OF CRABS, COCHINILLO, AND CHIKA!!!

On my birthday week last February, I received a touching greeting from the husband of Ms. Eileen that it really made my day! When I texted to thank her for it, she said to ask the TAPE Inc., ladies if they are available for lunch on a weekday because she plans to treat us all for crabs and cochinillo.

Of course we're available! Why wouldn't we be? These are crabs and cochinillo we are talking about! Actually, even if we're not available, we'll scrap whatever those earlier plans are to go there!!!!

Oops. I remembered that this is public. JUST kidding! If we have something important to do at work, we'll DEFINITELY do it.

Whew.

Anyway, my TAPE Inc., office mates are always so busy that when there was finally a lunch day where everyone is free, we wasted no time in letting Ms. Eileen know about it. And I'm glad that we were all able to get together again because not only were we served with a VERY delicious spread but the company and chika were all something to remember.

Of course, there's nothing like sharing these great moments with exceptional ladies!

And that is why we are The Ladies Who Lunch!

It's the LADIES WHO LUNCH!

Before, we used to do it regularly, eating out when it's somebody's birthday. But now, most of us are on a diet and busy with work that lunch-outs like this is something to really treasure!

Ms. Eileen welcomed us into her lovely home and had a table set up for the group in her covered patio. It was a cool afternoon and so perfect to spend the day outdoors!

To the left...

To the right!

Ha ha ha ha! Ms. Mabel is so cute here!

We were all so excited to start with lunch. We got a glimpse of the awesomeness to come and got immediately hungry!

ROLL CALL!!!

Ms. Josie and Ms. Grace!!

Our host Ms. Eileen, and Ms. Zeny!

Ms. Leslie, and Ms. Mabel (wife of our officemate, Maru!)

AND...

Arch enemies and besties...

Ms. Flory and ME!!!!!!!!!!!!

It's STRIPE day! Hoooray!

Our food for the day: Fried Crabs, and Lechon from MR. COCHINILLO!

Isn't everything just beautiful???

We don't need too many viands on the table. The aroma of the seasoned crabs and the hot lechon alone is enough to make us all drool in admiration.

The crabs were dipped in batter and fried to a perfect bright red color. It was still steaming hot that's why it took us a bit of time to properly dig in. Ha ha ha ha ha!

I can't wait to crack you all open later!

My KTG Group had already featured this but I haven't tried it yet. That's why I'm so excited to tear off a crunchy skin and bite onto the beautiful cochinillo!

Ms. Eileen regularly orders her lechon from MR. COCHINILLO and we were all happy that she treated us to one whole of this fatty baby for lunch!

Here are the prices!

Cochinillo Del Cielo

regular, P6,000, good for 8-12 pax

large, P7,000, good for 14-18 pax

To balance off all the fat from the Cochinillo and Crabs, Ms. Eileen whipped up this colorful green salad topped with crabsticks, bacon, and mangoes.

Yup! Even in Salads, the pork and seafood went for it together!!

For dessert we will have sliced ripe mangoes.

Even though this was supposedly for dessert, I ate this along with the Cochinillo and Crabs since it's a nice bite to clean the palate.

We also had strawberry shortcake from The Purple Oven!

Drinks that day were Sodas and Coffee! 

____JAZ FOODIES with the "Ladies Who Lunch!"

The blank is for Eric who is somewhere getting gout again.

Har de har har.

And finally, LET'S ATTACK!!!!

Ms. Grace immediately went for the claw!

It was so fun eating delicious food and in the privacy of one's home. There was no rushing of waiters or noisy diners.

If there were people rushing into food and making noise, it would ONLY be us!

He he he he he!

Also we were at home enough to eat with out hands! The best way to eat crabs if you ask me!

All that wonderful food on the table just for us!

My plate! My plate complete with the food pyramid!!! He he he he he he!

Oops! I don't have mango on my salad. :(

Through-out the meal I heard many rips from tearing off the juicy meat of the lechon and fatty crabs getting cracked open!

Oh... we'll get MORE skin later on!

Yummmmm!!!!

Check out the head of my crab! I'm going to scrape that later on and mix it with my rice.

Almost done!

The stripe buddies almost done with eating and having oily smiles. 

And we're done!!!

Ms. Mabel saved a crab and pighead for her super pogi husband, Maru. He he he he he he!

Picture from Ms. Josie!

The evidence of our gluttony!

Later on it was time for dessert!

And coffee!

I loved Ms. Eileen's coffee maker especially with the selection of flavors available. I think this is the first time I saw such choices for the capsules!

I got the "donut shop" coffee because it's similar to the ones I see Homer chomping on in the Simpsons. Ha ha ha ha!

I had a generous slice of the Strawberry Short cake and it was the perfect ending for a very spectacular lunch! The cake was so light, creamy, and fluffy. Normally I'm very partial to the sweet desserts but since the taste of lechon and crabs were still in my mouth, it was soothing to have something light to have my coffee with.

The Ladies Who Lunch!

Somebody noticed that we all smiled better with a coffee mug in hand. That's why we were doing it for the photo.

I think that person is quite right because we all looked so great here!

I heard that person is VERY HOT AND SEXY too!

;)

Here are the Senyoras checking out the hacienda and doing some Sharon Cuneta.

Senyora Yap : "Facundo! You're nothing but a second rate, trying hard, COPYCAT!"

Senyora Antonio: "Facundo, don't worry.... BUKAS.... LULUHOD ANG MGA TALA!"

While having dessert and coffee, it was gossiping time!!! He he he he he!

Most of the time we talked about our husbands. Tee Hee!

I looked around Ms. Eileen's house and admired the very colorful paintings and figurines.

I asked permission if I could post this and she said it was okay. She explained that her husband is very artistic who loved clowns and ice cream carts.

I think I understand his fondness for clowns as laughter is always the best medicine. As for the ice cream cart, for me it's a reminder of  Filipino childhood. When I was a kid, the sound of the sorbetero bell clinging just gets me all excited. 

Nice. :)

This is my favorite!!! He he he he he!

BURP! That was certainly one unforgettable lunch for me bar none! The crabs and cochinillo were SOOOOO delicious and definitely SOMETHING to write home about!!!!

Thank you so much Ms. Eileen for inviting us to your lovely home and treating us to an unforgettable lunch! This is definitely one of the highlights of  ____JAZ FOODIES for 2015!!!!!

He he he he. See what I did there?

And as always, such a great time with the ladies! Even if we see each other and chat a storm in TAPE Inc., we still have a grand time outside! We never seem to run out of topics to talk about! Hope we could have more lunch outs again!!! 

SO. THERE.

MR. COCHINILLO

 633.0043 / 0998.544.6977 / 0999.881.0810

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MR. COCHINILLO WEBSITE

THE PURPLE OVEN
 F7 Building, Scout Rallos Street 
Corner Tomas Morato Avenue, 
Laging Handa, Quezon City
02 9101363
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