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May 14, 2010
You’ve probably already heard of Kagat, the controversial Halimaw-themed restaurant — raves and rumors have been flying around, so we sent writer and singer cum baker Waya Gallardo to sift tale from truth
By Waya Gallardo (Interview by Luis Katigbak), originally appearing in UNO Magazine’s April ’10 issue. Photography by Mitch Mauricio.
Waya Gallardo will taste everything once. From kamaru (mole cricket) and kalabaw (carabao), to fried scorpions and sautéed silkworms, she will open her mouth and taste and then make up her mind. More often than not, she ends up liking it. But when Kagat (loosely translates to “bite” in English), the darkly themed halimaw (monster) restaurant opened last month, even she had to think twice before finally agreeing to try their specialty: Black Adobo.
At first glance, Black Adobo doesn’t seem like anything out of the ordinary. It isn’t even a main course, but an appetizer dish of three small birds braised in vinegar, an extraordinary amount of garlic, and fresh green peppercorns. But you can only order this dish once in one night. No one can call back to the kitchen for more.
For these small birds, served whole, head, beak, claws and all, are the fabled Black Chicks, allegedly harvested from the throats of real manananggals [a vampiric creature in Filipino folklore whose upper half sprouts wings, and separates from its lower one when it hunts for human blood].
A particularly macabre gastronomic gimik, or just another fanciful recipe on a menu that features Tinolang Adarna and Kapreng Kape (tobacco leaves are brewed along with the coffee beans)? Maybe. But how to explain the stories circulating, of Black Adobo inducing mild euphoria, of diners experiencing a common craving for cooked offal. And the wings—how do you explain them?
How was the atmosphere at Kagat? What did you think of the restaurant’s whole concept?
Dark. Literally. I could hardly see my own fork in front of me. I understand they have to build a spooky sort of ambiance, but really, it was almost ridiculous when you have to feel around for your own water goblet.
Having said that, there is a method to their dimly lit madness. The lighting was all UV, and they had their servers walk around in elegant white shifts, so they looked like floating ghosts. Each table had what looked like really lovely glowing glass centerpieces carved into various beasties and creatures from our local lore. I had a very pretty sirena (mermaid) on mine. But upon closer inspection, the centerpieces were glow in the dark gelatin! A very special recipe, made up of gelatin, sugar and quinine makes the jello sculptures react to the UV light. And to add to the mystique, my server claimed that their gelatin mixture was ground from the collagen of tikbalang [half-man half-horse, this mythical creature also survives on a diet of human flesh] bones.
Those quivering little centerpieces made the place really unearthly—like crystals on a cavern floor. I give them pointers for extreme ambiance (and excellently researched aswang anecdotes) but still; it is very hard to see by UV light.
Describe the starters/appetizers. What did you particularly enjoy or deem notable?
Actually there’s only one appetizer listed on the menu: Black Adobo.
How was the Black Adobo?
Those birds were marvelous! The black meat was so tender, dropping off the bone, studded with these whole garlic cloves, all creamy and sweet from being slowly cooked. The birds are actually cut up, but served like they’re whole, and they’d somehow managed to stuff those tiny heads with fresh green peppercorns. How did they do that? Do they have duwende [dwarfs] in the kitchen? That was my favorite part, popping the heads whole into my mouth and shattering those tiny skulls with my teeth, and the peppercorns would burst with each bite.
My server explained how Black Adobo is “made.” The manananggal is captured, strung upside down, smoked until the chicks fall out of its mouth. Then, they braise the birds in very special vinegar and enormous amounts of garlic that are suppose to dilute the chicks’ potency (vinegar and garlic are famously fatal to manananggals), since swallowing the black chick can make you turn. No diner is allowed to order more than one dish in one night. Once again, props for the spooky back stories, very well fleshed out.
But what of the alleged side effects of Black Adobo? Did you feel anything after you ate it?
Well, I didn’t sprout wings if that’s what you’re thinking. Hmmm, actually I was a little disappointed that didn’t happen, ha-ha!
So was it all rumor and hype then?
About the wings, yeah, sure… but…
But what?
I was scanning the menu after the Black Adobo, and my eyes fell on one particular item. Couldn’t help seeing it as it was printed in a larger font than everything else. Like they wanted you to see it first…
What was it?
Lamang Loob Luau. It was an extensive selection of high-end street food: various grilled intestines, liver, kidney, and lung… Really cheesy name, but I kind of got twitchy when I read it. So I went for that.
It is served buffet style in the middle of the room, guarded by more of the glowing jello sculptures—huge ones this time—like angels, except they have bat-like wings spread over the tables. Whoever makes those sculptures is a genius. And a little bit sick.
I start off with little delicate bites of pigskin and ears, adidas and helmet (chicken feet and chicken head), accompanied by kwek kwek, deep-fried to an elegant golden crisp, not the usual orange batter you see on the street.
At this point, I’m beginning to notice things. Instead of getting full, I’m getting hungrier. And it’s a strange heightened hunger, so that each eating move I made seemed strangely slow motion, from skewering my food (there’s this almost delicious delay before my fork breaks through the crisp outer skin of the kwek kwek, and I can actually feel tiny little shudders when the tines penetrate to the thick creamy yolk) to chewing (when my teeth bite through those little bits of skin and ear and chicken head, the crunch from the crisp meat seems magnified tenfold, crackling through my ears long after my mouth has stopped moving) to finally swallowing (the food seemed to leave a long burning trail down the throat, spreading through the body, intensifying into an almost painful climax until my skin seemed to be humming, like I could hear the tiny hairs on my arm curling from all that heat).
This is the euphoria they talked about?
I don’t know if euphoria is the right word for it. Euphoria gives you a sense of well-being, right? This was something else. Like all my senses were drawn taut, like a string, and I could feel, taste, smell everything. I was even smelling my own skin, and it was this amazing, mouthwatering scent, all salt and blood and…
Right. What did you have next?
I attacked the innards next, the isaw, (coils of pig and chicken intestines wrapped around green bamboo and grilled), and proben (chicken stomachs deep fried in the same golden batter as the kwek kwek). I also had a great big serving of brain, flavored with dayap [lime], sea salt, and freshly grated black pepper. Have you ever lapped at a bowl of brain?
No. What did you have next?
Oh my god, the betamax!! They were amazing! Chicken blood seasoned with various herbs, dried then cut into cubes, seared and served on elegant bone skewers. They didn’t skimp on this. It was the largest portion—a great big pyramid of the stuff in the middle of the buffet table. And there were a lot of people piling those skewers onto their plates, jostling each other, cutting into the line. Like they couldn’t wait.
I have to admit, I got myself a great big plateful too. Every time my teeth sank into those cubes of betamax, it was the most remarkable thing, the way the cube would collapse into this voluptuous flood of roasted herbed blood, like real liquid silk in the mouth… all smoky and thick and rich. I couldn’t have enough of it, I went back three more times, like my life depended on it, choosing the bigger, juicier pieces, piling more and more skewers on my plate with every trip. They even gave me a complimentary dish of the stuff. They seemed really pleased I liked it so much.
Did you have dessert? How was it?
Aputan Flan. This was really rich custard made of those deep orange-yolked Benguet eggs, and―surprise! ―Deer fat. According to my server, they based the dessert on a Kalinga myth about a girl who was foraging in the forest for fern, who came across a magic deer, which offered its meat to her. She held her basket under its mouth and all this glistening fatty meat came out and dropped into her basket. aputan means “fatty meat.”
Not the most appetizing myth I know. As a matter of fact, now that I think about it, the whole evening was full of sinister aswang-fairytale anecdotes (manananggal chicks, tikbalang collagen), enough to put you off eating. But this never happened. I couldn’t stop eating. And I should have been sick and full at this point. I should have skipped dessert
But I destroyed the flan. I slurped huge spoonfuls of it. It was not pretty. For god sakes I hate flan. But I literally licked that plate clean.
Does Kagat live up to the hype? Would you bring other people here and if so, for what occasions?
I’d definitely only recommend Kagat for the adventurous. Not for birthdays or anniversaries, but maybe a hedonistic night out with your foodie friends, or maybe a hot date, ha-ha. I have no idea if all that manananggal chick talk is true, but there’s something in that Black Adobo, it jolts you awake to all sorts of…appetites. And the effects last long. I’m still craving blood―I mean chicken blood. And I can still smell my skin. I can even smell yours…
You can smell my skin?
Yeah, and it’s just a little bit burnt, almost roasted, right here in the soft fatty part under the arm, because you’ve been out in the sun all day…
Okay. Please let go of my arm.
Oh, oops. Sorry.
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Oli R. and Oli R., Jayvee Fernandez. Jayvee Fernandez said: Kagat: the halimaw-themed restaurant with @luis_k and waya gallardo @unomag http://www.unomagazine.com.ph/2010/05/constant-craving-kagat/ [...]
Where is Kagat?
great article =) san po uli yung kagat restaurant?
will post these soon
Where is it? gotta try their food
Saan po ito?