Chronicles of Lingua: Chapter 01

I had a very great start of the month, and I'm going to take it as a good omen. It was because I was fortunate enough to be a part of a great gathering last February 1: the 7th meeting of the Davao food trip. This would be my first time joining this kind of event and it was a...uhh... "great awakening" to the people in the blogging world and it's perks. ***GRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIN*** Anyway, for the 7th entry for the Davao food trip we went to *drum roll* ASEYA!

The place was cozy and inviting. It was simple and pleasant inside. The low wattage lighting, the smell of cooking food wafting in the room, and the non-distractive decor of the room makes your whole day's tension go away. Though their food attendants were plainly clothed, their demeanor and friendly countenance more than made up for it. All in all, the ambiance is well up above par.

We come to THE great part: the food. We were served with a lot of food and, from what I can understand with the conversation between Kuya Blogie and Sir Ponchit (no, I was not eavesdropping... I was...uhm... overhearing), the food served are The Food to get when eating there.


We were served with the "Aseya Salad" first. It's a simple vegetable salad but the great thing about it is the sauce, a mix of peanut sauce, hoisin sauce and sesame seeds. It is to die for. Well, maybe not to die for but a probably more like a really long coma. But really, it's great. You're tongue would be missing a big chunk of it's life if it doesn't taste the sauce.


What I tasted next was the soup called "Tom Yum Kung". It's a seafood-vegetable Thai soup with a taste I can't quite get. Don't get me wrong, it's not gross or anything. It's just that I'm not used to exotic (by exotic I mean not common and quite different from everyday pinoy food) food and I am at a loss of words to describe it. It's virgin territory for me here. Anyway, it was good. Hmmm, the taste is somewhere between sour and spicy. You have to try it to get what I mean.


Next one I tried is "Kamameshi". The closest I can compare it to is rice toppings, only waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay better. I think I had the seafood one, with the crab meat. It was gooooooooooooooooooood. I mean really gooooooooood. If you order this, then you're in for a great treat. I highly recommend trying this.

The viands I ate were "Muphad Kaprao" and "Tofu with Chicken and Mushrooms". The muphad kuprao was good, though meant for a real spicy kick, it's gentle spice was great for me. I don't really like extremely spicy food; I eat it, but I don't enjoy it as much as not spicy food. So, the spice on the muphad kaprao was good for me. You can ask to have your's really spicy when you order this though. I really liked the tofu with chicken and mushrooms a lot. I don't like tofu that much since I am a real meat kind of guy, but the sauce on this viand flavored the tofu with such a great taste that I kept "fishing" (it's the term used by my father when I only pick out the meat on a meat and vegetable viand when I was a kid) for the tofu. The chicken meat was even better. Since the pieces of meat are cut small, the flavor of the sauce seeps into the the middle, making every bite a wonderful tongue experience.


Now, I get to the really good part. My best choice of all the served food: SUKIYAKI!!! It's the bomb, mah man. Ahem. I mean, not getting the sukiyaki is like committing suicide. This time, it's not only your tongue that misses the experience but every part of every single fiber of your being will have missed a big part of it's life. YOU HAVE TO GET THIS. YOU HAVE TO EAT ASEYA'S SUKIYAKI. This is not a suggestion, it's a command.

The best thing you can do after reading this is to go to Aseya (which, by the way, is located at the groundfloor of Humberto's Inn, J. Palma Gil Street corner Padre Gomez Street) and eat there, provided it's not, like, 3 in the morning (another BTW, the hours of Aseya are 6 AM to 11 PM on Tuesdays to Sundays and 6AM to 2PM on Mondays). As I fervently believe in the saying, "Experience is the best teacher", I suggest you experience Aseya to know, feel and taste the good side of life. Aseya is a good example of the greatness that Davao has to offer. Believe me.

**** Photos courtesty of Andrew's Davao Foodie