Carinderia Crawl: Jhero’s Ihawan on Kalayaan Avenue, Makati

We flagged an amusingly-named taxi, Chengkay, on 7th Avenue in BGC and asked its driver, Mang Nestor, to take us to where he thinks is Metro Manila’s best carinderia. “Ah, diyan tayo sa Kalayaan,” he says suddenly turning a corner, obviously knowing where to go. “Kung wala akong makuhang sakay ngayon, dun na rin ako papunta,” he says. This was around lunchtime.

Mang Nestor told us that Kalayaan Avenue, right on the fence of BGC, is where taxi drivers go to eat when they’re in the area and it’s time for a break. True enough, there was a long line of cabs on both sides of the street, drivers making a buffet out of the numerous carinderias that lined the avenue. He brought us to Jhero’s Ihawan, not for inihaw, but for laing. It’s the best in the world, he says.
 

CABBIE RECOMMENDS: Laing,partneran mo ng isda. Terno sila.”

WHAT WE GOT: 1 fried fish, 2 bowls of laing, 3 cups of rice.

COST: PHP105

WHAT WE THINK: First, kudos to Jhero’s Ihawan for the free soup they give their customers. But, it sucks that there wasn’t any more inihaw available when we arrived. “Dini-deliver pa kasi yun,” the lady behind the counter explains. We can imagine, its smokiness would have been perfect with the spiciness of the laing. We like that Jhero’s laing didn’t have too much meat, and as the lady behind the counter says, “hindi matangkay.” It is the eatery’s bestseller; when we arrived at 12:30pm, there was only enough for two orders. The fish was obviously fried hours earlier so the promised crunch of its breading was no longer there. Also, the fish was a little too bony!

WISDOM FROM CABBIE: “Kung may gustong lumusot, hayaan mo siya! Pare-pareho lang naman tayong makakarating sa pupuntahan natin. Ito, natutunan ko sa tatay ko: liwanag ng mata, liksi ng pag-iisip, bilis ng paa.”  

READ MORE CARINDERIA CRAWL STORIES:
– Spaceship carinderia on 21 Kamias Rd in Quezon City 
– K Meraj’s Food House along Open Canal Road in Mandaluyong
– Jolly Jeep #67 on Carlos Palanca Street in Makati
– [VIDEO] KC Tapsilogan at Lugawan on P. Noval Street in Manila 

MORE STORIES FROM COCONUTS MANILA:
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I lived here: 
20 A Fernando Street, Marulas, Valenzuela by Tina Gomez

I lived here: 28 San Ignacio Street, Barrio Kapitolyo, Pasig by Cindy Karingal



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