A food park redeemed by air-conditioning and tasty food

WHILE we’re not ones to turn up our noses at a trip to the food park, it’s not exactly our idea of fun. Sure, the promise of cheap eats sounds alluring. Factor in however, the open-air location, and we get road noise, road dust, the heat, and, oh boy, the smell. Taking somebody on a date to a food park sounds fine at first until you get out irritable, sweaty, and smelling like tomatoes and fried chicken.

The popularity of food parks seem to be waning, too: while a few years back, one would expect food parks to be buzzing as they mushroomed up all over the city — nay, the region — a quick drive through food park meccas like Teacher’s Village or Congressional Extension shows dimmed lights and decreased activity. America has its ghost malls, and we have our empty food parks.

BusinessWorld found one food park (more like a food court, really) on Malingap St. in Quezon City’s Teacher’s Village that may just have a hand in saving the trend, due to a simple addition which should have been thought of by other food park impresarios: air-conditioning. You enter Malingap Central Food Hall fresh like a daisy, and you leave it probably fresher, now that you’ve been cooled and fed.

We tried out four stalls in the food hall, and the allure of cheap eats continues with all these items costing less than P200. Perhaps due to age or a plain old reluctance to be around other people, we didn’t stick around to eat our meals at the food park. We thought up a way of enjoying them on the go: the options, save for the burgers we got, are perfect as small party platters for take-out. A credit to the stall owners: the food kept through a short drive, and all tasted fresh out of the kitchen.

ALFRED’S ROAST BEEF
Swimming in pan drippings and smelling strongly of rosemary, the 150g of roast beef at P189 was absolutely worth it. Firm and powerful, it came served with gravy made from the roast’s drippings, which almost seemed like a nice homemade touch.

EL SOMBRERO
Ah, the comforts of a familiar friend, the burrito. We asked for the wrap to be cut up into pieces as a party platter, and the chicharrones burrito, at P200, came with pros and cons. We had fun cracking our teeth on the tasty deep-fried pork rinds, but the rest of the wrap came was a little bit of a letdown. Filled with rice and vegetables, not only did we have a problem with the rice-to-meat ratio, it also tended to border a bit on the bland side, and depended on salsa and a spicy cream sauce (jalapeño peppers, maybe) to save it from itself.

HONEY BUTTER CHICKEN
A little bit American South, a little bit South Korean. While the Koreans already have a name for it, the American influence isn’t far behind with the zapping energy of the black pepper gravy, and the pat of softened honey butter served on the side of this breaded chicken patty as big as a wide-open palm. This dish is a quiet winner; it doesn’t give cheers, but gives one smiles. The honey butter, almost innocent in its softness and sweetness, provided a great counterpoint to the tangy and flirtatious, not to mention crispy, chicken.

SWEET X GO
The familiar burgers, found in tony districts in Makati City and BGC, has set up a smaller stall here, and since we were already quite familiar with their classic cheeseburger, we tried out the Steamburger, a small concoction made with a seared beef patty and, if I remember correctly, caramelized onions, that was well, steamed. It’s not exactly the most visually appealing of choices as it came out a small, wet brown lump in wax paper, but like an awkward boy, it slowly wins you over. The steaming helped in expressing the beef patty’s juices, and each chew was imbued with flavor.

TAZA PLATITO
All great evenings have to end sometime, and nothing ends it better like a good hefty slice of chocolate cake. The yema tablea cake at Taza Platito had a perfect combination of crumb and air: while tasting solid and dense, it possessed a certain lightness, thus whetting the appetite for even more cake. The strongly flavored frosting, indulgent but austere (from the touch of bitterness) like the grandmother who made your tablea chocolate from scratch, the egg yolk-based yema topping adds even more indulgence and sweetness, just like your grandmother at Christmas. — Joseph L. Garcia