Abe Restaurant: Reliable tasty Pinoy food

I have enjoyed Abe's offerings a lot of times for the past three years and often took it for granted. The one day I realized that I should write about one of the restos I have dined and will most likely do again the future.

I has been a favorite place of Med reps to treat us MDs , and it is also a favorite place to bring my balikbayan friends and relatives who crave for genuine pinoy food. It is also the second place where I have eaten insects. Too bad I have not ordered it recently. None of my friends wanted a taste of Kamaru which are crickets. It actually taste like dried shrimps.

Anyway, one thursday lunch, I was invited (again) to eat at Abe. This time, with my trusty iphone on hand took pictures for this blog.

First came the appetizers: Pako salad , Baby squids in olive oil and garlic and the heart stopping Chicharon bulaklak.

Chicharon Bulaklak

Baby squid in olive oil and Garlic and Pako Salad

  The Pako salad was light, refreshing with a sweet and sourly vinaigrette. I could eat an entire bowl of this.The Baby squids have always been favorite and I always order it whenever I am at Abe . The pinoy in me loves the cholesterol laden chicharon bulaklak specially when dipped in garlic and chili infused vinegar.

The sinigang na bangus belly sa bayabas tasted great....at first. The broth was too thick from the pureed guava rinds. It was far from the light guava- tasting broth that my dear mom made for us.It was  coyingly sweet and after a few spoonfuls, I stopped.

Sigarilyas and Sitaw sa Gata

The sigarilyas and sitaw sa gata tasted like gising gising that I thought it was it. Well, I love this dish whether it be made of sitaw, sigarilyas or green beans. It is reminiscent of food from my Bicol hometown.

Crispy Tadyang

A perennial favorite is Crispy Tadyang. Beef ribs simply salted and deep fried. A bit of a jaw exercise, but I guess that is part of what I enjoyed with this dish. I will choose this over Crispy Pata anytime.












Deep Fried Tilapia which was butterflied and served with burong rice is one of Abe's well known dishes. The outer part is crispy but the meat is delightfully soft and flaky.














Crispy pata is well.....cripsy Pata. Enough said.

Pakbet

The Pakbet came with crispy veggies and instead of the usual bagoong alamang they used bagoong isda which I feel is more true to the dish's Ilokano roots. 

 Chicken Adobado is one of Abe's latest offerings. Its similar to adobo but on the sweet side. Again, I am not a great fan of sweet viands so after one taste I moved on to more savory dishes. For me this dish is a confused fusion of adobo and asado.












Last came the Kare-kare. I was too full to get a taste but then, what could go wrong with this traditional fare? I just wished they made it with real atswete and thickened it with real galapong and peanuts the traditional way. But then, the tripe and the nguso was fork tender as it should be, the vegetables not overly done and the sauce with enough peanut flavor to be loved again and again.

The whole group was so full that we took half of the food home and passed on the dessert. Too bad as they have good native desserts. Oh well, maybe for next time's blog.