandwagon is Mercato Centrale at Bonifacio Global City. The market is open every Saturday starting at six in the morning until two in the afternoon. I had the chance to visit last weekend and had a very interesting nom-filled morning.

Mercato Centrale is divided into three sections- "Savory and Sweet", "Fresh, Organic and Healthy", and "Hot and Grilled". The first two tents are airconditioned while the last one is open, it also serves as the dining area. We started off with the "Savory and Sweet" tent where rows and rows of cakes, patries, and various sweets greeted us.

Azuki mochi (p70)

This is a mochi ice cream ball from Mochiko. A mochi is a Japanese dessert made from glutinous rice and molded into balls. They have an assortment of flavors but we chose the Azuki (red bean) one. Typical of Japanese nomz, the flavor is subtle and the serving is light. At 70 pesos a piece, the price is a bit steep for a little ice cream ball but this refreshing sweet treat is worth a try.

The "Fresh, Organic and Healthy" tent had booths that sell teas, organic rice grains, and milk. We got us some fresh cow's milk and some tea from Teaology for drinking while taking a look around. The third tent and final tent had the grilled nomz and the tables where you can eat. It was just in time for lunch so we parked ourselves on some chairs and enjoyed our nomfinds.

Piri Piri's Portugese chicken (p180), Offbeat's Ensaymada Burger (p180), Squidy Corner's Squid Calamari (p60), and Mad About Spuds Cheesy Potato (p40)

Making up our interesting lunch were some Piri Piri's authentic Portugese chicken (which was a tad too salty), Offbeat's Ensaymada Burger (which I talked about some time ago), Squidy Corner's Squid Calamari (that tasted like Ersao squid <3), and some potato balls from Mad About Spuds. I recently got wind of the news that Midnight Mercato has already started and it runs every Friday night until Saturday morning, 10pm-3am. I can't wait to go and try out the nomz this Friday!

Mercato Centrale
Location: 9th Avenue corner 30th Avenue, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig
Contact Info: rache@diaz.ph
Other Info: Open at 6am-2pm, Saturdays; Official Website