On one recent weekend evening, I food-crawled my way along Little Baguio in San Juan, Quezon City, pausing for rounds of bacon dishes by The Quirky Bacon. There we met Chef Sharwin Tee, Chef/Host of Lifestyle Network’s Curiosity Got the Chef, and the creative chef behind the restaurant that presented to us dishes with bacon incorporated as one of the key ingredients. The menu placed on the table read really quirky names of food which are enough to make us feel excited for Purefoods’ Bacon Fest Manila. 🙂
PUREFOODS Bacon Tasting at The Quirky Bacon (Little Baguio, San Juan City)
We started dinner with the Glazed Tempura Bacon—honey-cured bacon fried in tempura batter with a spicy soy miso glaze. The batter was crisp and not over-salted. I thought I could eat handfuls of the tempura bacon on its own as a snack and not feel disgusted. Dripping with sweet honey flavor, the shrimp tempura was plump. It was as delicious as it looked!
I guess the best way to cleanse our palate and get ready with the rest of the meal was to bite into the Chef’s Salad. Served in appropriate timing, the salad was made with arugula and romaine, kesong puti, and warm bacon strawberry vinaigrette. Oh, the taste of the bacon mixed with strawberry was very evident in the vinaigrette. That spelled all the difference—a good difference. 😛
Next, the result of combining sweet potato fries, mozzarella cheese, bacon gravy, and a medley of Purefoods bacon together was the Bacon Medley Poutine. The fries took notes from KFC’s crispy fries however this time, sweet potato fries were used. Dipped into the bacon gravy, this dish could be counted as one supremely elevated form of your regular fries with condiments.
Practically rounding up the best of our meal was the Lacquered Slab Bacon, a must-order at The Quirky Chef. It consisted of the Applewood Smoked Bacon slab with brown sugar chili crust paired with bacon java rice. OMG. With glistening surface, the slab of bacon was succulent and pleasantly unassuming. The fragrance brought in an extra dimension that makes the entire dish more satisfying.
Living up to its name, the Pork Panalo Roll was a true winner. It was made with pork tenderloin stuffed with calumpit longganisa wrapped in bacon, guava labuyo glaze, drop dead fried rice. Individually, the contents were not anything fancy but the dish was hearty indeed. Ah, this must be a godsend.
For dessert, we enjoyed the Problem Child. What’s in a name? Apparently, whoever eats this will become a problem child because it’s so good! Lending a subtle sweetness to the flavor, the Problem Child is the best way to end a quality meal at The Quirky Bacon. It’s hard to believe that such simple ingredients as bacon chocnut champorado and chocolate milk powder will make a great dish that can remind you of childhood. 🙂
#BaconFestMNL
For its sincere love for bacon lovers, PUREFOODS has launched the first-ever Bacon Fest Manila as a way for everyone to enjoy and understand all the yummy goodness in bacon. It has partnered with various restaurants all over the metro to give the PUREFOODS Thick Cut Bacon and Maple Bacon a new twist. This campaign aims to send awareness that many fantastic-tasting dishes can be created with the many variants of bacon.
The challenge? Restaurants/food establishments invited will create and serve their own bacon dishes in celebration of BaconFestMNL for customers. The Quirky Bacon is one of them. 🙂
Others included are: Charlie’s Grill and Grill, Sebastian’s. Torch, Tiny Duchess, Carpe Diem, Wicked Dogs, Stoners SoulFood To Go, 2nd’s, Gram’s Diner and The Bistro Group (like TGI Fridays and Italliani’s).
With Purefoods’ thick cut bacon, you can enjoy twice the thickness of regular bacon in every bite. The honey-cured bacon has the perfect combination of sweet and salty flavors, while the barbecue-marinaded spicy barbecue bacon has the right hint of spiciness for the thrill-seeker in you.
There’s also the honey roast bacon that’s sweet and savory with smoky goodness. All the PUREFOODS thick cut bacon variants are available in 500g packs, while the PUREFOODS maple bacon which is known for its sweet, crispy, and rich maple aroma comes in 200g, 400g, 1kg packs.
Join the Bacon Fest Manila Contest (May 1, 2015 to June 30, 2015)
You can join the Bacon Fest Manila Contest by visiting any or all of the partner restaurants/food establishments stated above, order the #BaconFestMNL special dish, and post the photo on your social media.
Don’t forget to tag @baconfestmnl and their official hashtags #BaconFestMNL and #BiteTheLove to get a chance to win some awesome prizes, like a MacBook Air, iPhone6, and a GoPro. 🙂 Check the Baconfest MNL Facebook Page for more details.
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