Gabe’s Home Grown Kitchen : Home Cooked Dishes From Malabon

With the rainy weather right now, home cooked meals are much better than fast food. There’s something about home cooked meals that is comforting & soothing. No matter how much you eat, you wouldn’t mind because it makes you happy.

When I started to become active in looloo again, opportunities opened up to me. I was invited by Sir Dan to try out their restaurant, Gabe’s Home Grown Kitchen. As I received this email, I said yes in a heartbeat.

G A B E ‘ S H G K E X P E R I E N C E

Gabe’s Homegrown Kitchen is located at Katipunan Extension, after Hoy Panga & Nathaniels. It’s on the 2nd floor of the YDG Building. If you are driving, I suggest you slow down since this is quite hard to find.

As we entered the place, there’s a feeling of how simple & homey it is. There are games available for kids and kids at heart. There’s a wall where you get to post post-it notes for other customers to read your experience. Dan runs the business, the wife cooks & the name of the restaurant is actually their first born’s name. Now on its 3rd year, they are here to bring us Malabon dishes since Dan’s wife originally came from Malabon.

First up are Pinoy Cheese Sticks (80php), Kwek-Kwek (90php), Fish Balls (50php) and Squid Balls (60php). My favorite would have to be the Pinoy Cheese Sticks. I enjoyed eating the cheddar cheese inside the wrap. With or without sauce, it still tasted great.

Next came the main meals. First came the Lengua (280php) which consists of beef’s tongue, sauce and mushrooms. I love how tender the beef’s tongue is & how creamy their sauce is. The mushroom came in a good addition as well.

The Kare-Kare (250php) has a generous serving of beef tripes (commonly known as tuwalya) and vegetables in thick peanut sauce.

The Baked Ribs (190php) is one of my favorites. I love how easy it was for me to slice through the ribs without using a knife. With or without the sauce, it still tasted great.

The Tinumis (90php) is Malabon’s version of dinuguan. I would have to say that this dish is quite alright. Maybe I just got used to the usual dinuguan.

The Laing with Dilis (90php) was so-so for me. They did a twist in which they placed dilis. Maybe I’m just not used to the fact that there’s dilis in it.

The Crunchy Pork Sisig ni Gabe (185php) is the ultimate bestseller. To make their sisig more delicious, they added mayonnaise and special sauce. Their sisig can be at par with Manam.

The Horseylog (115php) is part of the all day breakfast. I read reviews that their horseylog is a must try. This was my first time to taste horse & it is truly for the brave at heart. As a foodie, you have to be willing to try different kinds of dishes no matter how weird it can be. Upon first bite, I can say that it is worth ordering. The taste is like beef tapsilog but better. I ain’t joking, you guys!

Valencia ala Malabon (80php) was our dessert to cap off the night. This is a levelled-up turon with saba, ube, monggo and langka. Just add 25php, you can get their ala mode which has ice cream on it.

With all the food that was served to us, they offered their freshly squeezed lemonade (65php). It was just right – not too sweet nor too sour.

During our dine-in, too bad I was not able to meet Sir Dan. But it’s okay because his staffs were attentive. They made sure that we were served properly. Hats off to them! Through this experience, I am definitely going back to try their other dishes & order another sisig with beer!