I was thinking of writing another article for this blog, and I was wondering which resto should be next for 300-Club accreditation.
UNCLE MOE'S SHAWARMA HUB on Julia Vargas?
SHAWARMA SNACK CENTER in Malate?
GRILLED TOMATO?
FARSI near Tomas Morato?
MISTER KABAB?
If you can't figure out what all these places have in common, please stop reading this immediately and have yourself checked for mental retardation. For those with IQ's above 50, I'm sure you've noticed that all of these are Persian or Shawarma restaurants. Filipinos seem to have a thing for Middle Eastern food, and I suspect all those OFW's flying there for "work" are in fact just gorging on gyros and kebabs, all the while making us believe that they are modern heroes. (For the morons out there, that's a joke. Didn't I already tell you to stop reading?). Seriously, I think it's because the meat, the sauce and the rice or pita bread typical of Persian cuisine are very conducive to what the 300-Club scientifically refers to as a LAMON-fest!
So which one of the above-mentioned restos should I write about? We've already written about Miraj and Food Channel. Do we really need another 5 articles on shawarma & kebab places? That would be okay, I guess. But being the absolute genius that I am, I came up with the greatest idea ever... TO HAVE ONE ARTICLE ON ALL THESE FUCKING PLACES!!! So here you go, bitchezzz!!! To be brief, we'll focus on only the most important and critical facts about each resto: Location, Price of Beer (!!!), Favorite Menu Items and a short description on the place in general.
UNCLE MOE'S SHAWARMA HUB
LOCATION: City Golf Plaza, Julia Vargas (that's where Domino's, Brooklyn Pizza, Bugsy's, Barcino, Razon's and others hold shop). For those not familiar with the area, go find a map!
BEER PRICE: Around 35
FAVORITES:
-Chicken Shawarma (the best chicken shawarma we've tasted (so far))
-Chicken Kebabs (same chicken, on sticks this time)
-Kebab Platter (two beef kebabs, two chicken kebabs, tomato salsa, rice, yummy)
-Keema with Pita bread
Uncle Moe's is a favorite among those living in the Ortigas, Greenhills and Pasig areas. It's a nice clean place (except the back part, more on that later) and is almost always just almost full when we go there on a Friday or Saturday night. It's simply a great place to hang out, relax, eat and drink a few beers with a group of friends. One or two shawarmas will satisfy all your cravings for the whole night, and the beer is reasonably priced. The absolute favorite of most people who've mentioned Uncle Moe's would be the chicken shawarmas or kebabs. (The beef shawarma is good, but not great.)
What really stands out with Uncle Moe's is their garlic sauce. It's yogurt-based (tama ba, Pierre?) and is simply the best . Their sauce goes well with the shawarmas, kebabs, keema... hell it even goes well with just the pita bread! It's that good. If you're at the Ortigas area, Uncle Moe's is definitely a must-try. I have to warn you, though. Stay the fuck away from the outdoor tables at the back if you want to avoid nasty flying insects (no I'm not talking about mosquitoes. Clue for puzzle lovers: It's like Freddie Roach, but starts with a Cock!).
VERDICT: ACCREDITED BY THE 300 CLUB
SHAWARMA SNACK CENTER (SSC)
LOCATION: Salas Street, Malate (coming from Roxas Blvd, turn right at Pedro Gil. The first chance you get to turn left, TURN FUCKING LEFT! (2nd or 3rd intersection from Roxas), then turn left again at the first corner. Shawarma Snack Center will be at your left AND right! Seriously!)
BEER PRICE: uhh... shit there is no beer here!!!
FAVORITES:
-Beef Shawarma
-Beef Shawarma
-Beef Shawarma
-Goat Biryani (hehe, read below)
-Oh yeah, Beef Shawarma
Soon to be added to Favorite Menu Items:
-Beef Kebab
-Chicken Kebab
Shawarma Snack Center is by far the best authentic Middle Eastern restaurant in Manila. Screw Hossein's! SSC is far better and far far cheaper. No, I wasn't kidding a while ago, Shawarma Snack Center takes two sides of the road. The right side is the less formal section where the more regular fare is offered (note: cheaper), while the left side is where you can go for really seriously authentic Middle Eastern food. This post only focuses on the right side of SSC, because the left is not 300-Club accreditable (but is very sulit nonetheless).
To let you all know how I feel about their beef shawarma, here's a post I wrote after the first time I ate there:
"...Putangina. Ang sarap. Shit. Shit. Shit. Ang sarap talaga.
The beef is flavorful, juicy and tender. The garlic sauce is simple (which is good). The hot sauce... Holy shit... the hot sauce is perfect! It isn't too hot, which means you can smother your food with it, which I love to do. Aside from the hotness, it adds a lot of good flavor to the shawarma. I'm not sure but I think it's made of tomatoes with a good amount of spice added. Between each bite, I pour around a tablespoon of garlic sauce and a teaspoon of hot sauce on the shawarma. I hope the people around me don't notice that I'm fucking smiling while eating. I try not to smile because I don't want to look stupid. But I do. And I realize I don't give a shit. Ang sarap... Tangina. Shit."
The beef shawarma is definitely something special. Our favorite thing to do after a night of drinking is go to SSC for their promo after 2am: THREE REGULAR SHAWARMAS FOR ONE HUNDRED PESOS!!! Their shawarma rice is P95 and served with biryani rice (very good). Also try their GOAT BIRYANI (P250) which is good for 2 people. (Warning: Do not eat goat biryani all on your own. It's great if you share it, but if you have too much you will not want to eat it again for another few years.) When we were there just last Saturday, we saw some beef and chicken kebabs smoking on the grill. Holy shit. They were all moist and juicy and plump!!! Can't wait to try their kebabs next time!!! To all you SSC kebabs: Beware!!! I will eat you muthafuckas!!!
The downside of an authentic Middle Eastern place is that they don't serve beer or any alcohol. It's Malate, though. And it isn't that difficult to find some alcohol around the corner. There's another branch along Presidents Ave at Sucat, but it's kinda depressing. For a great eating experience, stick to the Malate branch!
VERDICT: ACCREDITED BY THE 300 CLUB
GRILLED TOMATO
LOCATION: I only know of their branches on Tomas Morato and Banawe (near POC)
BEER PRICE: P35
FAVORITES:
-Kebabs
-Ox Brain
-Roti (good stuff for dessert)
Grilled Tomato is more of a dining place than a drink-and-hang-out place, methinks. But maybe I'm wrong. After all, I've only eaten there twice at lunch time. I guess I haven't really hung out enough there so all I can say is I love their food. Their kebabs just goes perfectly with a dish of ox brain on the side. Yummy yum yum. After eating, a Nutella Roti is perfect to end a quality 300-Club style meal. I've eaten there twice, and twice I've walked out a better man because of it.
VERDICT: ACCREDITED BY THE 300 CLUB
FARSI
LOCATION: A side street by Tomas Morato (hehe not very helpful am I?)
BEER PRICE: Around 30
FAVORITES:
-Foot long kebab!!!
-Onion rings and other pica pica stuff
Farsi is run by a batchmate of ours from Xavier. We were introduced to it a few months back, and have been back there around 3 or 4 times since. We love it. It's a place where we can just hang out and feel at home. Seriously, when we're there we just eat and drink and talk and shout and surf the net on free WiFi (Attack of the Friendster and Facebook stalkers!!! Maria Ozawa here we come!!!). Personally, I wouldn't recommend their shawarma because it just has too much veggies and not enough meat. What I would definitely recommend is the Footlong Kebab with Rice. P120 for a HUGE kebab, tomato and flavored rice. Good good stuff. Absolutely perfect for a lamon-fest!!! They have a lot of other dishes, too and pretty much everything I've tasted is really good (except for the shawarma and cheese sticks, hehe). It's a great place that deserves a lot more attention, but the location is a bit hidden from the general public's view. My orders to all of you are to find it, eat, and spread the word!!!
VERDICT: ACCREDITED BY THE 300 CLUB
MISTER KABAB
LOCATION: West Avenue
BEER PRICE: Walang beer dito, pre!
PAST FAVORITES:
-Special Chelo Kabab
-Sizzling Keema
-Ox Brain
CURRENT FAVORITES:
-Uhh... NONE. hehe
A few years ago, Mister Kebab was THE place for an old-fashioned LAMON-fest after drinking. People coming from Makati or Ortigas would often drive all the way to Quezon Avenue (its previous location) just to have a taste of Mister Kabab. It had some sort of magic that no one could explain. There was something about being tipsy, going there, waiting for parking and waiting some more for a table, finally getting a seat and minutes later feasting on the special chelo kabab smothered with garlic sauce.
For me however, those days are no more and the magic is gone!!! Why then am I including it in this post?!? To tell the morons who haven't tried all these other awesome places to quit going to Mister Kabab and start trying other restos!!! Mister Kabab doesn't even serve beer! WTF?
VERDICT: REJECTED!!!
***
I'm sure there are a lot of other places in Manila for a great taste of Persia. Let us know if you know of any place that would trump the above-mentioned restos, and you can bet 300 pesos that we'll be there!!!
In constant search for the affordable side to everything
-the300club
-
