After a grocery date ( yeah, that's the kind of bonding activity stayhomemoms do ;)) ( and please ignore the crown toy I was wearing, haha) with my gfs, I spotted a newly opened outlet of
Nathaniel's (from Pampanga), at Molito, Alabang.
Nathaniel's with all the glory and fame of their buco pandan salad has just arrived at the South ! ( this was last month and the store had just opened 3 days ago then) Yeheey!!! Finally I would be able to have the famous buco pandan from Pampanga. Yeah, I hadn't yet then.
And I had to wait to get home to have that buco pandan salad cos there were too many others to try first. I took home a half gallon for my girls and me ofcourse.
Came from a small hometown myself, I always find it nostalgic to eat in a food outlet which root came all the way from a province too. You know, the familiar snack house dishes like siopao, halohalo, siomai, pancit, etc.
The first thing we ordered were these heavenly bottles of buco pandan juice. Ahhh.. super thirst quencher. The best I ever had. With hundreds of buco juice/shakes store carts mushrooming allover the country, this buco pandan juice definitely stands out. It's meaty and tastes like fresh from a coconut shell with perfect mix of pandan. Very filling too as it is in a 500ml bottle. I won't recommend it as a side drink for a meal thu'. It can easily fill you up and will take a huge space of your tummy and leave a little for the main dishes. But if you're dieting, well go gulp down the whole bottle before a meal, haha!
We also had their rice meal like the
beef caldereta (* as expected, homecooked goodness) for me, forgot what my one gf got# haha,
lumpiang sariwa (*nothing special),
lasagna (* creamy+meaty goodness, generous serving too, to come back for)
siopao asado
putopao
Those two pao-s are pretty much taste alike with the same asado filling. I bought packages of them for take home. My girls love the siopao and didn't stay long in our fridge.
Then finally it was time for
buco pandan salad at home. The thick but young and soft coconut meat cut in squares - perfect. The gelatin is pandan-ed tasty with a hint of gooey-ness adds an interesting partnership with the coconut. It's creamy and I'd say it's not just the usual all purpose cream we use at home but I'm quite sure a great deal of icecream is the secret ingredient. The sweetness is controlled which make it easier to finish in one sitting. Yah, we did it in one sitting. Half gallon = 3 of us!!! Done.
After three days from that first visit, my girls had to drag me for a repeat visit. I suspect my face hadn't left the waiter's memory yet cos he looked at me like he knew me, haha
We kindah had the same dishes ( and the same mistake of having bottles of buco pandan juice on the side that made us not finish our plates) except for the following :
porkchop steak. my o.daughter's. I tasted it and quite salty for me.
pancit palabok. daughters loved it, better than Razon's they said.
I took home some Nathaniel's goodies too.
