I used get woken up by the aroma of minced garlic sautéing rhythmically with drizzles of freshly squeezed lemon. My nose grew up knowing it to be Arroz Caldo. Closing my eyes as I take my first mouthful, Maharlika brought me back to how home tasted like, chicly ofcourse !
I couldn’t tell if I was excited or hungry or perhaps both, but every plateful of Filipino dish presented to me were all unique yet strangely different from what you would know to be “Filipino food” aka messy, brown, green, orange and nothing else but. No, nothing like my mama’s home cooked meal, yet nothing like your corner store take home dinners either, and yes, there’s more color to it than simple browns, greens and oranges.
Traditional Arroz Caldo
Chicken Laing
Maharlika has found it’s home base in between being able to introduce our tried and true Filipino favorites to other curious kiddies like yourself. The key to them standing out? One word: Presentation. Something everyone else lacks. Nobody will eat that brown stuff if it wasn’t beautifully adorned in pretty platters.
Gosh, it looked amazing, from their Chicken Laing which is crafted with fresh taro root leaves cooked in coconut milk, bagoong-ginger chilies with a crisp side of cassava-soybean chips, to their Sisig Specialty that everyone adorns ( a must try!) which is cooked in eggs, red onions, chillies served with a side of garlic rice !
Uni Palabok
Getting hungry? Keep reading.
Half the time I wasn’t sure whether I should have ate it or simple stayed in awe at how well presented it all was. ( Just kidding I had to eat it. Nothing wins my heart like my own country’s cooking that I have grown up with.)
Think Pasta. Think your mom’s spaghetti and meatballs on Pasta night. Now think pasta the Filipino way. Not entirely sure what the heck I’m babbling about? It’s called Palabok. Creating the dish around this specially made noodle from rice, Maharlika puts its own spin to it by painting it with shrimp bisque, dazzling the dish with sea urchin ( Now, there’s tons that would hit the close button by now, but seriously, it.is.heaven on Earth.) and topped with our Filipino bread “Pandesal” crumbs. BOOM. Filipino Pasta you’ve never imagined it to be.
Grilled Octopus ” Inihaw na Pugita”
-Grilled octopus drizzled with pickled mangoes, jicama, shrimp paste and toasted coconut cilantro oil.
What’s dinner without some dancing juice? Maharlika’s classic cocktails blew me away. I’m not much of a drinker so I picked the most traditional, most touristy thing anyone might ever do and went for Pacquiao’s Punch which is their award winning cocktail.
Pacquiao’s Punch
Nothing crazy, no secrets , just really really good aged rum, some tropical juices like pineapple and their very own homemade ginger syrup — which is the secret. ( Ok, I lied.)
Our little gathering with the owners came to a close at Maharlika but only meant we were on our way to diving into their other location — Another Filipino restaurant called Jeepney.
Less traditional, more funky, it was a party in there! As much as I wanted to delve into their menu as well, I went for dessert ( which I always have room for), and took a taste of their Queso Ice cream in toasted Pandesal or what we’d like to call “Dirty Ice cream” ( No, it’s safe, I promise.) I died eating it. It was beyond any Haagen Daz or any Michelin star chocolate can offer. It was simple, yet elegant in ways of its own and most specially, it touched the kid within me.
Menu Tasting with Maharlika was an incredible experience that you should be on your way to right now.
Visit their website for their menu and other information.