Bangers just gave me my Paris Hilton fix!

JM and I went to see Thor at Rockwell last week; it was awesome by the way. Since we only had half an hour to eat before the movie, we decide to try out Bangers and had our sandwiches to go.

Ever since we discovered the beauty of hanging out in Rockwell (and my fondness for sausages), we wanted to try out Bangers but never had the chance in the past.

The first thing I noticed is their logo and the menu board, which is cute and will give you a diner-type establishment feeling.

They serve sandwiches, side dishes and a little of pasta. You can get your sandwich ala carte or in a  combo (sandwich + side dish + soda).

I had the Paris Hilton combo. I don't know why they call it Paris Hilton but it consists of hotdog, onions, tomato, relish and bacon -- I'm after the bacon, never mind the relish:p. The sandwich is quite fulfilling and the hotdog is very juicy. 
JM had the hotdog with chili (oops I forgot the name). Same as mine, the hotdog is packed with meatiness and is very juicy. He liked it a lot since it also had slices of jalapeño, which gives the sandwich its worth deserved chili kick! 
The combo came with a potato salad which we think is just plain ordinary. Maybe a little more mayo and egg will do the trick :).

All in all Bangers gave us a wonderful sandwich dinner and we will gladly be back to try out the other entries on their menu.

Kenny Rogers says Hi to Hainanese

When we went to Power Plant Mall last night to watch a movie, we decided to get dinner beforehand. We are big fans of Kenny Rogers Roasters, or Kenny's as we affectionately call it. I like how they blend healthy options and tasty meals under one roof. Mabie had told me that they now offer Hainanese chicken, so we thought we'd try it out for ourselves.

Kenny's serves one-quarter orders of the chicken paired with rice for PhP200. The rice itself is attractively garnished with cucumber slices, a parsley sprig and dried garlic flakes, and a small bowl of soup is served along with it. Accompanying the chicken are the ubiquitous three sauces: rich soy sauce, minced ginger sauce, and a very mild chili paste. Kudos to the Power Plant Mall branch for having our order served very quickly.

We've sampled Toast Box's Hainanese chicken as our very first experience of this Singaporean staple, and we were absolutely floored by the tastes and textures woven into this very humble food. That's our benchmark, then. 

How does Kenny's version fare? Unfortunately, it was slightly disappointing. 

Taste-wise, Hainanese chicken isn't far removed from our very own tinolang manok, so it's not that hard to pick apart and appreciate. That said, we think Kenny's stuck too closely to its signature roasting techniques preparing this, quick serving time aside. The chicken itself seems a bit overcooked and dry, without the characteristic savory moistness of either dish. It's as if the meat got squeezed out of its juices and served on the plate, with the liquid served separately as a soup. It might make for a "healthier" version of the dish but it's not quite as satisfying on the palate. 

Another thing: because the chicken is less flavorful and savory by itself, the rich soy sauce that would probably have been okay paired with more traditional Hainanese chicken suddenly overpowers Kenny's version. The best of the three sauces was the minced ginger. The chili paste was simply too mild to make an impression.

Kenny Rogers Roasters Hainanese chicken rice @ PhP200 per quarter-chicken order.

Chicken rice is not complete without its rice, and here Kenny's also comes out wanting. Maybe it's a nod to a more Filipino version of this dish that they used what looks almost like a dry sinangag (fried rice) and garlic flakes. It's not a bad combination to go with the chicken, but it just doesn't shout authentic Hainanese chicken rice, just like the rest of this dish.

Kenny's Hainanese chicken rice is simply okay, but it needs a little improvement here and there and we do hope we've been of help. We'll probably stick to ordering what we think they do best: good roast chicken, their signature classic corn muffins, a surprisingly good, heavy cheeseburger, and a nice platter of roasted salmon. Can't go wrong with any of those!

Take a bite, it's all right: World Macaron Day Manila 2011

Sunday morning, we dropped by Mercato Centrale at its new  location in Bonifacio Global City, close to the Lexus dealership and MC Home Depot - or, for petrolheads out there, the former location of the Manila Speedzone karting racetrack that bade goodbye in 2007. 

Who are we to say no to freebies?

Apparently we lucked out on our visit. Comedian and writer RJ Ledesma had microphone in hand, announcing that Empire Macaroons was giving away free "macarons" for all the visitors and even the store tenants of Mercato Centrale. This was part of the World Macaron Day 2011 celebration. Off-mike, RJ was chatting away and gamely inviting visitors, asking if they had already tried the macaroons.

RJ Ledesma was around to invite visitors...

...to these. So many little bites of heaven :)

Everybody was entitled to one freebie, but with a charity donation to the Real Life Foundation, the ladies at Empire gave away two. Knowing how Mabie is such a huge fan of French macaroons, and driven to scratch a gastronomic curious itch, we gave two separate donations to sample four different flavors of the little pastry sandwiches. We tried the Mocha Kahlua, Rose Petals, Chili Chocolate and Citrus.

Now it would've been easy to cynically dismiss all this as a stunt to push mediocre wares, but they were genuinely good, with surprising variety and delicacy in the different flavors and even textures. The Citrus one was the softest, with a moister filling compared to the others. The Chili Chocolate, while nice, didn't have the kind of Aztec-style spicy chocolate kick I was expecting - what happened to the chili I wonder?

Citrus and Chili Chocolate

Positively left-field was the Rose Petals flavor, an interesting curio that really did taste like my idea of eating flowers (and no, not the cauliflower or broccoli kind).

Rose Petals.

Out of the macaroons, our favorite was the Mocha Kahlua, hands-down. The coffee and chocolate blend was just exquisite, tasting like something much larger than the itty-bitty confection held in Mabie's hand. It was that flavorful.

The insides of the Mocha Kahlua macaroon. Yummy!

A bit of searching the Internet reveals that Empire Macaroons is based in Rockwell. You might want to drop by and sample their stuff, or take home a box of your own little bites of heaven.

-jm