Pagliacci

Pagliacci at the Podium is one of the few Italian places in Manila that has an Italian owner and chef. It was my second time to eat here and sample the varied items on the menu, especially since other people were paying. The last condition is important since I’ve pretty much given up shelling out my hard-earned money for “over-rated” pasta outside when I can very well cook it at home.
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Razons 

My Coolness! Razon’s Halo-Halo is simply superb. I haven’t been to any of their branches in Manila and so cannot do a comparative taste test but the one we tried at their outlet in NepoMart, Angeles City was a piece of heaven on earth.

For the benefit of our foreign readers, halo-halo (literally translated into mix-mix …??!!) is a Filipino dessert composed of assorted toppings placed at the bottom of a tall glass (hmm, in that case it is no longer a topping but an underling, lol) then heaped with shaved ice, drizzled with milk then topped again with either leche flan or ube haleya or both.

Well, I liked Razon’s mix because it wasn’t too sweet and the finely-shaved ice didn’t feel coarse in my mouth; in fact, it melted in my mouth as nice quality ice would. As for the toppings, I’ve tasted better elsewhere (like the sweetened kundol & tubo ng niyog in Pagsanjan’s Aling Taleng’s Halo-Halo) but Razon’s still comes out a winner. Hope quality doesn’t suffer with their mass-production; I guess it’s still worth it to try the one at its place of birth in Pampanga.

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VFW food

With barely two hours’ drive on the spanking new stretch of the North Luzon Expressway, there’s no reason why Angeles City shouldn’t be the must have/must eat there! foodie destination. I used to think that this city had just about sunk to oblivion with the closure of the US military bases in Clark as I saw the run-down buildings and the isolated bars on Fields Avenue but I proved to be mistaken. If you’re motivated enough, you’d realize why the cabalens reign supreme when it comes to food, boasting of – not just their irresistible Kapampangan cooking – but also a fusion of other flavors like Swiss, Italian, Japanese, Korean and a host of other cuisines.

Take for instance our visit to the VFW Post 2485 Canteen . Due to its nondescript structure and out-of-the-way location, we were almost ready to adjudge it Angeles City’s best-kept secret. I knew I liked this place the moment we set foot here for lunch on the first leg of our food trip. The interiors which boasted of a pub-like atmosphere were a bit too dark for moi but a look at the apple pies on display signalled down-home American cooking. You know, the type you can plunk down your spoon and fork to with their large servings, huge pieces of meat, and everything else.
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