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The other night, Alex took me out with some of the ATP offshore group for dinner at Gilligan's in Alabang. The restaurant is located in a mall right off of the highway. It's loosely themed after the American TV show, with nautical themed decor and uniforms for the wait staff. Alex tells me that Gilligan's is a popular hangout, which I can believe because the place is completely full minus the table we had reserved ahead of time.

Once seated, we ordered drinks while we waited for a few more of our coworkers to show up. Beer in the Philippines is incredibly cheap by US standards. At Alex's suggestion, I went with San Mig Light (San Miguel), the national favorite. For a light beer, it isn't light on taste, or alcohol at 5.0%. It was, however, very refreshing.

Once everyone had arrived we order a bunch of food off of the menu. Happily, it is mostly Filipino food - what they call pulutan, our "bar food". We started off with orders of garlic rice, which is basically white rice that has crunchy (fried) garlic sprinkled throughout and on top. It is absolutely delicious. Addictively so. Add a little Knorr liquid seasoning sauce, and it was even better! Rice is generally a part of every meal for your average Filipino. I asked Alex what quantity of rice they buy when they go shopping. He responded that they usually buy a 50 kilo bag, which works out to about 110 lbs. That lasts for about a month for a family of 5.

After the garlic rice came plates of fried calamari, mussels topped with cheddar cheese, crispy pata (pig's knuckles) and sisig (pig's cheeks). The calamari was made just like you would find in any italian restaurant. It was lightly breaded and fried and was very good without being overly greasy. The mussels were also good. They were topped with cheddar cheese, which I wouldn't have thought to do, but actually worked. The crispy pata is a Filipino favorite, and I can see why. If you can get past the idea of pigs knuckles, it tastes very good. The skin is fried to a golden brown and covers a small layer of fat that melts in your mouth. The actual meat is a bit tough, but still tasty. Of all the dishes, the sisig probably the most unusual (for a non Filipino). It was made from fried pig cheeks (and possibly ears) as well as liver (chicken or pig), possibly heart, and had onions, peppers, and a bit of mayo mixed in. I really liked it and helped myself to several helpings.

Our final dish arrived a bit late. Alex ordered a plate of tuna cheeks, which was actually the jaw bone and associated meat. I've eaten plenty of tuna steaks and sashimi as well as tuna from the can, but I've never had tuna served still on the bone. The cheek meat proved to be very tender and juicy and had a good flavor, perhaps because of the soy it had been marinaded in.

Gilligan's proved to be a fun place to hang out and get to know some of my coworkers better while learning a lot more about their culture and food.