Habhab Revival: Kick-off at TsokoNut Batirol

Habhab is a Tagalog slang or jargon that a friend of mine from my previous work coined, in reference to eating unabashedly and with much gusto. There's a good ring to it, actually.

We used to have these habhab sessions all the time. Eventually however, each of us left to pursue different career paths. We all live separate lives now, but the passion lives on - and so does the craving.

I have always loved food, so I wouldn't mind carrying the torch, so to speak. And as a way of breaking the humdrum of eating cafeteria food and packed lunch, which could get really old sometimes, I decided to try the different food purveyors in the third and fourth levels of the building where I work. I even got an accomplice, to boot - well, sort of.

Not that we are breaking the law or anything, but we sure are breaking our own rules. What do I mean? Well, you see we are under this some kind of a self-imposed, austerity plan, in hopes of saving more money. If anything, we are not supposed to be making unnecessary expenses, let alone splurge. It's like the antithesis of austerity.

Anyway, I digress. More on that on some later post.

The first on our list is TsokoNut Batirol, which specializes in Filipino comfort foods and desserts, with a modern twist. We tried their aligue pasta and pork steak.

Aligue is crab fat. I don't think any one gets to eat crab fat everyday due to its notoriety for being rich in cholesterol, and I think that's what gives it that kind of novelty. A sprinkle of calamansi would help neutralize the fishy taste. 

Pork steak, on the other hand, is bistek (Filipino-style beef steak) which uses pork instead of beef. It tastes good, though a little unremarkable. The colleague didn't like it that much.

So far, we are still waiting for that 'wow' factor. We expect to be floored next time.