Many countries have similar dishes. We have pochero, France and the Middle East have pot au feu, and the Spanish have cocido. To the Spanish, pochero is the container where the cocido is boiled for hours with tough beef, chicken, chorizo, noodles, etc.

Another dish found in other countries is roast chicken. A well-made roast chicken can be a family winner or even good enough to be made into a business.

In our country, we have lechon manok, and many Asian and European countries have their own versions. My brother-in-law Joey Mendoza shared with me a recipe of French roast chicken. Oh my. Outstanding dish! You see, Joey has an apartment at the Ile Saint-Louis at the back of Notre Dame in Paris.

When he gets lazy to cook, he told me he just goes down to the local food store and grabs this delicious roast chicken, which is roasted all day. Joey shared the recipe and boy, what a winner! I always bring this chicken to many potluck meals. It always makes for a conversation piece, plus I have to hand out the recipe, for a price, that is. That’s a joke.

Every day, as soon as I wake up and as soon as I’m done with my quiet time, I spend time looking at food and restaurant posts and recipes of various dishes. Not all the endorsements, like recipes, catch my attention. I have an idea what is good and what I think will work.

An hour or two after I wake up, I am either walking or playing badminton. My goal is to make it to noontime without eating. I’ve been trying to do intermittent fasting for the longest time. So, to reach noon, I have to keep myself distracted doing various things like grocery, buying eggs, or just driving to get to the dining place. Otherwise I might fail and eat before 12 noon. That’s my routine almost every day if I’m not busy.

This one time, my attention was caught by a Middle Eastern roast chicken with reddish basmati rice called bukhari rice. The name alone called me. It was around 11 am and by the time I got there, it was the perfect time to eat. The place is a bit far from where I live, but I didn’t mind. I love driving. As long as my aircon and radio work, I’m fine. Traffic doesn’t bother me.

When I got to Manama Roasted Chicken, the place was swarming with pick up drivers. There was nowhere to eat. There were a few roasters all filled up with browning chicken. Just by the number of motorcycle drivers picking up orders, I knew I found a winner. I got a whole chicken topped over bukhari rice. I was also given a sauce that looked tomato-based. Bitin, I couldn’t eat there. The good news was it cost me only P299.

So I instead drove straight to Banawe and had a light meal at the Taiwanese turo-turo called Fong Wei Wu. I probably ordered the wrong items. So I drove home and went straight to my daughter Ali’s room to share my Manama chicken with her and Bingo, her boyfriend. Oh my gosh, what a winner! The chicken was crispy, moist, loaded with herby Middle Eastern flavors that went so well with the red rice. I regretted not ordering extra sauce because that unique and simple-looking sauce was delicious. Gone in 60 seconds! It was so good Bingo ordered again the next day, but this time with extra sauce. I have been ordering from Manama since I discovered it.

Here’s an example of a dish found in many countries brought home and made into a successful business by our kababayan. Kaka-proud!

Manama Roast Chicken is located at 139 Quirino Highway, Baesa, QC. +63 956 824 4761

I love discovering places like these. I will keep my eyes and senses open to new discoveries!

Happy eating!