Lauriat | Chinese-Style Fried Chicken

There are things you crave to have that you can only have once in a while. You can never have too much of it, because of watching your health and what you eat. Sometimes, it’s best to have it when the opportunity arrives, like being at a party, and never set to stay over when your time to leave the crowd, as the way you eat. If the metaphor is too much to comprehend, then in simple terms is never too much of the same thing. Of course, the same thing means you want it again like tomorrow. But in reality, it is best left to enjoy what you can consume with Chowking’s Chinese-style Fried Chicken; there’s no stopping from having some crunchy and meaty meal that is quite like seeing an old friend again.

Foodie Spotlight | Imperial Chicken Chop

Chowking is one of the local Chinese-style fast food restaurants in the Philippines. It’s one of the affordable places to get your quick fix for lunch, snacks, and dinner. Jollibee Foods Corporation also owns it after acquiring the restaurant in 2000. It was founded in 1985 and to this day one of the go-to places for oriental cuisine with its unique style of Chinese and Filipino meals all rolled into one. With its continued growth like its company siblings like Greenwich (Pizza), Red Ribbon (Cakes & Pastries), and Jollibee it also has opened its stores outside the country including some locations in Jakarta, the Middle East, and San Diego USA to name a few places you’ll find a Chowking store. Their latest Chinese Style Rice Meals has recently introduced the Imperial Chicken Chop.

Foodie Spotlight | Mushroom Burger Steak

McDonald’s is known for Burgers, Fries, and Chicken, but not with rice in them that has been clearly an Asian concept due to the cultural difference from the American fast food restaurant. For McDonald’s Philippines, it’s all about having rice meals though not as extensive having their take other than having Spaghetti as an exclusive. But having Rice Bowls was originally a Limited Time Only until it became part of their menu. The rice bows used to have a selection until they just focused on having Mushroom Burger Steak with that creamy sauce as the representative of their rice meals aside from the Chicken Fillet and the typical Fried Chicken with rice is their go to meals for the locals that are not into the American-style Burgers & Fries.

Foodie Spotlight | Chicken Sandwich

There’s nothing like having a bite of a crunchy, juicy, and delightful Chicken Sandwich. Of course, in this current times there have been a handful of them vying for the consumer’s attention. It is quite different from four years ago that anyone now are emphasizing on the Chicken Sandwich as their main menu when most of them not having them in their list or menu board. Jollibee is one of them that have jumped in to the ‘Chicken Sandwich Wars’ late in 2021 when they unveiled their version of a Chicken Sandwich even marketing it before as a ‘Chick n’ wich’ to stir up competition with their other fast food restaurant contemporaries that has been arming themselves with their type of this dish.

Mang Cesar | Chicken Sisig

A small business when it is all about food-related is a challenging enterprise, and mostly if it has not established a name or identity needs to go through A LOT of hoops to be able to make it. Sometimes it may takes years or it would be a short lived ideas that would never work, In the case of Mang Cesar, there’s an opportunity to put that name, brand, and content all together. Mang Cesar that established its brand and services in 2020 opened a branch nearby sometime in August 2022, and slowly learning from being a restaurant to this new location. Beginnings have some lessons to learned, and it also needs to establish itself to the neighbor around that they would be sticking around for a long time.

Foodie Spotlight | Chicken Mala Sub

Some Hype is better than none, but for Subway® it has been all over social media to drum up their latest Limited Time Only (until 31 December 2022) sub sandwich that’s not even found on the list of their menu. Because it is their “Secret Sandwich” that you can only request if you are very much aware of its existence. The poster ads were not like compared to the Roasted Chicken with Curry Sauce that’s been all over their stores. This will certainly suit your curiosity about this so called ‘mystery sub’ that they‘ve been trying to spread through word of mouth. Is it worth the experience in having one? Does it need more than just talking about? Lastly, would this be something worth the effort to go to Subway?

Foodie Spotlight | Bagnet + Kare-Kare

Home cooking is something different and it is a labour of adoration that shows why it becomes comfort food for everyone. In the Philippines, there is A LOT of comfort food to go around and it never stops there once you find something that is worth calling it as such that it is something you look forward to having whenever you can. In the case of a Bagnet, it is a Filipino dish locally known as “Chicharon” (Fried Pork Rinds) in the native province of Ilocos. Mostly it is Pork Belly ***boiled and deep fried until it is crispy. It is seasoned with garlic, black peppercorns, bay leaves, and salt. The meat is first boiled and then allowed to thoroughly dry overnight before frying to achieve its characteristic chicharon-like texture.

Foodie Spotlight | Roasted Chicken

Subway® has a lot of interesting sandwiches on their plate, and they keep the consistency of freshness sourced from local ingredients, and rarely do they import some that are not available in the country. It is worth noting that they do not scrimp on the ingredients as what fits the budget is what you get with better benefits than all your fast food restaurants sandwiches combined targeting for healthier consumers. With that one of their underrated subs is the Roasted Chicken getting the spotlight it deserves that also promotes that they added a special curry sauce to get you wondering the difference from its previous version. This is not a limited time only promotion they’re asking you to try it and so taking a closer look won’t hurt too.

Foodie Spotlight | Spicy Chicken McDo

There’s nothing like having fried chicken with rice or even mashed potatoes as an alternative. It is the simplest joys of having lunch just straight up quick meal for an affordable price. Of course, there are A LOT of competition riding on just the simplest meal in the form of a Fried Chicken. There have been so many of them you might get lost in choosing the best one. In the case of McDonald’s there are just cruising along with their usual Chicken McDo meal, which is exclusive to the Philippines that serves with a steamed plain white rice. They’re up there because they have so much to offer and more, and this includes a spiced up version of their tried and tested chicken meal.

Foodie Spotlight | Zinger Gravy Burger

There have been so many chicken sandwiches out there that you might want to re-invent it like the wheel. Pretty much the competition these days are steep and it gets tiresome having the same sandwich no matter, which fast food restaurant that’s serving it from their menu. For KFC, the inventive approach has been good and sometimes a dud. They have limited time offers, but none they are memorable enough to get their customers a second round of comebacks to merit them that recall. They kept going with the Zinger sandwich that is slowly becoming forgettable due to the competition. But try to re-invent it into a new twist will have you getting second looks.

Foodie Spotlight | Quarter Pounder

There’s nothing like having a burger and savouring its flavours. McDonald’s has made it a global identity serving billions all over the planet. Despite that not all McDonald’s would be consistent with how they prepare their burgers, but there are instances it may remind you having the same one from another country. Of course their burgers various in shape and size, and doesn’t necessarily are well-received. Because for every country there’s culture, and sometimes their burgers are not the favourite. In the case of a Quarter Pounder, it is not the most popular from their burgers though it surely gives you the reason to have a heavy lunch without even having the usual rice meal that most people would have.

Foodie Spotlight | Veggie DeLite™

Subway® has a range of sandwiches that you may find interesting, but also they have different price points due to the ingredients and flavours that you might want to match with the five different subs they have offered for you to customize, which is something no other fast food restaurant or particular establishment have as an option. In some ways, Subway® provides something unique to the table few others have limited to match with. But also, due to the changing of costs food establishments have to change some of their products to be more sustainable in getting people interested. There are advantages and disadvantages, but for a newbie you got to start with affordable subs that they also have to offer.

Foodie Spotlight | Double McChicken

There’s enough Double Cheeseburgers out there that sometimes you want something different or even unique. McDonald’s continues to innovate in other markets trying no new things out of the tried and tested burgers it’s not applicable to all markets. But almost four years ago McDonald’s in the Philippines did release a secret menu. The “Secret Menu” released five unique burgers that were not in the regular menu, and when the self-ordering machines were just installed during its release it was there that the secret was unlocked. One of their famous burgers had a variant from the regular menu and that is the Double McChicken, which instead of a beef patty it had replaced it with two bone-less chicken meat.

Foodie Spotlight | BK Double Cheeseburger

When you talk about a Double Cheeseburger there's a golden arches come to mind. It never was about another brand like Burger King. It only becomes a conversation when you mention the Whopper in some kind of capacity for being that different, which stands out as the brand’s identity that made them collective conscious to everyone. Aside from the Whoppers there’s nothing beyond that unlike if the conversation if there was any Kids Toy Meal is involve, which is no longer about the food that was slowly omitted from Burger King Philippines’ menu and portfolio way back sometime in early 2009. But they do have other burgers aside from the Whopper and the X-tra Long Chicken Sandwich and that’s their version of a Double Cheeseburger.

Foodie Spotlight | Chicken French Quarter

In some ways, Popeye’s have truly made the Chicken Sandwich the go to meal that has every local food establishment take notice. Prior to the Louisiana–based restaurant landing back to the Philippines it is just about beef burgers and majority of rice meal consuming population. The interest for chicken sandwich has been at all-time high. Of course, a healthy competition brings on the winner, and it’s not Popeye’s but the local consumers that have given new choices and things to try out from the conventional Filipino taste. The American dish is such as burgers and sandwiches are a challenging product to market into a country that takes rice meals as their main thing to see in their plate. Although it did not change that it opened options & choices.

Foodie Spotlight | Pepperoni Bacon Whopper

Burger King is literally is king of the burgers when its size portions pertaining the Whopper it is considered a heavy meal or a king-size treat. But a simple burger just don’t stay the same with its original flavour this has to expand and continue to be relevant, which is why they have its sub-premium meal with the King Size Specials. There are four King-Size Craving for its Philippine market, and this is considered their premium Whopper burgers. Of course, they come in the standard Whopper and Junior meals. But for those unware and have not enough budget they can also just take home the burger solo without the fries and drinks. This is where the Pepperoni Bacon Whopper gets its spotlight.

Foodie Spotlight | McDonald's Big Mac

When you talk about a fast food brand, the first thing comes to mind is its flagship menu and with that its signature burger or meal. McDonald’s have so many of that, but the first thing on their minds is not the Big Mac. Despite being the original creation that has been around for a long time. The Big Mac is arguably one of the most familiar burgers that’s about as McDonald’s can be, which even for a time had a mascot named Officer Big Mac (1970-2008) as one of the denizens of McDonaldland. The name itself gives you an idea that it is McDonald’s premium burgers that continue being served globally to millions, and yet in some countries it gets that kind of notice.

Foodie Spotlight | US Spicy Chicken Sandwich

There is something about a “repeat performance” despite the lukewarm experience. Just like the food at Popeye’s they’re really good even though the service is not consistent and sometimes you wonder how they’re not aware about how their customer feels when they were given this kind of service. But then again, this is about their food that made them this good. Of course the previous experience having a US Spicy as a take away is way different is having it in the store for some pretty much dine-in experience. But this is not about having the meal in the branch itself. This is about the US Spicy Chicken Sandwich experience at the recently opened branch in Glorietta Mall.

Foodie Spotlight | Quarter Pound King

Have you ever had a cheat Friday? What do you have in mind when having this day? Surely, most would indulge in heavy meals or a sweet treat. But trying out different burgers from Burger King seems unlikely. Sometimes you don’t even realize that it is actually Friday, and you’re already have the best laid plans until a metaphorical wrench gets thrown in and you need to have Plan B. Of course, there’s a ‘go with a flow’ moment when that happens, and you just ride it like what just happened today. Ending up at Burger King you just pick the burger that you haven’t had in a while, and there it is… The Quarter Pound King, a solo without the fries and drinks is today’s feature here.

Foodie Spotlight | Classic Double Cheeseburger

McDonald’s is world renowned for their famous French fries and Hamburgers. Over the years they expanded globally and that means some of those that made them famous need to be tailor made to the culture and country they have expanded. It is unique that with all that changes there still the core menu that stays the same. The Cheeseburger has been synonymous with the brand, and has been remade and evolved. But one thing certain is that they kept the ingredients consistent despite the subtle changes. Recently, in the Philippines they have added “colourful” version of their burgers and that includes the cheeseburger with lettuce and tomatoes as part of the ingredient adding a little ‘health’ conscious to the product.