10/25/2005 - Going Back to an Old Favorite

When I was much younger, say about eleven or twelve, one of the few places where you could get a decent sandwich that wasn't a cheeseburger from Mickey D's or the Bee's was Almon Marina, a small delicatessen on the ground floor of Park Square II in Makati.  It was at Almon Marina where my mother introduced my palate to an amazing assortment of sandwiches, cold cuts, and a number of other wondrous treats.  If memory serves me correctly, the very first thing I ever tasted their was their Nutty Ham Club, a sandwich that still ranks high on my list of favorite foods.

It's been years, of course, since that very first encounter.  Nevertheless, it's a restaurant that's worth coming back to.  Quite recently, I found myself lunching at Almon Marina at the Festival Supermall.  I was craving asparagus for some very odd reason and decided to order one of the items in the delicatessen display case: the Crepe Asparagus.

Looks interesting, doesn't it?  Tastewise, however, it turned out to be a major mistake.  It was smothered with pink thousand-island dressing and the dressing overpowered the other components of what could have been a very good appetizer.  The inside wasn't much better: a chunk of rye bread (What in blazes was that doing in there?!?), a bit of chicken, a lettuce leaf, and a single limp spear of canned asparagus.

To my delight, however, the Beef Skewer was just fine.  While a tad on the tough side, the barbecued beef was absolutely flavorful and went very well with the tomato-infused rice pilaff on which it rested.  The vegetables served alongside the beef and rice were cooked lightly in butter and were crisp-tender to the bite.  It is interesting to note that the vegetables retained their individual flavors despite being heavily dusted with what appeared to be a pulverized mix of rosemary and parsley.  Unlike Almon Marina's other skewered delights (lamb, chicken, and seafood) which usually come with minuscule bowls of sauce for dipping, the gravy that came with my beef skewer was spooned artfully around the pilaff on my plate.

Despite having chosen the Crepe Asparagus for a starter, my meal at Almon Marina was a tangible reminder of why I keep coming back: great food at a most reasonable price.

11/11/2005 - Hi Midge!