FoodMetroManila

Here’s another sisig-oriented place visited by FoodMetroManila:

• Sisig Society

It’s not BGC, Makati CBD, Eastwood City, or Ortigas Center in terms of culinary choices, but Araneta Center offers more accessible restaurants compared to our offices in Alabang. However, once it hits the night time, you find yourself just relegated to the same old fast food places such as Jollibee, KFC, Chowking, McDonald’s, and Wendy’s. These get really old after some time and you find yourself wishing a new place will pop up. We got our wish one night when we suddenly chanced on King Sisig in the Farmers Market.

I’m struggling to remember what this used to be, but it’s right next to Tapa King. The popularity of the dish in the Philippines just continues to grow and now we’re seeing more restaurants whose menus are primarily based on sisig.

Being named King Sisig, it’s apparent that the people responsible were trying to bring some semblance of “royalty” in a fast food place and it ends up to be just really awkward. They’ve got good light fixtures, some dark wood accents as well, but everything else were just messy. The violet (I’m a guy, we only register violet) and green color palette is not really pretty on the eyes. The chairs whose top rails are shaped like a crown are just corny. Pictures adorning the walls are mostly unnecessary at best. And the way that they keep greeting you as “your highness” is just damn irritating.

Their menu is mostly sisig items ranging from the popular pork to the unusual ones such as Lechon and Beef Tapa. They’ve also got seafood, chicken, and bangus if you’re not into pork and beef. I don’t think they have a vegan sisig though. They’ve also got this anghang meter that let’s you choose on how much chili to add to your sisig. It’s not something new but it certainly gets you to think. Plus they’ve gotten on the journal giveaway bandwagon where you get a card and collect “stamps” everytime you order a sisig with unli rice meal. A lot of gimmicks to entice diners, are they compensating for something?

4 Seasons, Kiwi Green, and Hibiscus Red tea

Their pretentiousness is none more apparent than in their tea drinks. According to the guy in our group who drank the 4 seasons, it tasted like regular (albeit overly sweet) iced tea. I got the Kiwi Green and it tasted more like apple. The Hibiscus Red Tea is what you’d imaging red tea will taste like.

Bangus Sisig

Edwin, my co team leader, is one of the most frugal people I know. He was the only one of us who didn’t order the 99 Php meal. He just got the 65 Php version and it just looked sad. It’s not in a sizzling plate, it comes with no egg, and it’s placed in an almost transparent wax paper that shows you that you’re eating your meal from a plastic basket. If you think that it’s unappetizing to look at, I can’t blame you. At least try to hide the basket from the diner with a thicker paper?

Edwin is also the weakest when it comes to heat. So he only got his sisig in the “Mild” anghang meter level. It’s still got some chili in there and he was actually a bit worried. The bangus sisig was seasoned well but they also put in a ton of tofu with the meat to make it look heftier.

Pork Sisig

If you’re going to call your place “King Sisig” at least don’t screw up the pork sisig, right? It’s not super good sisig but it’s reminiscent of the sisig I often ate when I was still a student in Mendiola. So I like it but I don’t think everyone will. It’s pork bits (God knows from what part of the pig with this one) with some crispy pork skin, drizzled with mayo, and the best they’ve got in terms of the Anghang Meter.

That heat does not hit you immediately but will slowly creep up to you when you least expect it. The sisig, even with the sizzling plate, is not all the way crunchy. This indicates that the mixture was wet before hitting the plate, which is exactly what I used to have back in Manila. If it’s on a sizzling plate, it also comes with unli rice and if you’re eating this super hot you need that rice to cleanse your palate. I’ll also take a moment to highlight that the side of free soup is amazing!

Beef Tapa Sisig

For some strange reason, I thought the beef tapa sisig tasted exactly like the pork sisig. Or perhaps my palate had already been burned-off by the spiciness to be able to tell them apart? This was also ordered as “Super Hot” on the anghang meter.

Chicken Sisig

I’m not of the greatest shape ever ever since I graduated from College. In my seven years of working I’ve gradually built up mass in my body. Also, in the past couple of years, I have had little to no time to exercise anymore. So yeah, I didn’t get the pork sisig and dove into Chicken territory.

The actual chicken bits were dry. Seasoned perfectly, but dry. There is also this strong taste of liver. It’s a taste that I can dig if I don’t have to eat huge pieces of, but since I wanted to stay away from the calories of the pork I didn’t want to trade it with the uric acid from liver. I was somewhat disappointed with this dish. I only got medium on the Anghang meter and the heat was negligible.

Ruminations…

It’s not as revolutionary as Sisig Society in terms of how to amplify the simple sisig dish. King sisig is just trying to get the popular meat hash to the masses by making it into a fast food item. But for me, save for the unli rice and sizzling option, sisig hooray still takes the cake for the best sisig fast food. At least they don’t give you an awkward greeting as “your highness”.

If you work mid and night shifts in the Araneta Center, you’ve got a new option to dine in in King Sisig. Who knows, we might see each other there one of these nights.

Send me email at metromanilafood@yahoo.com.ph

Social Media:

• Twitter: @foodmetromanila
• Instagram: @foodmetromanila
• Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/foodmetromanila
• Pinterest: pinterest.com/foodmetromanila