Chubby Chicken
Xavierville Residences, Esteban Abada corner Alvero Street, Quezon City
Tel. Nos. 0917-252-6480; 499-9999
Open daily from 9 a.m. to 10:30 p.m.
A new hangout for students. Click for more.
(SPOT.ph) The number of possibilities is endless when you have family, friends, and a love for chicken. When Raine Santos and her brother decided to dive into the food business, they weren’t exactly experienced restaurateurs. "I don’t even know how to cook!" she exclaimed. Thankfully, they knew someone who did and together with friend Chef A-1 Rebueno, the enterprising group came up with Chubby Chicken.
The venue looks unassumingly small-not much larger from the bazaars they began with-but the inside stretched into an L-shape, providing more space than the facade lets on. The plain white walls are bare save for one side with a flat screen and cork boards full of messages, doodles, "Call me maybe" phone numbers. Near the top is a lineup of one-by-one photos with the heading "Top 100 Suki of 2012." "We didn’t want it to be intimidating," Santos explained. A cross between a hole-in-the-wall and your everyday sit-down, Chubby Chicken is a place where customers can simply sit back, eat, and chill out.
The menu is inversely forward; nothing fancy nor unfamiliar. Chef Rebueno, who employs some of his family’s own recipes in Chubby Chicken’s carte du jour, said he wanted the dishes to resemble home-style cooking. "Everything is made in house," he added proudly. Patrons flock to the place for, what else, the eponymous soy-glazed Chubby Chicken (P78 for one piece). Available in wing or leg, it’s slightly crispy but juicy to the bite; the garlic dip does little to improve its already delicious sweet and salty flavor. All you need is a can of Fanta or Barqs (available here) to complete that homey experience.
Surprisingly, Santos’ personal favorite is a very non-chicken dish. The Fish Tacos (P75-P115), perfectly cooked fish drizzled with that same garlicky dip, is wrapped in soft pita bread making it much more convenient to eat. Now, for those looking to splurge a little, the Salpicao (P162) is the priciest option on the menu. It’s a generous plate of Australian beef slices flavored liberally with garlic and "secret spices" that will have you coming back for more.
Dessert, on the other hand, is a trickier decision. While the Blueberry Cheesecake (P78) is undoubtedly toothsome, the fried Oreos (P76) or seasonal fried Twinkies (P115) invite more curiosity. Served with a giant scoop of what’s made up of three types of chocolate ice cream, the batter is lighter and thinner than we’re accustomed to with our fried sweets. For P20, Rebueno said customers may even bring their own candy bar to fry with their special Beignet batter. Sinful, but comforting.
Santos describes Chubby Chicken as the consequence of a mid-life crisis, but for the students in Katipunan looking for good and affordable home-cooked meals, it’s practically a gastronomic heaven.
Photos by Sasha Lim Uy