While we were in Manila, I was determined to try some good local food but I have to be really honest and admit that’s not the main reason we decided to eat at Apu Filipino Cuisine Manila, a kind of posh Filipino restaurant we stumbled across during our stay at the Fairmont Makati.

You see, the main attraction was that my sister and I were in fits of laughter making poo jokes about its name.

Yeah, I know that’s kind of lame and a bit awful too, and I did feel a bit silly when we found out that the name Apu means grandmother. So before I even start my review I guess I should apologise to all the Filipino grandmas out there for making jokes about their name.

But one thing I’m not sorry about is choosing this restaurant, because it turned out to be epic!

The restaurant was really spacious and was kind of fancy looking, with super comfy chairs and cool lighting, which I really liked. And I loved that the menu was on an iPad, although it would have been better if they had an Angry Birds app too so I could have played games while I waited for the food.

It took us a while to choose because there were so many amazing sounding dishes but in the end we were super stoked with the dishes we did pick.

Even the drinks were awesome. I had a mango drink that was like drinking a fresh mango and my sister had a fresh watermelon juice that was heaven.

Our first dish was Fried Lumpia, which are like the best spring rolls ever. They were mega long and fat and looked a bit like a rich guy’s cigar. They were chock full of delicious pork and spices and super crispy and the sweet chilli and vinegar they came with was the perfect accompaniment.

Then we had a ceviche like dish, whose name I can’t quite remember. It was super tangy with a really strong vinegar hit balanced by (cooked) pork belly and beautifully tender raw fish. There was also stacks of cucumber and red onion to give it crunch and a killer chilli kick, which I loved.

For mains we had Bicol Express: huge chunks of pork belly streaked with fat and topped with the most bubbly crispy crackling I’ve ever seen. The pork was sitting in spicy coconut gravy. And though it wasn’t massively hot from the spice, it left a nice tingle in my throat from all the green chilies. Seriously, this dish was so good I could kiss it.

The Seafood Kare Kare was a huge bowlful of mussels, prawns and octopus and fish with delicious crisp vegetables, soft gooey eggplant and a massive artichoke, served in a thick peanut gravy. It came with a fish paste, which acted like a seasoning and gave it a whole extra level of flavour.

For dessert we finished up with Filipino favourite Halo Halo (which translates to “mix-mix”). It’s a shaved ice dish (which usually includes ingredients like sweet beans, coconut, jelly and sweet potato) and is super brightly coloured, but this one was more monotone and came with bananas, sweet pumpkin and sweet corn and was topped with evaporated milk and a big chunk of caramel leche flan. Yum.

Seriously, if this is what Filipino food is like, I’m in.

Reviewed by Raffles – Aged 9
(Bracketed comments by his mama)

Apu Filipino Cuisine  | City of Dreams
Upper Ground Floor
Asean Ave. cor. Roxas Blvd Entertainment City
Parañaque, Manila, Philippines
Ph: 02 887 1651

Disclosure: This meal was independently paid for.

The post Raffles reviews: Apu Filipino Cuisine Manila appeared first on boyeatsworld.

 

Having done the long haul hike from Australia to the UK about ten times too many, we’ve decided to break the trip up this time with a stopover in steamy Manila and a stay at the Fairmont Makati.

Turns out that this is one of the most genius travel decisions we’ve ever made. The first thing we learn from our experiment in slowing down transit is that taking a 48-hour break from being packed in a floating tin can like a battery hen and force fed trays of indistinguishable fodder for what seems like an eternity, means arriving at your final destination fresher. The second thing we learn is that staying at Manila’s Fairmont Makati will have you questioning the need for the second leg of your flight at all, and pondering the option of boarding yourself into the hotel instead.

Ideally located for exploring all of Manila’s must see attractions, Fairmont Makati’s staff greet us with such enthusiasm as we enter the artwork filled hotel lobby, I half expect them to piggyback us to our room.

Instead we are escorted the regular way to our fourth floor Fairmont Gold Corner Suite. Tucked away in a quiet corner of the hotel, I’m guessing the room location has been selected because our kids come with a volume warning.

The massive suite is of the scrape-your-jaw-off-the-floor variety. So much so that Mr Eats World and I have to restrain ourselves from doing a happy dance during the in-room check in process. The kids, unsurprisingly, find it harder to control themselves and run from the one enormous room to another, squealing like happy little pigs as they find treat after decadent treat waiting in each and every one.

We pretend we’ve never seen them before in our lives as they leap and squawk about like halfwits … at least until we bid adieu to our lovely host. As soon as the door shuts behind her, we join them in their pant-wetting excitement. I mean, there are nice five-star hotel suites and then there is this palatial suite, with its 14-foot ceiling and 10-foot high floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking Makati city.

There is a huge living room, dining room complete with chandelier and two massive super luxe bedrooms, one with a king bed and the other two separate beds for the kids.

There are also two enormous marble bathrooms, one boasting a freestanding bathtub so huge that Sugarpuff jumps in with a pillow and declares it will be her room for the night.

But before we let her move into the tub, its time to devour those tasty treats. There are bowls of swirly rainbow marshmallows that Sugarpuff tells us look like unicorn poop, while stuffing as many as is humanly possible into her mouth.

There is also a trio of flavoured milks and plate sized white-chocolate chip cookies that Raffles tosses into his gob like Frisbees. And then there is the most incredible box of chocolates I’ve had the pleasure of meeting, and eating.

The box itself is made of crisp and delicate chocolate lattice and topped with a perfect red tulip, which also turns out to be made of chocolate. Inside is a further selection of chocolates, each jewel-hued and shimmering with edible gold.

They are mine. I fight the kids off using my daypack as a shield and the room card as a throwing star, with the gusto of an off-duty, backpacking Avenger. I still lose the battle.

We consider popping out to explore Manila’s culinary scene, but that would require us leaving our gorgeous suite, and on this our first night, we still aren’t quite done with wallowing in its plush designer loveliness. So we decide instead to call room service, who promptly deliver a silver service dinner of Filipino delights.

We devour our meal, which is even more delicious after suffering through eight hours of plane food, clad in our comfy Fairmont robes.

There’s time for a little movie watching on one of the suite’s enormous but discreet televisions before we clamber into our giant cloud like beds and sleep like babies. At least until the kids wake us at ridiculous o’clock demanding to be taken to the pool.

They’re already in their swimmers before Mr Eats World and I have even managed to crawl out of bed. In a stroke of luck, the gorgeous pool just happens to be located on our floor, right alongside the Fairmont’s signature Willow Stream spa which, were it not six bloody am, I would absolutely abscond to for a massage.

Instead, I laze on a poolside deckchair and watch the kids enjoy the water.

All that splashing works up a serious appetite so we get dressed straight from the pool and head for breakfast.

Given our Fairmont Gold Lounge privileges, we consider enjoying breakfast in the exclusive (and sumptuous) lounge. But Raffles the walking stomach insists we forgo its exclusivity to instead eat all the things downstairs at Spectrum Restaurant’s colossal breakfast buffet.

He starts with a pastry and then devours about 82 steamed sui mai and a huge plate full of Indian curry and dhal.

That’s just a warm up though as he is soon working his way through Filipino favourites like chicken adobo, garlic rice and a western style omelette, made to order at the egg station.

I stick to some of the more health conscious options, which includes honey straight from the hive. But when one of the lovely floor staff fetches me a plate of fresh mango as a favour, Raff flogs most of that too, leaving me virtually empty plated.

Raffles scores the buffet a 10, which coincidentally, is about the equivalent in kilograms that I suspect he’s gained during his feeding frenzy.

Luckily, besides all-day dining at Spectrum, which I think Raffles has eaten dry, guests can enjoy bakery treats at Café Macaron and gourmet snacks at the Pool Bar.

We toddle back to our cavernous room to freshen up in preparation for our afternoon flight to Europe, sorely tempted to delay proceedings for another night or two.

Fairmont Makati was recognised as “Best New Family-Friendly Hotel” in the prestigious Condé Nast Traveler Awards and I’m not surprised. It’s not about the facilities, though they are certainly excellent, it’s about the warm welcome the kids get from every single member of staff from check-in to checkout.

From the chauffeur who collects and returns us to Manila’s Ninoy Aquino International Airport, to the folks in reception, the restaurant staff, the pool attendants and even the room fairies we bump into in the corridor, the staff are not only attentive, but engaged and genuinely interested in our children’s wellbeing: the very definition of kid friendly.

Disclosure: The Eats Worlds were guests of  Fairmont Makati but as always, all opinions, poolside antics and buffet destruction is our own.

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Travel has proven an amazing way of introducing our children to a range of new and exciting foods. But so many travellers, especially those with kids, refuse to bypass fast food chain burgers and the limp pizza at the hotel buffet to wrap their lips around the local cuisine.

Sometimes it’s due to a fear of flavour but more often its due to an often misplaced fear of food poisoning. But why travel at all if you aren’t prepared to truly experience a destination? The first thing Raffles and I do when we arrive in a new city is head straight for the nearest street food vendor. We both consider it an integral part of the travel experience because it fast tracks our understanding of a country’s cultural identity.

Indeed, one of Raffles favourite recent travel experiences was taking on Phuket Old Town’s Walking Street Night Market, and his body weight, in weird and wonderful Thai treats with Migrationology‘s street food superhero, Mark Weins.

Of course we take precautions. We’d never take an uneducated risk on our children’s health. We avoid tap water, raw foods and stalls with dubious hygiene standards, and our street food mantra is “cook it, peel it or forget it.”

To be honest, sometimes street food can be a safer option for kids, because you can see and smell exactly what you’re feeding them. While there are still no guarantees of avoiding illness, that’s true of any meal prepared outside your own kitchen.

But not all street stalls are created equal. Here are our 12 top tips for a safe street food experience with kids.

Top tips for safe street food

1. Up and at ‘em

Wake up! We all love a holiday sleep in but all the cool cats know that the best local markets start at the crack of dawn. So set the alarm and head out for an early breakfast to ensure you get your teeth into some of the freshest and best street food treats of the day.

2. Shop like a local

If you’re after the real thing when shopping for street eats then avoid ordering tacos in Taiwan or burgers in Bangkok. Choose local dishes cooked to local perfection. Markets packed with western tourists usually serve up sub-standard and inauthentic eats, so go where the locals are and eat what they eat.

3. Follow the leader

For the best food in town just stalk the locals. If they’re lining up for a particular vendor and the food turnover is high, then form a conga line behind them because it’s most likely going to lead you to a fresh and fabulous meal! On the flipside, if a vendor has no local customers, you have to ask yourself why? Regardless of the answer, in my quest for a vom free holiday, I follow the local lead.

4. Behind closed doors

E.coli doesn’t discriminate. The malicious bastard is just as likely to be found hanging with his pals salmonella, listeria and typhoid in a sit-down restaurant where you can’t see the kitchen, the hygiene standards, or the produce you’re about to eat, as he is doing backstroke in the salad dressing at a street side stall.

5. Keeping up appearances

Whether your dining at a restaurant or on street foods, if the store looks dirty and the sous chef is a rodent just move along, there’s nothing to eat here.

6. Keep it clean

Is the vendor using gloves and tongs? If yes, there’s a good chance they understand the importance of food hygiene. Or do they have one finger up their nose and another scratching their arse? We’ll pass. 

7. On the nose

Take the sniff test. If the place smells like a toilet, then there is a good chance you are going to end up bent over one.

8. Hot to not trot

The best bet for avoiding vom-inducing bacteria is to choose foods that are thoroughly cooked and are still hot.

9. Dodge that salad

It’s best to avoid anything raw, including fruits and vegetables. Salads may have been rinsed with unsafe water and fruit that has been pre-peeled and cut may have been exposed to all kinds of icky bugs, dust and dirt, and may well be hosting a bacteria bacchanal. Stick to unopened fruit like papaya, mango or bananas and peel it yourself (after you’ve cleaned your hands).

10. Bottle it

Speaking of water, never drink water that’s not bottled and always use a straw so you’re not drinking from a can that’s been sitting in ice made from undiluted typhoid. We pack our own paper straws (the plastic ones are a hideous environmental hazard) for just such occasions.

11. Clean up your own act

It’s not always the food that makes people sick, it’s the germs you’re packing on your own hands. Especially kids who struggle to keep their hands off everything! Just like we would at home, we make the kids wash their hands before they put their fingers anywhere near their food or mouths. As an added precaution, we also use a splash of hand sanitiser before and after each meal.

12. BYO utensils

Though we used to be a little more nonchalant, with kids in tow we have to take more precautions. We carry our own reusable cutlery for the kids because the plastic cutlery stocked at street vendors isn’t always the cleanest. And its bad for the environment. Paranoid? Perhaps. Have my kids ever had food poisoning? Never.

 SO WHAT SHOULD YOU DO IF YOUR KIDS DO GET TRAVELLER’ DIARRHOEA?

You may know it as Delhi Belly, The Hershey squirts, Bali Belly, Peru Poo, Burrito Bowels or the ever so politely British, holiday tummy.  Regardless of your preferred euphemism, a case of traveller’s diarrhoea is shit. And no matter how cautious you are, getting it can come down to nothing more than bad luck.

The good news is that it is usually a self-limiting condition that clears up after a few days. And while adults can keep things “contained”, so to speak, with over the counter medication like Imodium, things get more complicated with kids’ as, in Australia, Imodium is not recommended for anyone under the age of 12.

Unfortunately, kids under 12 are also more prone to dehydration. So what to do?

1. Oral hydration is essential and the last thing you want is your child to end up on a drip in hospital, so it is vital to replace the fluids and salts that they lose.

2. Don’t leave home without plenty of oral rehydration powder, and ensure the kids take little sips of fluid as frequently as possible. Isotonic drinks like Gatorade and Pocari Sweat can also help and, if you are in the tropics, fresh coconuts (cut in front of you) contain water that is sterile and safe to consume.

3. Breastfeeding is the best way to reduce the risk of foodborne and waterborne illness, and to rehydrate babies who are at even higher risk from dehydration.

5. Avoid juices and dairy products except for plain natural yoghurt as its natural probiotics can help fight the bacteria.

5. Ginger or peppermint candies and fresh (weak) chamomile and peppermint tea can help settle nausea.

6. If your child is hungry, let them eat but stick to bland foods. Bananas, plain rice, porridge, clear soup and soy based milk products have essential nutrients that can help fight infection.

7. Administer some kid-friendly probiotics packed with live (good) bacteria that can aid the digestive system.

8. Rest. Don’t overdo things.

9. If symptoms persist, or your child is becoming seriously dehydrated, seek immediate medical advice.

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