I was desperately craving for grilled chicken a few days ago, that even if Enzo cancelled at the last minute, I went to Aida’s Chicken alone. Rain, blistered toe and all.

Why Aida’s? They say Aida’s has the best chicken inasal in town and that it can murder Mang Inasal on any given day. Pweh, I don’t even like Mang Inasal, not one bit. I only eat there when the competing option is to starve myself to death.

Aida’s is located in Makati Cinema Square. I walked along pirated dvd stalls and divi-looking clothes and found it right beside Emer’s where I heard good there is excellent Pata Tim. I took a table near a large painting of a naked female body. Hmmmm… I looked around and 80% of the paintings have boobies as the subject.

There o. Boobs.

My curiosity on why the owner decorated the place with mammary glands was beaten by pressing hunger. The waitress handed me the menu and I quickly chose the chicken-rice-eggplant salad-salted egg -soup set meal. She said they ran out of eggplants. I asked if there’s an available vegetable dish. She answered sinigang. Sabi ko, vegetable dish eh- not a dish with vegetables. Anyway, I settled for Sinigang na Bangus sa Miso, rice and chicken inasal.

After 10 minutes, my sinigang was served. It was piping hot– tipong maka-paso ng ngala-ngala sa init– just the way I like my soup. Perfect sourness, I tasted the miso quite well. The mustard greens and radish were not overcooked, not hard to chew at all. The fish was good, but it was fried too long I think. I would have wanted the meat to be (uhhh?) tender.

Masarap na sinigang, but my mom’s is still better! 🙂

As I waited for the chicken to arrive, my friend Kevin walked in and joined me. He also ordered chicken and rice. He told me that I’d probably like Aida’s inasal as it tastes really close to the ones served in Bacolod. Didn’t doubt him at all because he IS from Bacolod. :p While we were waiting for the inasal, he told me stories of how perfect Bacolod is for rest and relaxation. Food and spa heaven for the matakaw and (sort of) kuripot.

Kevin talking to @TinaTonio 😀

Kevin’s inasal arrived and I was already half way done with my sinigang. I made a follow up and the waitress told me that she thought I cancelled my order of inasal. Grrrr. Buti na lang mabagal ako kumain. After another 10 minutes, my inasal arrived. Chicken was cut into bite-size pieces as I requested. I was too hungry and too excited to cut it myself. I even forgot to take a picture of Kevin’s inasal so you could see the unchopped glorious inasal.

Hands down, Aida’s Chicken is the best inasal I’ve ever had. Succulent, flavorful, aromatic… I didn’t even have to dip it in the chili-toyomansi-sinamak sauce. I also didn’t even have to drown my rice in chicken oil to appreciate the Chicken (yes, I do this in Mang Inasal) . Their chicken is perfect and I must have it again!!!

However, I don’t want to see that waitress again. That  cretin who to the very last minute of my stay at Aida’s was inefficient and (bordering on) rude. Imagine, she insisted that I should pay more for my sinigang because I got the large bowl when I specifically pointed out that I wanted to have the regular bowl. Malay ko ba kung ano ang actual sizes ng bowls nila?!?!?!?! In cases like this, I usually pay for everything even if I’m sure that I am 100% faultless. Since I firmly believe that the  mix-up was because she did not pay attention and she sucked in customer service, I refused to pay for the large bowl.

I felt good that I left Aida’s victorious for finally eating the best inasal in Manila.

I felt bad that I left a waitress to pay for her stupidity, funds coming from her minimum wage.

Worse that I did not get to ask her why there are paintings of boobies all around the restaurant.

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Aida’s Chicken
Makati Cinema Square
Lower Ground Floor, Makati Cinema Square,
Pasong Tamo St. Makati City
Tel. No. (02)811-1537
Store hours: 10:00am – 7:30pm

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listening to: RJ’s CORE Christmas Production Number Remix