Maty’s!

Since, I’m nangigil about this place, I might as well write a “review” about it. After staying till 4 – 4:30 in the morning in Capones, I still felt the need to go on an adventure. With my trusty yet sober best friend Harvey we headed out to Paranaque where the legendary Maty’s is located. I learned about this eatery from Pinoyexchange.com, of all places, but it is actually still the best place to find out things about the Philippines.

The directions were simple:

Drive down Edsa till you hit the end (Roxas Boulevard) and then turn left.
Drive until you hit the intersection where Uniwide Coastal Mall (NAIA Airport Road) is and then turn left again.
Turn right at the first stoplight (Quirino Ave).
Drive down till, as one Pexer put it, you smell the wonderful aroma of tapsilog and BBQ cooking wafting through the air and stop.
Look for Maty’s! (there is a small sign above it)

If you reach the bridge or Paranaque City Hall, you have driven too far and must turn around.

There are actually 3 Maty’s already (a sure indicator of success), fortunately for us it was 5 in the morning, and there was only one open on the right, which we think is the original.

So we got out of the car and went to the place which looked more repair shop than restaurant. “Miss, dalawang tapsilog, please,” I barked out to someone who turned out to be a man, and we waited. Two dishes were thrown unto the table on which what looked like small piles of stringy beef. Also there was garlic rice, fried eggs and a mound of salt, loaded with silis. I stuck my fork into the beef, dug into some rice, and Magic! It was the best tapsilog I ever had! Seriously, I’ve tried all kinds of tapsilog, from hotels to carinderias, and this was hands down, the yummiest. I smiled in glee and Harvey was thinking exactly the same thing. He ordered a barbecue and wham! It was Magic times 2! The water was brown, but it tasted good! Even the ketchup (with toyo?) was homemade. So while watching Cindy Crawford’s first (and last) effort, Fair Game, on TV we were happy.

But I had to make one final test. I had to use the bathroom. Now the bathroom is not exactly the kind of place you want to take a number two in, but it’s good for the first. And it was clean! A place that has pride in its bathrooms has to be great.

And there in the kitchen was the “master chef” himself, standing without a T-shirt with his belly hanging out, surveying his creations. There was a small mountain of beef on one stove and a wok full of rice on the other. It was drunken munchies ecstasy!

Now Maty’s service is a bit brusque, and the location is very out of the way, but it’s worth it. You can see the pride in the owner’s faces as you walk in. They know they have a good product on their hands and people will beat a path to their vinyl counters to eat it.

And so I declare Maty’s, drum roll please, the best Tapsilogan in the World!

Joey