Maty's

It was a motorcycle diary trip with my co-teacher Bok Pioquid last October 13, 2009 as we motor through the southern cities of Metro Manila coming from a meeting in Muntinlupa. My mind wandering looking at the city sceneries feeling like fucking Che Guevara as he transcended his class consciousness via his motorcycle trip around South America with his buddy Alberto Granado.

But I am no Che and I just want to check out the southern scene of Las Pinas and Paranaque. Good thing my esse, a true blue Las Piñas hommie, knows the area's shit. We passed by the Bamboo Organ Museum at St. Joseph's Church and learned that a certain St. Ezekiel Moreno once served as parish priest of the church. No Shit! A saint from the bamboo shoot organ church. Mind buggering! I thought it was only Lorenzo Ruiz and some unknown Dominican Spanish friars who stepped on the Philippines and became saints. Fucking have to check my church history books and shit.

But the story, liver lover boys, I should say, boils down to food. Its the Tapsilog story retold many times over again as we streaked through Quirino Avenue on the way to Paranaque's famous Don Galo area for their TAPSILOG. Freaking rows of tapsilogan stores line the Don Galo strip claiming to be the original shit. But it is Maty's I think that is used as a benchmark on what really is good Tapsilog this side of the metropolis (based on Bok's articulation of what is a good tapsilog fare).

Maty's is an unassuming restaurant that offers the typical menu of whatever stuff then suffixed with a SILOG (for Sinangag and itlog). We ate at the first Maty's coming from the Las Pinas area (there are three Maty's along the strip but was informed that the first was the real thing and the second, and third, are bollocks).

The TAPSILOG is not monumental in terms of taste. The egg is an egg is an egg. Its fried. The fried rice is fried with garlic. And I think it is not even a classic leftover rice from last night. They just cook plain rice then cook it again with oil and garlic. The tapa is tapa straight up. Its beef though sometimes, horse meat is also served, maybe. Side soup is commendable though.

What is crazy is the dip. Man, it's an art preparing it the Parañaqueño way! Like a delicate shaolin sword moves, one mixes salt, chili pepper, ketchup, and vinegar in swift strokes to get the balanced preferred taste of the artist dip mixer where you dip your tapa, or tocino, or bangus, or bbq, or whatever viand+silog that you ordered.

Maty's
0395 Quirino Avenue
Don Galo, Paranaque City