Ever tried a Mindanaoan Cuisine?

• Cuisine from Sulu, Tawi Tawi, Basilan, Zamboanga etc.
• An unpretentious  almost hole in the wall (ish) restaurant at Star Mall.
• Ingredients sourced from Mindanao.
• Sauce and marinades made from scratch

Who would have thought that an ordinary plain-looking small  restaurant would serve such delicious Mindanaoan fare at popular prices?

Meet PYANGGANG MANOK  which literally translated means grilled.  The fast food concept is actually the brain child of the same owners of  The Palm Grill in Tomas Morato that also serves the same cuisine but in a more posh setting  ( for want of a better term)

The Food

They had me at Mindanaoan cuisine. I have never been to the southern most part of the archipelago much less tried their food. So when owner Miguel mentioned that he is Tausug  and they will be serving food from Sulu, Taiwan, Zamboanga , Basilan, etc it got me all excited.

Also called the Green Chicken, Pyanggang Manok  literally translated means  grilled chicken.  The aroma from this dish  stimulated my hunger center almost instantaneously .  The greenish blackish wet sauce  on the chicken smelled like toasted coconut cream and looked like laing ( a local taro vegetable dish with coconut cream) and pesto.

The chicken was amazingly tender tasting of coconut and some  unknown herbs and spices. The flavor was rich yet well balanced. You would need bowls of rice for this.

Beef Kolma P125

Think thick, beef curry with potatoes. That curry sauce should be bottled and sold. Again you would need bowls of rice for this. "Sauce pa lang ulam na "

Satti

For dessert we had COCOROONS ,  an interesting  creation that is mostly coconut, butter and eggs without floor.  Think macaroons but not the French Macarons though which is made of almond powder and egg white and therefore totally different from macaroons like apples to oranges.


Overall, this was indeed a food adventure sans the cost of  a plane ticket which I truly enjoyed.  We are so lucky to have Miguel's family adopt this advocacy of sharing the cuisine from Mindanao  they grew up with  and love .

It was an eyeopener.  The influence of  Malaysia due to the region's  proximity to the country is very evident. I have a mind to just hop on a plane and go if not for the safety issue.

Looking forward to  experiencing a different take of the same regional cuisine at  The Palm Grill.

Thank you for having us PYANGGANG MANOK  and @welovetoeatph for the invite


PYANGGANG MANOK is located at the ground floor of Star Mall along Shaw boulevard