Do you think Horse Tapa is intriguing enough to let you try a restaurant that serves this local dish? I don’t pine away to interesting edible plates. I believe I’m born to let my taste buds work for me, without being too cautious and keeping my adventurous side awake 24/7.

I found out about Gabe’s Home Grown Dishes 2 months ago from the owner Dan Panlilio, where most of the items on the menu are Malabon-inspired. The moment he mentioned the specialty of the house, I adjusted my schedule with O for a weekday lunch at Gabe’s Home Grown Dishes in Quezon City.

The branch we visited was located along White Plains. But according to Dan, they’ve decided to move the hidden restaurant to a bigger and more visible space in Katipunan. Assuming you’re on your way to White Plains, you won’t find them in their old space anymore. The new home of Gabe is in YDG Building Katipunan Ave., still in Quezon City.

The Food:

I stepped into Gabe’s Home Grown Dishes with only one dish in mind – Horse Tapa! I was scared and excited at the same time. I’ve never tried anything horsey until that day. In 3, 2, 1… I opened my mouth wide for a spoon of horse tapa with garlic rice, egg and atchara. While sinking my teeth into the meat, I was trying to depict how different it was from beef tapa. Horse meat was tender and chewy, without any hint of being nauseous. Now I have no fear, horse meat is clearly amazing!

Dan’s wife grew up in Malabon where horse meat is normal like pork. Her childhood gave inspiration to introducing Horseylog to the metro manila crowd.

Kare-Kare from their store leaned on the sweeter end. A parade of beef tripe and vegetables submerged in thick homemade peanut sauce, absorbing all the rich flavors for a delightful pairing with white rice.

A nice bite of Baked Ribs is much needed when you’re in Gabe’s home. Extremely soft and tender meat painted with sweet barbecue glaze. I thought my eyes were wrong to notice the affordable price of P175 for a generous serving plate.

Creamy carbonara sauce laying comfortably on salmon cuts is another unbelievably priced dish. Salmon with Rice does its job to excite people like me looking for salmon on every restaurant’s menu.

Braving the traffic to Malabon is not acceptable to me, especially during these ‘ber’ months if all I want is a bilao of Pansit Malabon. Gabe’s Home Grown Dishes covered it and initiated to share their special pansit to us living in the busier area of Manila. Second to Horseylog, I demand you to try this Pansit Malabon as well. Comforting and flavorful pansit with shrimps, hard-boiled egg, lengua, vegetables, chicharon crunchy bits and a squeeze of calamansi.

My memories of college was revived in their Fried Oreos, where I first tried in Flaming Wings Taft. 3 pieces of oreo cookies fried in hot pancake batter crowned with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and a drizzle of chocolate and strawberry syrup.

The medium-sized goblet of Halo-Halo stands firm as one of the best you can get in town. Aside from the typical ingredients – banana, garbanzos, sweet potato, nata de coco, gulaman, langka and monggo – this version includes wintermelon as an added source of sweetness to the cold pinoy dessert.

The branch along White Plains has an unfortunate location, almost invisible to car passing by. The sign is not noticeable. And when cars are parked in front, you’ll lose the restaurant out of sight. To Gabe’s Home Grown Dishes’ favor, they are moving to a bigger and better location not too far from their 1st branch. Follow their Facebook page for updates!

What do you think of Gabe’s Home Grown Dishes in Quezon City?

Share with me your thoughts! 🙂

Cheers,

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/gabeshomegrowndishes

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