Know Your Granma’s Secret or Taste Republic of Cavite’s Irresistibly Mouth-Watering Offerings

by Wedding In The Sky on 06/01/2011 - 02:49 pm |

Tags: Foods, Hotel and Restaurants, Tourist Attractions, Wedding Destinations

Know Your Granma’s Secret or Taste Republic of Cavite’s Irresistibly Mouth-Watering Offerings

by ArjDalumat

They say “the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach.” But I dare say that “the way to the heart of people like us (Yes, I mean, us. You and me and he and you and she and you and me!) living in this modern DNAge Era and enslaved by our station computers during working hours in our offices and by Facebook before going to bed is through S-C-R-U-M-P-T-I-O-U-S Food on Our Screens”. Yes. You’ve read it right. See the photo of 'Lihim ni Lola'?

Don’t fool me. I heard your stomach grumble!

I know, I know, I know. This is the second time I’ll be writing about Mr. Andrew’s restaurant. The first one was in a news form. You know that well, I know. Well, to make the long story short, it was an ordinary Saturday shift when the company’s president called me up and reminded me of my schedule. He wants me and my co-writer K. to write something for a friend who owns a popular restaurant in Trece Martirez, Cavite. Thank God, it was cool and a lot more comfortable inside his car. We felt the sun’s scorching heat when I went out of the office just to meet him.

Upon arriving to Republic of Cavite, we were greeted by very accommodating personnel who even led us on our way to the tourism symposium (event, seminar, what-have-you) that was being held up in the Bulwagang Cuenca. Inside, tourists and food bloggers from in and outside of the country nodded and smiled to their fellows receiving bags of Amadeo Pahimis Coffee while (I know!) inside their heads they were already yelling at the speakers in front to just let them feast their eyes and dig into some of the best-tasting Filipino cuisine to ever exist on earth. I even caught one American lad (or is he French?) staring at a nearby table displaying tempting Caviteño food such as the Cavite Express (which by the way can definitely give Bicol Express a run for its money!), the Sinanglay na Pla-pla, and the ultimately sweet-and-scrrrumptious Onde-Onde. (Rawr!)

The delicious smell in the air was undoubtedly inviting us to go to ROC’s Plaza de Armas and see the long array of Filipino cuisine being offered. Surprise would be an understatement to describe what we felt when we’ve tasted the scrumptious specialties of ROC.

The Adobo Caviteño, as expected, was truly unforgettable with its unique blend of soy sauce and vinegar. I almost licked my mouth with its spicy aroma. By the way, one major difference between Manileño Adobo and the Caviteño counterpart is that the former doesn’t include quail eggs in its main ingredients while the latter won’t be complete without it.

Chicken Magnifique! Ah, Chicken Magnifique, is tasty, tangy, juicy, what can I say… magnifico! That’s it. Try combining it with their Thai or Basil Fried Rice (which are, by the way, both very tasty) and you’ll ask for no more unless you smell the mouth-watering invitation of their Deep Fried Tofu & Fish (for the über health-conscious), or the ultimately-savory Pastel de Lengua, or the unique yet exquisitely prepared Kinulot na Pagi, or the creamy Ginataang Tulingan. Whew!

It has been more than a month but my mouth is still watering as of this writing merely thinking about them. Them? ‘Them’ who? I don’t know! I don’t remember ‘their’ names! Stop it! Aaargh! I’m on a diet!

Holy Grilled Eggplant Salad! They even have that for their patrons who love vegetables, or like me, on a strict diet. I swear, I hate eggplants when I was a kid! Even the mere smell of Tortang Talong! And then Holy ROC came and enlightened my life’s perspective on veggies!

Ah! The dessert! Hail the royal family of all Filipino desserts! Words are not enough to describe this mouth-watering bunch of sweets. Surprisingly, these native delicacies almost erased my memory of Red Ribbon and Goldilocks cakes. One will have a hard time forgetting the taste of ROC specialties like the Peche-peche, the Puto Pao, the uniquely-prepared Lihim ni Lola (a purple rice cake stuffed with a surprise filling you’ve got to find out) and the immortal buchi-like Onde-Onde stuffed with sweet coconut jam.

From here, I don’t know what else to say.

Visit ROC's website here: http://republicofcavite.com

Check-out my blog: http://arjdalumat.wordpress.com