Crispy and crunchy danggit

I was surprised when during a chat in our pantry, one of my colleagues said that the branch of Rufo's restaurant which we spoke about months ago is no longer there. He said there is a new restaurant operating in the same area and I was like, "It was just few months ago. It closed that fast? How did the owner regain his expenses?"

Then I had the chance to be around the area lately. That gave me the opportunity to visit the new restaurant that took over.

The exterior still looked the same.

When I got inside, one of the very obvious changes is the number of diners. There are way more now than my previous visit. This group was even having a hard time picking for their order.

I looked up at the menu overhead which the group was stretching their necks out to. They serve mostly local dishes.

When I finally reached the counter in queue, I noticed the menu flaps lined up. These make things easier. The silog breakfast menu is all-time which means anyone can have it anytime, even for dinner.

Silog is a contracted Tagalog term for sinangag which means fried rice and itlog which means egg. The silog is paired with many more fried options like hotdog for hotsilog, dried beef or tapa for tapsilog, and more.

I ordered for the danggit-silog. Danggit is rabbitfish or also called spinefoot. It is a popular dish from Cebu and is rare in Metro Manila so I took the opportunity to have it this time.

I counted seven receipts in queue which means I was eight in line. I wondered how fast they can serve and I noticed a guy who was not wearing uniform but joining the crew in serving. He was the same guy I saw when this restaurant was still Rufo's. So, the owner of Rufo's just rebranded their business.

In front of the POS were cannisters of home-made pickles and different flavors of chili oil. That is cool diverisification of business. You don't just serve people with what they can eat "now", you also serve them with what they can bring home.

The restaurant was full. For some reasons, the table that I had with Rufo's was the only one available inside. I did not want to dine outside of the restaurant so I took the same table in the corner.

Based on the time stamps of my photos, it took them 12 minutes to serve my order. When my order was served, I was surprised that it came with ice tea. I did not notice that on the menu earlier.

There were also pickles included in the platter. That is a good bonus, though I wished there was more of it.

I was expecting the egg to be sunny-side up but it was salted egg. Why, I did not again pay attention to what's on the menu. So far, it was good that it was not fried egg because at least, it is diversion from the dried and fried danggit.

The danggit is expected to be salty but it was too salty to my taste. Salted egg with too salty fish? Thanks to the ice tea. It came to the rescue.

In spite of the "over my taste standard" danggit, the restaurant was really busy this time that even the tables outside started to get occupied while I was leaving.

The rebranding is working very well in favor of the owner.

Bagwings
Ground Floor
Filinvest Axis Tower 1
Northgate Avenue
Alabang
Muntinlupa City
Metro Manila
Philippines

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Restaurant Information

Bagwings

Filinvest Axis, Cyberzone, Tower 1, Northgate Ave, Alabang, Muntinlupa, 1781 Metro Manila, Philippines

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Crispy and crunchy danggit
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