• Lutong bahay

  Filed under dchs88
  Mar 31

  Lutong bahay
  By Stella A. Estremera
  Going’ Places

  FRIDAY again… and no place visited yet, darn! Gigi suggested this eating place along MacArthur Highway in Matina as she did last week, but I wasn’t in the mood for anything that’s as visible as those. I wanted something that not everybody had a chance to see yet, and so there’s buddy Carlos to consult…

  “Merong bago, dito sa helera ng Torres. Yung City High, then ang road after that is yung papuntang Nanay Bebeng, tapos there’s Mabini and one more road na hindi ko alam ang pangalan,” was Carlos lengthy introduction (actually the street next is Pardo de Tavera).

  He continued, “Paglampas mo diyan meron yang kainan — Nanay, Mama, Ate — hindi ko matandaan ang pangalan basta may picture ng (beep!) babae na (beep-beep!)… basta yung _expression ng mukha yung para bang ‘pag sinabi niyang ‘Eat all your rice,’ kakainin mo talaga lahat.” (That is the cut version).

  I did remember having passed by that area and did notice a bahay-kubo like restaurant one night when the taxi I was riding opted to escape traffic along Quirino and exited through Lopez Jaena and so I had an idea of what to expect.

  What I wasn’t ready for was the picture; thus earning a curious look from the taxi driver as I snorted and giggled just before telling him to stop.

  Warning to all you thin-skinned people out there: Don’t ever dare ask my friends to describe you or your kin…

  Now, as Kris Aquino would say it… “In fairness”, that photo (_expression aside) and the name below it, does send a message to the “oldies” like us. For my mom, maybe, she’d immediately recognize Linda of Gingerbread Bakeshop in Matina. For those of our generation, we’d recognize the surname Garcia Alonzo. All together, the place “Mama Da’s” is owned by Linda Garcia Alonzo of the Nanay Bebeng clan and the Gingerbread Bakeshop fame.

  That said, let’s go in…

  It’s turo-turo, with the most familiar food you’ll ever see. Sarsyadong matambaka, ginisang ampalaya with egg, humba with the thickest chunk of tenderized taba you’ll ever see (yum!), giniling na baka, ginataang suso with pako and kalabasa, and some more that I cannot recall and maybe a lot more but it seems that we were able to catch only the remnants of whatever they offer; and it was just 7 p.m.

  That night I had three regular Goin’ Places buddies all together — Gigi, Ana, and Dengdeng — plus Ikit, when usually I am only able to drag one or two at most. And so we had a feast. One order of sarsyadong matambaka (2 pieces), one ginisang ampalaya, two giniling na baka, one tortang talong, one humba, one ginataang suso, one ginisang monggo and one cup of rice each. Over loud conversations we ate them all, and swore never to eat as much again. Burp…

  The bill? The grand sum of P200-something. We had to ask the waitress whether she got our orders right. She did, we just couldn’t believe it.

  We continued with our loud conversations (make that their loud conversations — the trio of Dengdeng, Ana and Ikit can break anyone’s eardrums when they are all hyped up) since it was still early. As they yakked and yakked, the staff pulled down the bamboo blinds. But then, Ikit and I were the only ones facing the road and since Ikit was so engrossed in the guess who’s got the biggest voice contest, no one seemed to have seen that the blinds were already down and the ends tied to the posts, secured.

  Around half an hour later, one of the waitresses finally approached. They are closed, she said. I guess with my type of friends, “pasimple” doesn’t work: say it straight and say it loud or they wouldn’t hear you. It was 9 p.m.

  By the way, it’s turo-turo and lutong bahay, so don’t expect anything grand. Think, your lola’s kitchen during regular days.

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