16.145 Alex’s Fried Chicken

Cycle 16 – Item 145

Post 5,624

30 (Fri) May 2025

Alex’s Fried Chicken

3.0

at Mamou Meats Uptown

-Bonifacio Global City, Taguig City, Metro Manila, Philippines-

with the Family

Triumphant Return to the Philippines: Day 1 of 5

In the Philippines!  First time since we bugged out during the pandemic in 2020, exactly 5 years ago tomorrow (see 11.147 Bulgogi). The schedule is packed, including stops in BGC, Anilao, and Malate.

God, how I missed seeing this sprawl upon countless returns to Manila while I lived there from 2014 to 2020.
I can’t recall the last time that I landed at NAIA without the support of WHO to pick me up.

For Day One, we booked an AirBnB in BGC, where we had lived for a few years.

The first order of business was to meet up with Kat, exchange currency, retrieve my diving gear – which I’d placed in her care during her trip to Seoul (see most recently 16.129 Janchi Guksu), so that she could get it serviced for me in Manila (thanks, Kat!) – and have lunch together.

The decor of the entrance has been toned down, looking more … classy (in my opinion).

Finding a long line at our original destination of Manam, we went next door to Ippudo.   Compared to back when we used to frequent the place (see for example 7.363 Shiromaru Special), the restaurant has since downsized in space but expanded in menu.  Some of the items, like the cucumber salad and pork bun, have gotten more sophisticated in construction and plating.  Would’ve preferred to eat something local, but everyone else seemed happy.

Next was a visit to ISM (International School of Manila).  When the academic year had wrapped in the spring of 2020, the school was still under pandemic lockdown (and would remain so until the fall of 2021), so the boys had been unable to retrieve their yearbooks on the final day of classes.  While planning this trip, I had confirmed with ISM administration that the yearbooks were available and we could enter campus to get them.   By sheer luck, it happened to be graduation day for high school, so DJ got to meet up with many of his old friends, whom he hadn’t seen since March 2020, when he was in 7th grade; W met up with some of the moms.  IZ dropped in to see his 2nd grade teacher.  Personally, I was astonished to be reminded by the enormity of the school (over 4,000 students), compared to the international schools in Korea (biggest has 1,200 students).  For everyone, it was a very memorable visit.

Compare the boys here with them in the photo from 2017.

Mamou Meats Uptown is an Italian restaurant.  Specializes in steaks, as well as pastas and a handful of Filipino-inspired dishes.  Part of the Mamou empire, which now has 8 locations across the NCR.

Located in One Uptown Residences, 270 m from Uptown Tower Parksuites Tower One (where we’re staying) – every building in this neighborhood seems to include “Uptown” in the name, such as Uptown Mall, Uptown Palace, Uptown Parade, Uptown Place, etc.
Easily 3 times the size of the original.

The original Mamou (A Home Kitchen) is located in Serendra Piazza, immediately outside the entrance to One Serendra, thus the closest restaurant to home during our time in BGC (see generally 7.203 28-Day Dry-Aged USDA Prime Grade T-Bone Steak).  Hands down our favorite restaurant in the neighborhood, eating there 14 times (at least as documented on GMTD) (see most recently 10.325 Pasta Andrada Bolognese), second only to Hossein’s 24 visits, also located in Serendra Piazza (though most of those were solo takeouts).

Would’ve gone there for dinner tonight, but we didn’t have a car, didn’t feel like walking in the rain, and this new branch was right across the street from our accommodations.

Alas, I never got around to posting a photo of the menu from back in the day, so I can’t compare prices, but they seem to have remained relatively the same, even after 5 years.  I seem to recall the twin ribeye being somewhere around PHP 5,000.

It’s saying: “Welcome back, my old friend!”

Rather than going all in for a monster steak, I opted for a range of smaller dishes that I’d always wanted to try.

Filipino hospitality!
Angus Ribeye USDA Prime Grade Steak (Single) (2.5): first time ordering the single, the thin cut lacked a proper crust, resulting in a rather flabby texture.

We were all a bit underwhelmed.  Although the food seemed about as good as I could recall, I believe that our culinary standards and palates have leveled up over the years.  Korea now has excellent Italian restaurants, way better than back in 2017.  And if I may say so myself, I can make a steak on par with any steakhouse, same with simple pasta dishes, like vongole.  Anyway, we did enjoy the meal.

Crispy on the outside, juicy inside.

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