Sunday in Quezon City: LCP Flea Market, Kanin Club, UP Technohub

I have heard of the weekend market at the Lung Center of the Philippines compound before but didn't have the chance to go there until today.  I went there with my family to check out what a lot of our friends are raving about.  Our father read something about the cooked food that are sold in the market  so we decided we could have our lunch there.

The market occupied a large part of the hospital grounds.  There were stalls selling fresh produce, including fruits and vegetables.  Some stalls were also selling fresh fish and other sea food.  But we were interested with the available cooked meals and there were plenty to choose from.  There were the regular Filipino food as well as regional specialties. .My sister in law and I wanted to buy some roasted calf but since we arrived late, the portions were not to our liking.

In the end we decided to have lunch somewhere else and we went to the UP Technohub.  Our destination was the Kanin Club.  I have eaten there a number of times with friends and office mates so in a way I am more familiar with what they offer. 

I was already forewarned by my office mates that the place is usually busy on Sundays that's why I wasn't surprise to see a long list of customers waiting to get seated.  We were number 7 and we waited for something like 30 or so minutes.  We already made our orders while waiting so when we got to our table, the food was immediately served.

For our soup, we ordered the hototay.  This is the first time I tried Kanin Club's version of one of my favorite Chinese soups.  Sorry to say, I am not impressed by their take on it.  The soup is so-so and the ingredients were mostly squid.  Maybe because my benchmark for this soup was the one we used to have when I was a kid; the hototay soup from Ho Wa, a Chinese panciteria in Quiapo that has seen better times and is now closed.

We also ordered the aligue rice which was steamed rice sauteed in aligue or crab fat.  At first I was hesitant to try it because of fear that it might trigger an allergic reaction.  Upon tasting the rice, I realized that there was not enough crab fat to give me an allergic attack so I went on to eat it.  The rice went well with the dishes we asked for.

Our father wanted to try the  kare-kare so we got one.  Their version is closer to what I am more familiar with, they used ox tripe and beef.  I like that the meat is tender, even the tripe was easy to chew and swallow.  The sauce is a little sweeter than our version of  kare-kare though but I am still very satisfied with this dish.

We  ordered one of my favorites, the crispy dinuguan.  I like this one so much because they use pork and not the pig's intestines.  The meat is usually fried until it's very crispy.  I always order this when we eat at Kanin Club.

My brother also asked for the Tilapiang Binukadkad.  It's deep fried tilapia that was cut open so the flesh is separated from the bones and opened like a flower petal.  Dipped in a mixture of soy sauce and vinegar, the dish complemented the others.

For dessert, we had turon ala mode.  I like the turon and for me it was already alright  even without the ice cream.  One order was enough for all of us but we asked for two so we ended up really really full.

I must also add that Kanin Club has a great view of the arboretum maintained by the University of the Philippines.  The sight of the green trees made eating there such a relaxing experience.  Another thing was the music, which were old kundiman and Filipino folk songs.

On our way out, we passed by an Apple Reseller in Technohub.  The store is called Switch.  The staff was gracious enough to assist us with our questions.  We were told that they already have the new iPod models but they still have the previous models on display, which are already being sold at a discount.

It was another busy Sunday but I enjoyed it.