Nothing like spicy food to wake up an appetite made dormant by dengue.

One of the things I crave most after my bout with dengue is Mexican, specifically Tex-Mex (Texas-Mexican) food. These include the burritos and enchiladas and fajitas that Mexicali, Tia’s Cantina, and Ristras do so well. When I’m strong enough to actually go out and eat in a restaurant, I’m taken to Ortigas Home Depot’s Food Street. We’re here ostensibly to eat at Buffalo’s Wings N’ Things, a restaurant that my brother-in-law has declared serves the best wings in Manila. He knows his wings and so does my Bin so off we go. Me, I don’t really have a thing for them wings so I’m set on eating at Jalapeño Mexican Cantina which is just next door.

Buffalo wings are certainly no novelty; they’re simply chicken wings with the wing tip included. It’s the sauce that makes it but even it is made with relatively common supermarket ingredients such as vinegar, ketchup, paprika, cayenne pepper, garlic powder, butter, and hot sauce. The key is in maintaining the precarious balance between sour, sweet and spicy, which is the hard part. At Buffalo’s Wings N’ Things, the sauces come in five levels of ascending heat, from Rookie to Nuclear; and depending on one’s hunger level, the sauce drenches the half-pound (P129), pound (P249) or the Triple Sampler (P369), shown on the cover.

Frankly, I can’t tell the difference between the spice levels since I have a rather high threshold for heat – I’m not known as the girl with the asbestos tongue and hands for nothing. As far as these wings go though, the violent orange color is spot on; the single meaty wing that I try is so piquant that my mouth waters. In this case, the chili N’ cheese nachos (P125) and the NY Dirty Rice (P75) are wonderfully palliating, and do a fine job of shaking up my sickness-induced lack of appetite.

From Jalapeño, I order a beef burrito and chicken enchilada to share with my sister, an equally enthused Tex-Mex food lover – we grew up on the stuff, see. The burrito is quite small though it’s got all the rice and beef. But it’s small. Sharing food willingly doesn’t run in my family so thank goodness for the enchilada. Looking like a rather interesting tortilla pie or Mexican lasagna, it’s cheesy and moist; definitely low on the meat but there’s something inherently satisfying about dousing the lot in salsa and chewing away.

When I’m feeling better, the Food Street at Ortigas Home Depot is a promising place for me to explore. I’m told that it’s quite the party on the weekends, undoubtedly one reason why the establishments here are doing so well.

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Jalapeño Cantina Mexicana
Food Street, Ortigas Home Depot
Julia Vargas, Pasig City

Buffalo’s Wings N’ Things
Food Street, Ortigas Home Depot
Julia Vargas, Pasig City, Metro Manila.
994.8887