Friday, February 25, 2011

Max's of Manilla - Iwilei Location

My first visit to Max's was at their Waipahu location a few years back with a friend who knows of my love for Filipino food.  He enthusiastically said "we have to go to Max's!!!", he then explained that Max's is an establishment in the Philippines, and that they're known for their chicken.

Here are a few facts about Max's...

  • Established in 1945 after World War II, by Maximo Gimenez (a Stanford - educated teacher). 
  • Maximo's niece Ruby came up with the recipe for their chicken, prompting Max's to be known as "the house that chicken built".  

We ordered their chicken (of course), pinacbet, rice and lechon kawali.  I have to say that I was thoroughly impressed by their chicken... it had to be the crispiest, yet juiciest chicken I had ever had.  I'm only assuming that the rest of the food was good... but not memorable as I can only remember the chicken.  ha ha  After having the best chicken I had ever had... I knew that it was only a matter of time before I brought the boyfriend (now husby) there too. 

So fast forward to about a year ago and it's now the Husby's turn to try their awesome chicken and it was... dry, over-fried and not as awesome as my first time.  Which was a shame cause I had gone on and on about it.  

Needless to say, he was quite hesitant to try Max's again... but I'm so glad that we did.  We had gone in with the full intention of giving their chicken another shot, but we ended up ordering their Pancit Bihon (without shrimp), Crispy Pata and a small order of rice. 

Pancit Bihon

The pancit came out first and we dug in.  OH. MY. GOODNESS. It was like a flavor explosion in our mouths (well mine anyway).  The ratio of rice noodles, to vegetables, to pork was perfect!!!  Every bite had a little bit of everything and everything tasted good!!!  You should know that as I'm writing this, I am salivating.  ha ha

Crispy Pata

Next came out the Crispy Pata, which is deep fried pork knuckles.  If you have ever had pork rinds, this is exactly what the crispy pata tastes like, but with meat attached to it.  However, the oiliness of the dish did get to us eventually.   But the thing that totally made the dish for me was the dipping sauce that it came with... a spicy, fishy, vinegar concoction that I couldn't resist dipping everything into.  

We left Max's full and happy... a little overstuffed but fans definitely.  Can't wait to go back... 

If you're interested in going to Max's they have 2 locations in Hawai'i... 

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