Cycle 5 – Item 122

7 (Wed) May 2014

Pork BBQ + Ginataang Pusong na Saging

2.5

at Casa Ilongga

(Robinsons Place)

-Ermita, Manila, Metro Manila, Philippines-

solo

Try Every Restaurant in Robinsons Place (46) (see also TERRP)

The 3rd floor promises to be particularly challenging because 13 of the establishments are food court stalls, mostly Filipino.  Nothing wrong with that per se, but the dishes tend to be pretty similar, a lot of grilled meats, deep-fried items, vinegar-based soups, and of course pork belly stews, so repetition will be an issue.  Also, it's all just sitting out in the open, sometimes for hours, so hygiene may be a problem.  And yet I shall persevere.

Casa Ilongga is a Filipino food court stall.  Typical array of dishes, as described above.

Ginataang Pusong na Saging is a Filipino dish.  Consists of a banana (pusang) heart (saging) - so-called because it's shaped like a heart, the unblossomed flower attached to the banana tree - chopped/shredded into small pieces and simmered in coconut milk (ginataang).  Not necessarily an everyday item, but fairly common.

On my first experience at this food court, I was intimated by the "dizzying array" of items (see generally 3.243 Seafood Platter + Pancit Bihon + Ihaw Pusit), but now everything seems pretty familiar.

The food was okay.  The BBQ was pretty standard, if kinda dry. The banana hearts were okay, as anything simmered in coconut tends to be.

(See also GLOBAL FOOD GLOSSARY)

(See also RESTAURANTS IN PHILIPPINES)