Stopover: Maigo Food house and Kambingan

What do you love most about travelling? Is it really getting to the destination? For me, I go by with what they say that the journey is as good as the destination. I mean, why wouldn’t it be if you get to chat with your companions, share jokes and of course… dine with them :D

Last week,after the Eid celebration, my family decided to visit our probinsya (hometown/homemunicipality) to visit my great aunt who just passed away. Since Zamboanga del Norte is around 5-6 hours max away from Iligan, we had to leave pretty early, so we decided to eat breakfast on our way in one of the foodhouses known only to locals and travellers in that part of the south.

Maigo Foodhouse…it’s located just along the highway in the quiet town of Maigo, Lanao del Norte. I think it’s around an hour from Iligan City proper (if your driver is quiet fast) and about 30mins before Mukas port (where travellers have to ride a barge or a RoRo to get to Ozamis City, Misamis Occidental). It’s easy to spot this little spot because of the large sign near the side of the road. At the same time, the place seems quite new or maybe newly painted. Either way, it’s sure to catch people’s attention since it’s the only thing flashy around the area.

Inside, the area’s quite breezy since the place isn’t air conditioned. The air and wind was quite comfortable when were eating there since it was still early in the morning but I guess may get quite stuffy once high noon enters. Thankfully there’s some fans around and the chairs aren’t too stuffed together so you can be sure air will still be able to circulate. Another plus point for me is that even though it’s right beside the highway, the dining area proper is meters away from the road so it wouldn't be too dusty when the buses and cars come rolling in.  

It’s sort of a hole in the wall foodhouse. Nothing fancy, just homey.  It's clean. Just like how I like it J

Now for the food. As I said we ate there for breakfast, so we were sure the food they served were fresh out of the pan, or in this case, pots.

Let’s eat meat!

First up. My sister and I ordered halang-halang. Halang is a visayan term which mean spicy. So basically we ordered a spicy beef soup. This dish is quite known to locals, teenagers and oldies alike since this is one of the most common cure to those who want to wake up from a drunken state. Yes, this spicy beef broth, spiced with fish sauce, soy sauce, calamansi, salt, pepper, scallions, chilli (lots of it) and other secret ingredients is what wakes up when we didn’t want to get our ass chewed off by our moms whenever we had drinking sprees. (ahh yes, those were good time ;) ) Anyway, this is one of the yummiest halang-halangs I’ve tasted. Simply because, back home, we still had to spike the broth with different spices before we actually found the right taste, this however was spot on for my tasterbuds. Just the right acidity and spiciness and not too salty as well.

Next up was tinola for my mom and bulalo for my dad. The tinola was nothing special, except that the fish was really fresh. They earn a point for that. Unfortunately for me, the Bulalo was a tad bit bland. I’d pick my mom’s recipe for it anytime.

But of course, Bulalo would not be Bulalo without the creamy gooey center. Marrow anybody? ;p

I guess I should change what I said. I don’t think this is breakfast. Lastly, we also ordered Beef Kilawin and Sauteed Ampalaya with Egg. See? We’re still making an effort to keep it healthy. Haha. Again, the Amplaya was nothing out of the ordinary, nothing I can’t cook at home or buy in one of the carenderias at the corner. The Beef Kilawin was nice, not too acidic and the tartness was just right for my taste. But again, nothing my uncle can’t cook. ;)

Was the food greaaat? It was alright, especially the Halang-halang. Would I order the same stuff again? I think I want to try their other specialties, like the goat! Did I have fun and would I be willing to go back? DEFINITELY. The place really was quaint and quiet. You’ll fell right at home,

Sidenote:

And since I think I may be related to Dora, I did some exploring of my own around the foodhouse while my mom and sis were in the CR after we ate. You see I saw a path leading to the back of the resto and after a short walk ( and yes I was by myself without telling anybody where I was headed, isn’t that where a lot of horror movies start :o  ) I came across this:

Pretty ain't it, it’s the foodhouse’s traveller inn. If I remember it correctly, according to the caretaker,it currently has 6 rooms but the signs are still about to be put up. I wasn’t able to probe about it some more since I decided to go back. Good think I did too, ‘cause it turn out my family was already looking for me and was beginning to worry. Haha. Si Dora nga naman ;p