Gail JavierA Foodie from South’s Journey to North’s Calle Bistro
There is no debate as to how much I am obsessed with food. I don’t pass up any chance to let my taste buds go on a gastronomical journey whenever there’s any.
And to my delight, we got invited to the second run of ‘Food Crawl’ by Calle Bistro last May 25 (thank you for letting me tag along, YuneOh), I was beyond stoked to try out dishes lined up from all of the participating restaurants this year, namely: Sisig Society, Knicker + Bockers, Adobo Connection, JT’s Manukan, IMÀ Kitchen, Pub Express, Samgyeopmasarap, and Tim Hortons. Just when I thought listing them down isn’t filling enough, I was not prepared for what’s in store for me on the actual food crawl. The said activity stays to be a delectable sneak peek of the diverse selection of food that await diners at Calle Bistro.
In just over a year, Calle Bistro is tagged as the ‘most popular foodie destination’ in north of Manila. They take pride in being an abode to food establishments that are family-oriented, sincere, and down-to-earth. These are hangout spots that you could spend great moments from morning until even past midnight.
The food strip is a development from Everscapes, a subsidiary of EVER Group of Companies. For me who lives and breathes in the South, it didn’t take too much convincing to get me running towards Commonwealth Avenue to satisfy my food cravings.
For our first stop, we had a generous serving of Sisig Society’s Tusok-Tusok Platter (Dynamites, Chicken Skin, Bacon Bagnet and Kikiam) and Sisig Nachos for our appetizers. A sisig lover myself, I personally enjoyed our quick stop just taking in all the sisig I could eat, but still making room for the other seven in the list.
The next two restaurants in the line-up are Knicker + Bockers and Adobo Connection. In the former, we had a bite of their sample pizzas, chicken, and pasta. Meanwhile, Krispy Kare-Kare, Beef Sinigang, and Garlic Chicken Pork Adobo were served in Adobo Connection.
For the rest of the crawl, we were treated with grilled specialty from JT’s Manukan, home-cooked favorites from IMÀ Kitchen (FYI: Ima is the Kapampangan word from mother), some no-nonsense take on comfort food from PUB Express (I frequent this when I’m in Manila), great cuts of pork and beef from Samgyeopmasarap, and good coffee favorites from my personal favorite, Canadian coffee chain Tim Hortons. Not only was my tummy fully loaded, I also had a great time knowing and learning so much from the key people from all the participating restaurants.
Food could indeed pass as a destination for travel. It is both of a work of art and of the heart. It could also be a language that people wouldn’t mind learning and refining to cross bridges of culture and even break boundaries. And if food is indeed something of both, I wish to be a linguist, and I am willing to travel from south to north just to have a taste from restaurants both old and new.
