"ALOY" : MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE
by Louie P. Oviedo

There was nothing fancy about the way this restaurant looked, with its large name "Aloy Fil-Thai Cuisine" bannered on top of it, I wondered if they just misspelled "Alloy" as I stood outside trying to decide whether I should enter it or not. Once I let myself in, I even thought it to be a Karaoke bar and had an impression that the place is a little bit overly decorated. But, as I got to know it more, let's just say that my attitude towards the place gradually changed.

Aloy, according to its owner, Mr. Romeo Burgos, is a Thai word which means delicious. And no, he is not from Thailand. According to him, he and his wife, Beth, used to work abroad as Overseas Filipino Workers (OFW). As they traveled all around the world and after tasting an array of dishes from countries they have visited, Thai cooking became an instant hit with their taste palette.

The idea of putting up a restaurant presented itself when two chefs from a Thai restaurant near their residence in J. Nakpil resigned. According to Beth, the restaurant was not paying these chefs well and asked her and her husband for help. Together with a good friend of theirs, Malou Carillo, who also worked abroad as an OFW, they set forth to help the two unemployed chefs and established the business they have long been dreaming of.

Fate seemed to be in favor with them and soon enough they were able to find a strategic place for the restaurant. On October 18, 1999, they inaugurated Aloy Fil-Thai Cuisine down at Engracia-Cruz Reyes St (the street connecting Ma. Orosa and J. Bocobo). Their growing clientele are mostly employees from nearby offices, such as Phil-Am Life and the Court of Appeals.

If you should chance upon glancing down their menu, although they serve both Filipino and Thai food, there are more Thai food on the list. Nevertheless, you would have an overdose of Filipino hospitality from the people who run the place. I was fortunate enough to receive such warm hospitality as they treated me to a lavish meal of Shrimp Paste Rice or Bagoong Rice and Takoo for desert.

As for their Shrimp Paste Rice/Bagoong Rice, my comment would be: "Kanin pa lamang ulam na."

In the middle of the plate is a generous serving of rice mixed with bagoong, then on the side are sliced sausages, sliced beef, sliced scramble eggs, and sliced semi-sweet green mangoes. The right way to eat it is to mix it all together---that is how you taste the flavor from an authentic Thai cuisine.

Their Shrimp Paste Rice does not have the "smell" which we associate our bagoong with. According to them, they use bagoong that is made from Thailand because it is more refined than the local ones. Using the local one might alter the taste of the Thai's bagoong rice. And yes, it does taste differently, it's less salty and has that sweet-spicy aftertaste (but not too spicy).

Takoo, on the other hand, tastes like our local Maja Blanca. But the difference would be in its packaging---they used pandan leaves shaped like mini baskets as the container of this desert. What is so nice about it is the texture and the taste. It is very, very soft and not too sweet that after a taste of it, you just keep on coming back for more.

So the next time you take Reyes St. as your short cut going to either Orosa or Bocobo, drop by the place and check out their menu. Do not make the same mistake as I almost did---of judging a restaurant by the way it looks---you might be missing out on good cooking.