TRIED & TASTED: KUYA J

Doing errands at the mall is always a good excuse to check out restos I haven’t tried out yet.  Half a day of walking always makes me hungry and looking for comfort food.  Luckily, a Kuya J restaurant had a lot of empty tables after the lunchtime rush.

The menu was pretty clear about what they were offering- Pinoy comfort food with a twist. To start with, I ordered one of their  specialties, Grilled Scallops topped with butter and cheese. 

 

The platter was full and good to share but the round seafood was oddly brownish instead of white like a thumb-sized burger patty. The garlic topping was pre-cooked and the flavor did not seep in which made the dish taste like cheese and butter. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a fan of processed dairy but I was expecting it to complement the salty-sweet of fresh scallops.

Good thing  I had the Lumpiang Presko after. The sauteed crab meat and labong (bamboo shoot) was prettily wrapped in malungay-flavored egg-wrapper with the sweet garlic sauce sauce and freshly crushed peanuts on the side. 

To top the meal, I had Adobo sa Mangga, pork belly stewed in soy sauce and vinegar sweetened by ripe, yellow mangoes. The pork was tender enough but the sauce is just too sweet for me.

 Kuya J: http: www.kuyaj.ph

TRIED AND TASTED: JOE'S CHEESESTEAK

After doing some errands yesterday afternoon, while I was waiting for my mom to answer my call, I found myself in front of a small, newly opened food place at the corner of the street.

Not being a bread person, I tried out just half a cheesesteak. While waiting for the sandwich, I struck a conversation with the woman behind the counter, Grace, and her husband, Joe. They seemed like an easy going couple who knew how to make great sandwich. It turns out I surmised correctly.  Back in 1993, they opened "Cheesesteak"  along Reposo Street in Makati, where they served meals along with their best-selling sandwich which Grace mastered in making when she lived with her sister in Philadelphia.

Photo  courtesy of Joe's Cheesteak FB Page

It was doing well. In fact, even chef and restaurateur Sandy Daza remembers it distinctly. But with their six children growing up, Grace decided to focus on her kids and they closed down the Makati restaurant in 1997 and transferred to Quezon City.

Photo Courtesy of@sandydaza77

With their kids all grown up, the couple decided to go back into the food business. Joe shares that it was a challenge to go through all the testing but I guess they got the taste and texture they were looking for. The warm french bread,  crusty on the outside and soft on the inside, enveloped the tender frizzled beef which was sauteed  in onions and mushrooms, blanketed in melty cheese and topped with a slice of fresh tomato. The cheese did not overpower the beef with its saltiness and the textures were on point. Even before I was done with my half-a-cheesesteak, I ordered two more to go for  my mom and my brother.

But more than the cheesesteak, I enjoyed the randomness of the moment where I was given a chance to have a conversation with the people behind the food (I even met their daughter Zita!). For neighborhood restaurants like this, it's a good thing to know that the people who make your sandwich love what they're doing because that means they'll always make it a point to live up to your expectations so when you come back for more, you'll always have that great cheesesteak.

Joe's Cheesesteak

Address: G/F SMRC Building, B. Gonzales cor. Katipunan Avenue, Quezon City.

Telephone: 0920 870 6222