Barbecue craze
I read in Matt Mullenweg’s bio that he loves going around the world sampling barbecued foods and comparing them to his native Texas’ own variety. Well then, he should come to Davao and see how our grilled tuna and other barbecue offerings stand up to “the gold standard of Texas BBQ.”
In fact we did invite Matt (to the uninitiated: he’s only the founder of WordPress) to come to Davao to be part of the Mindanao Bloggers Summit coming up this October. He emailed us back saying he was interested, but unfortunately, he’s scheduled to be at another WordPress event during this time. Too bad…
Anyway, I thought I’d blog about Davao barbecue again after a treat-for-the-palate experience last night. I really had no plans of going out last night, but my friends Rodney and Christian were able to pry me off of the computer and drag me kicking and screaming to a beer-&-barbecue place called Chilli Chills.
OK, it wasn’t really like that, but I wasn’t all that convinced to spend a perfectly good evening at a joint full of smoke and noise. But then again, I’d heard that the beer there was served always deliciously cold… So off we went. And all reluctance evaporated as soon as the first round of ice-cold beers was served. And when the two conspirators had me try Chilli Chill’s fried pork barbecue, I was an instant convert! We had 40 sticks in all, and if only I didn’t have spaghetti bolognese for dinner, I’d have had more!
Yes, they deep-fry their barbecue, coated in flour that’s made from squash. (Rodney says this is a Chinese dish originally.) I’m telling you, if you haven’t tried it yet… what are you waiting for?? It’s a great beer match!
Chilli Chills is right beside the more popular Bak-Bak, which is known for its native chicken barbecue. Bak-Bak is also the one that apparently started the “we always serve beer ice-cold” thing. And their neighbors followed suit. They probably didn’t appreciate that, but now all the patrons sure do! Another establishment in that compound is Barbecue Boss. All of them are inside the K1 Compound, which also has a karaoke bar, a couple of coffee shops, a Japanese fast-food restaurant, and even a hall for ballroom dancing. A couple of those places offer free wifi, in case you were wondering.
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July 14th, 2007 at 6:09 pm
Hi Blogie - A Texan wouldn’t consider Tuna as BBQ, no matter how it is cooked. Most Texans only consider one type of meat as true BBQ, and that is Beef Brisquit. And for a Texan, BBQ is slow cooked, over low heat. A Beef Brisket can take 5 or 6 hours or more to cook. A big piece of tuna would probably cook for 3 hours or so, I’d guess. The BBQ here, and Texas BBQ are totally different things! Just thought I’d pass that along.
I bet Matt would like the Tuna, he just wouldn’t think it was BBQ.
July 14th, 2007 at 6:36 pm
I heard so much about the “coldest beer” in Davao from San Miguel Beer people. Let’s try that next time I’m there ha
July 14th, 2007 at 6:39 pm
@Bob — I see! Thanks for that piece of cultural input.
@Aileen — Wow, people in Manila are already talking about Davao’s coldest beer craze? Sige ba, doon tayo sa Bak-Bak pag balik mo sa Dabaw!
July 16th, 2007 at 1:51 am
Bakbak is really serving ice-cold beer. Bottle of beer is blanketed with a thin layer of ice. My classmate in college, Roselle, is co-managing this bar. BBQ Boss is also a great match for this cold beer. Especially considering the price.
July 16th, 2007 at 1:56 am
For those who don’t know, “bakbak” is a term used to call a huge type of ricefield frog.
July 16th, 2007 at 2:38 pm
Much as I love the BBQ here in Texas, I still miss our very own Davao BBQ, iba talaga yung sariling atin.
Appreciate you for blogging about new places in Davao. Surely me and my friends will try the coldest beer in Bakbak.