Five Million Burps Waiting to Happen

Nov 1, Monday

Packed our high spirits and good intentions and trooped to the swimming pool for a reunion rendezvous with Ramon, aka the caretaker of “our” pool ;-) Unfortunately, Ramon said he did not really miss us. Hehe, denial king. The good part was we had the pool to ourselves for the morning :D.

When our stomachs called out for lunch, we moved to our planned “treat of the day!” Hear this great news ladies and gentlemen from Iloilo, we moved to … tan ta na nan… Nes and Tat’s!!!! At their new branch at Congressional Avenue!!!

As you Ilonggos will attest, Nes and Tat’s or rather Tatoy’s Manokan (Nes and Tat’s is Tatoy’s progeny) is many an Ilonggo family tradition, and is certainly a local institution. Many Sunday lunches of my elementary and high school life was spent gobbling down the tasty native manok and seafood at Tatoy’s Manokan. As in, gobble/ lamon/ eat yum yum yum. And who cares if your classmate and your other classmate and their families are at nearby tables and yet another classmate and her or his family have just pulled up the driveway. They too are gobbling. It’s that so reliably good.

Later, going away to college and for work, our concept of homesickness and homecoming inevitably included Tatoy’s. Was there ever a sembreak or Christmas break that did not include a trip to Villa Beach for Tatoy’s -- and later when it was put up practically beside the mall -- Nes and Tat’s? No, never. Otherwise it would have been tantamount to not having come home at all.

But now the good news is here they are in QC. And they were open this November 1. And we were the only customers when we waltzed in. We oohed and aahed over the familiar menu. We talked our way, no, consciously entertained ourselves thru the painful intervening minutes between ordering and being served. We drank a full glass of water each.

And when at last, our meal arrived – kinilaw na shrimp, kinilaw na tangigue, lechon manok na native, pork chop and to each her own drink – loud grunts and groans could be heard from our side of the restaurant. Haaaaaay, ka namit. Namit gid ya! Namit times one million! The kinilaw dishes were freshly made, and the vinegar was chock full of panakot – bell pepper, onions, and chili pepper. The manok was oh so tasty. And the rice was one bandehado (hehe).

As the Priestess put it so succinctly – Kung ari ka di, daw malimtan mo na lang ang mga problema mo. (hehe! If you’re at Nes and Tat’s, all your problems melt away!) Comfort food finest!

Actually we were a sight to behold! Visible for being the only customers, highly appreciative, and voraciously eating, we must have hugely amused the staff scattered around the resto. We were initially suspicious when they came bearing three cups and three saucers after all that we had ordered had already arrived. It turned out we were being given free dessert!!! -- – ginatan and kalamay hati – and we were only halfway thru our meal!!! We sighed with gratitude, and much much later, sated, we ordered coffee to go with the divine kalamay-hati.

We urge you, please, please, please visit the kanamit-namit Nes and Tat’s at Congressional Avenue, and give them no reason whatsoever to pack their chickens and head back home! Here, we want them, in their authentic splendor!

And isn’t a November one spent stoking one’s appetite for living also appropriate to the day?

(For the rest of the account, check back again when I've managed to burp :P)