Amalia's in BF Homes

After our lunch and merienda at LP, the family had dinner at Amalia's, a Spanish restaurant located right along Aguirre Avenue in BF Homes.

For starters we had the Chorizo Bilbao. (Sorry, no photo)

Oysters in White Wine.



Vegetarian Paella, they used Jasmine Rice instead of Arborio rice for this one which is a bit unusual. The white asparagus was nice though.



Paella Espanola, with chicken, chorizo and seafood.



Salpicao, tenderloin beef cooked with lots of garlic (maybe they forgot to add garlic here?)



Callos or tripe stewed in tomatoes, garbanzos and red wine. This used to be my favorite at Amalia's (aside from the paella Espanola) but somehow the recipe is not the same tonight.

The kids had chicken lollipop which they finished off in fifteeen minutes flat.



For dessert, we had the Canonigo, a light fluffy eggwhite cake with a creamy sauce and a side serving of diced mangoes. This is one of my favorite desserts.





We noticed that Amalia's food is a bit lackluster today. I wonder if that's why only a few people (aside from us) dined there tonight.

Dinner to Share

After a long day, hubby and I wanted to have a (semi)"fine-dining" dinner but didn't want to spend a small fortune. There's a quaint little restaurant found on Aguirre Avenue in BF Homes called Amalia's. Amalia's is the brainchild of Amalia Jocson, widow of the late Chef Minggoy Jocson of the Minggoy's chain of Spanish restaurants.

As I mentioned in an earlier blog, Amalia's serve the best Callos that I have ever tasted (well, so far). For tonight though, the husband and I were craving for their famous Oysters in White Wine. The oysters are baked in a bed of salt with lots of garlic and white wine. I believe the extra sauce has the marinade and liquid seasoning. Their oysters are always plump and succulent. Much bigger than what I usually find in the palengke. The best Oysters in the Philippines come from Aklan. Oysters from this province are usually flown to Manila to supply most high-end restaurants and hotels. I know Soleil in Greenbelt get their oysters from Aklan. Well, because it it says so on the menu :-)



After feasting on oysters (we resisted to get two orders), we ordered Ceasar's Salad, to share. There's nothing really unique about their version but it was OK and a welcome change on our palates.



For main course, we ordered Paella Espanola. A rice dish cooked with saffron, green peas, chicken, chorizos, shrimp, mussels and hard boiled eggs. Among their paella dishes, this is the best and would please everyone because it has a little bit of everything... meat, seafood, vegetables and chicken. The best part though is the tutong, toasted rice stuck on the bottom of the paellera pan. Sarap! Hubby and I just ordered the single platter, again, to share. They do give generous servings, one single order is good enough for two people with leftover to boot.



We were stuffed and didn't have the space for dessert, which is unusual. I recommend the Canonigo, a nice meal ender, light and not too sweet. Served with a mango rum sauce. Their version in quite good, but not as good as mine :-) I will post the recipe in a future blog.

Amalia's doesn't have the best food presentation nor the best service but, they do have good food at reasonable prices and the servings are good for two people. Hubby and I only paid P600 (US$12.50) for our shared dinner including tax and service charge. Not a bad deal.

My first attempt at Callos

Callos is a type of stew made with pork, tripe, garbanzo beans, chorizos and a host of other ingredients. I've always loved this dish. I particularly fell in love with the version from Amalia's along Aguirre Avenue in BF Homes (they also serve the best Oysters in White Wine, by the way). I felt that it was time for me to try my hand at making it. I found this recipe and it looked easy enough to make. I trimmed down the recipe a bit since I am cooking for just hubby and myself. Hubby was quite pleased with it. I felt it was still lacking something. More experimentation in the future for moi. Any suggestions?

Legend has it that the longer you keep the Callos, the better it will taste. This is great when you're entertaining. You can make it a week before and just stick it the refrigerator and forgeddabouddit.

Anyway, here's the picture.



My late father, who was a very good advertising photographer, would probably turn in his grave for I take such crappy pictures. After all, I was named after a camera.