Food Trippin : Lime 88, Street Food with a Twist (Mandaluyong)

Having been always fond of street foods, I have long been planning to visit Lime 88 since I read about it in a blog last year. Their menu interests me since they offer the usual "kanto" foods but with a very unique tinge of kasosyalan. :D

The group was supposed to meet by 7 pm but 2 of my lovely girl buds decided its a perfect time for some tete a tete and we settled to meet up an hour early before every one else arrives. I find it perfect since my meeting that day was done by 5pm and I dont want to spend some time lag of about an hour. Having in mind that the place offers cheap beers (San Miguel Pale Pilsen is at Php35), I was expecting a pretty early kick from the alcohol buddies.

Searching the internet, it is was not difficult for me to find the place since I am also a little bit familiar with the location. Lime 88 is situated in a quiet residential area in San Rafael St. Mandaluyong. The owners grandparents own this cozy little haven for street food and beer lovers.

I was totally excited to visit this place for I have been hearing so much rave from other bloggers about their innovative and unique twist on common Filipino street foods. It was about sunset when I arrived and my two gf's were already waiting for me inside.

Then the food and booze overload started. Having ordered an ice cold bottle of San Miguel Pale Pilsen, the appetizer list is enticing enough not to miss and so we sampled 3 of their interesting starters. We ordered Street Style BBQ platter and Scalops, Bacon scented Betamax crumble with English pea puree and Street Style Balls with Soy Mirin Glaze.

Street Style BBQ (Php 185)- consist of chicken ass (which was not served when we ordered this), chicken and pork intestines, betamax, with peanut sauce. The isaw are sure thoroughly cleaned without that somehow eecky taste and the rest of the bbq's were for sure marinated well because of the well absorbed flavors. The peanut sauce is a little bland for my taste but still goes very well with everything.

Scallops and Bacon Scented Betamax Crumble with English Pea Puree (Php 145) - the scallops are too salty and overcooked but the Bacon Scented Betamax Crumble is superb! I was very impressed with the refreshing twist of this certain ingredient that is just basically thrown away. The English Pea Puree tasted like Frijoles Fritos and also fuses with the flavors of the Betamax dish perfectly. Betamax by the way is grilled chicken blood typically in skewers, again a usual street food here in the Philippines.

Authentic Street Style Balls with Soy Mirin Glaze (Php110) - street food staple, fishballs, chicken balls, squid balls and kikiam with the soy mirin glaze. Nothing special really.

Of course together with it are some booze. They serve ice cold beer which is perfect for the budget conscious. Beer prices starts at Php35.

Tanduay Ice (Php 45) and San Mig Pale Pilsen (35), served ice cold. :D

After a round of booze, our other companions came which signals us to order some of their bestsellers. We decided to order Crispy Dinuguan, Osso Bucco style Kare-kare, Kangkong and Kesong Puti stuffed chicken breast with mashed potatoes, street Style Fried rice, Creamy Garlic Tuyo Pasta, Tinapa and Sun Dried Tomato Pasta, Street Style Pizza and the Sisig Maki.

Crispy Dinuguan (Php185) - Superb dish! I really love the twist of it, although Kanin Club's version is tastier and the blood sauce is thicker compared to this. Still its a great dish for me.

Osso Bucco Style Kare-Kare (Php225) - Pork cooked to perfection with a thick peanut sauce together with the sweet-salty shrimp paste.

Kangkong and Kesong Puti Stuffed Chicken Breast (Php 175) - with two of the best ingredients used in Philippine cuisine, this dish gives a very exciting flavor to the bland white meat of the chicken.

Street Style Fried Rice (Php155) - meat bits, salted egg slices and tomatoes mixed with the fried rice! Yum! Hefty serving too!

Creamy Garlic Tuyo Pasta (Php175) - It could have worked better if the pasta dish is just the aglio olio style so the tuyo flavor can blend in well. Its more like a carbonara dish and its creaminess actually overpowered the tuyo taste. You even have to take bits of the whole tuyo piece to make its flavor blend in with the cream sauce.

Tinapa and Sun Dried Tomato Pasta (Php175) - the pasta is cooked al dente but the whole dish is a little dry for me.

Street Style Pizza (Php210) - Longanisa, salted egg, kesong puti in a thin crust pizza. Not bad at all. Filipino flavors actually are bursting out from this pizza.

Sisig Maki (Php155) - For me, this is the only dish that disappointed me. The sisig taste is very faint and the rice used for this is somewhat paste-y in consistency.

Again another fun food trip with the foodies/bloggers! It definitely didnt end without one of our guy member strutting his stuff with a sexy "patay-sindi ng ilaw" kind of performance. Also with the never ending kulitan. Great group. :)

Beer bottles!!! Beer bottles!!!!

Thanks to one of the owners (forgot the name) for dropping by our table and bringing us this refreshing cocktail. :)

Lime 88. Street Food na Pinasosyal
160 San Rafael St. Mandaluyong City, Philippines
Phone: +632 533 7515
Mobile: +63 916 783 9976
Email: juanta_kulinero@yahoo.com