MY CRAZY SHAKEY'S CUSTOM PIZZA

Nung nasa high school pa ako, the very first time I tried this was when my dad took me to the then newly opened SM City [North Edsa]. Back then bihira ako makapunta sa mga ganung kalayong lugar. Kadalasan eh sa Greenhills lang ako nakakapunta.


May Shakey's doon [meron din naman sa Greenhills so ewan ko kung bakit doon sa SM City ko ito sinubukan] and I decided to make a customzed piiza for takeout. Back then, wala pang vegetarian pizza ang Shakey's so I basically just ordered a basic cheese then ordered extra toppings... 2 of each vegetable. I liked how the garlic tasted and having fresh sliced tomatoes and I have gotten hooked ever since.


Later on in high school, hinahanap-hanap ko pa rin ang Shakey's pero at the time, hindi pa rin sila nagdedeliver. Pizza Hut pa lang ang may delivery nung panahon na yun. Pero back then, my half brother and half sister moved in with us, their mother passed away. So the driver would go pick them up at Katipunan [my half sister studied at Maryknoll or Miriam College as it is known now] everyday after my brother and I went home. May Shakey's sa tapat ng Ateneo so lagi ako nagpapabili ng pizza for dinner...


That was when I really went nuts customizing my pizza. Back then affordable pa ang pizza sa Shakey's. Wala pa yatang P200 ang pinakamalaking thin crust pizza nila noon at sobrang dami na ng toppings. Mura pa ang extra toppings noon [about P9 each] so for about P300, I could have a family size pizza with so many toppings. Eto yung nakakalokang combination ko...


Thin crust family [or party size, basta yung pinakamalaki] Manager's Choice, Shakey's Special or Italian Sausage and Mushroom.


extra toppings:

4 x extra garlic
1x extra onion
1x gresh tomato
1x anchovies


Sa sobrang dami nung bawang, talagang iinit yung bibig mo. Pero ang sarap! If you've ever had Mongolian buffet at Mongolian Quick Stop and see the bowl of garlic na pwede kang kumuha ng as many spoonfuls as you want, ganun kadami ang nasa pizza ko.


Those were the days. Syempre sa presyo ngayon, hindi na yan feasible. Katulad ngayon, I ordered a small thin crust vegetarian pizza with 2x extra garlic and 1x beef, halos P300 na. And the amount of toppings on it won't even compare to how much they put back then. Sobrang kaunti na.

NAAALALA NYO BA ANG ARBY'S?

Does anyone in here in the Philippines remember ARBY’S?

Being a fastfood junkie all my life, I have eaten in almost every fast food place in Metro Manila. I grew up when my family’s family business was on the rise and eating at these establishments was the family’s idea of bonding, usually on weekends. My dad and uncle and grandfather [their dad], well at least in my much younger years before he retired, would also frequently bring take out home after closing shop.

ARBY’S is a fast food joint specializing in roast beef sandwiches. Tender flat shreds of beef with cheese on a sandwich. Don’t confuse that with Philly cheesesteaks, Philly cheesesteaks also have shreddes beef but the shreds aren’t flat. I don’t know, it just doesn’t feel the same when you bite into it. Anyway, I remember ARBY’S especially when you see them with the huge piece of roastbeef and this slicing machine goes at it. They really make it a point to show you the meat as it is being sliced and put into your sandwich.

ARBY’S used to have franchises in the Philippines. Some 20 years ago I remember they had one in Quezon Ave., my dad would drive me there and we would get take out, after I tag along as he brings home my half-brother and half-sister to his house in Project 6. I know that this is near impossible, but if I could eat in ARBY’S with my dad before I die, I would probably just break down in tears. Lately remembering happy days of my youth have been bringing tears to my eyes.

ARBY’S, for a very short while, also had a branch in Greenhills about 15 years ago. I managed to eat there twice but it didn’t last very long. It was where Hotshots Burgers is now.

One memorable commercial of ARBY’S is the one where Batman [Adam West] takes Robin [Burt Ward] for take-out [or was it drive-thru?], on the Batmobile of course! I can’t remember if I saw this on local TV or an betamax tape of some cartoon that was recorded off American TV…

With all the fast food franchises coming back into the Philippines, I am hoping ARBY’S comes back one day. Hopefully with better luck than Carl’s did.

NEW FAST FOOD JOINT: UNCLE JOHN'S

I saw this cat on my driveway this morning and I decided to play with my Nokia 6630's camera. Sadly, the pictures it takes is nothing compared to a real digicam. Anyway, I seem to be seeing more cats on my driveway everyday, I don't know what's drawing them in though...

This is a new fast food joint in Robinsons Galleria. It only opened last week and is beside Kenny Rogers on the 3rd floor. There seems to be a lot of these "Shakey's / Chef d'Angelo clones" opening lately... restaurants offering a wide variety of American/Italian food like pasta, fried chicken, pizza, burgers, and this one even has Chinese style rice toppings, which I found to be a weird mix in the menu. Anyway, the price is pretty competitive, the food is okay, but nothing spectacular. If you are looking for an alternative like Chef d'Angelo's and Burgoo are full, give this one a try, but the food isn't THAT good that you'll make this your first choice above the others. I DID like the fact that they serve PEPSI products, something I rarely see served in other restaurants. The pizza is also a good choice since it tastes like Shakey's back in its glory days, before it got too commercialized and every ingredient is now prepacked. The burgers are also tasty although if you want a good burger, Burger King is upstairs.

I took pictures of the menu, sorry for the lousy quality of the cellphone digicam. If you click on the menus, it will link to a bigger version of the picture and you can see the prices.

"BUN ON THE RUN" is Back!!!

It was just too bad that tonight, I was tunnel-visioned at Behrouz Persian Cuisine when I went to Metrowalk to buy diner. As I walked out of Behrouz, I was wondering why the little building across the street where Ice Monster was supposed to be wasn’t there anymore. Upon a closer look, I noticed that it was replaced by BUN ON THE RUN.

HOORAY!!! BUN ON THE RUN IS FINALLY BACK!!!

Bun on the Run is a chain of burger stands that has been around since the 80’s but sometime after the new millennium, this chain disappeared little by little, losing to the growing competition against bigger fast food chains. There used to be a branch in Katipunan across Ateneo; a stand near the movie ticket booth in Glorietta 4, and in Greenbelt.

Bun on the Run is well known for its unique line of Chorizo based burgers, its most famous sandwich is the “Choriburger”, 2 chorizo burger patties with coleslaw and cheese in a bun that is more like a pan de sal in taste but like a hamburger bun in size.

Anyway, Bun on the Run is finally back, with a soft opening ongoing in Metrowalk Pasig. It’s located where Ice Monster used to be, in a small building of its own in the parking lot across the stretch of restaurants in Meralco Ave. since it is still in its soft opening phase, it’s only open 3pm-11pm on weekdays and 3pm-1am on weekends. The full product line still isn’t availavle, but the great news is the Choriburger is available!!!

So spread the word, hopefully this wonderful chain will grow in popularity once more and it will never be gone again.