Wazzup Pilipinas!
The farthest in the North that I got for a restaurant review was in Malabon to try one of their food parks, but now I could say that I also made it to Valenzuela for a similar reason. It seems no matter where we go, there will always seem to be some rare foodie finds to please our taste buds, and for this one, bring back memories of my childhood.
Our special lunch of catfish at Hito-Go in Valenzuela truly brings back some fond memories of my youth when I used to enjoy my mother's "hito" cooked in "miso" or soybean paste, then added with mustard leaves, and okra, plus some tomato and onion slices. And just like every sinigang, add enough tamarind mix as the final ingredient.
I do hope they add that particular dish to their catfish menu, and maybe also "ginataan" because anything with coconut milk is good for most of us, especially if you add a hint of spiciness, to make it just about perfect. Don't forget the rice, our staple food, to complete the dining experience. Now, this is where you could also go "unli-rice" until you drop! Lol!
But speaking of rice, the Boodle Bilao let's you sink in to a festive feast perfect for groups. By the way, you may ask for their special sauce with secret ingredients to really perk up the hito dining experience.
They also have other dishes where the catfish is the star, like the Kinilaw na Hito and the Hito Sisig, and the pultun-perfect Chinicharong Tinik ng Hito, aside from other seafoods like Calamari, Cream Dory Fillet, Bangus, Tilapia, and their Bilao Boodle available in three sizes where they also offer pork, chicken, salted egg, tortang talong and some steamed vegetables like okra and sitaw, also bagoong.
What makes Hito-Go special is that the owners have hectares of farm (excited to visit it soon) where they can conveniently harvest (or should I say catch) these catfishes to guarantee clean, fresh and plentiful supply....Thus, more affordable as well.
Breaking the stigma that catfishes come from unsanitary sources, rest assured that that is never the case if they come from Hito-Go. Though they are survivors that could live at the worst conditions and places, since I did used to see them swimming around during floods in my hometown, nowadays they are a rare sight to behold. I would normally only see these fishes at Muslim-run restaurants offering Halal-compliant dishes. Now considering Halal food are supposed to be processed in clean and sanitary environments, you may think they would stay away from these fishes with whiskers, but catfishes did pass as among their meals. Chef Lucky also told me that contrary to.what I previously knew, the Chinese also are fond of eating catfish, aside from the popular dimsums. Now this is probably not a big surprise since they also enjoy eating chicken feet.
Hito-Go will be opening their brand for franchising so please direct all inquiries to their Facebook page now to become one of the pioneers in this business opportunity.
We would like to thank Chef Lucky for having us at his Valenzuela branch, currently the only one with a dine in option capable of sitting around 20 customers. If you're also lucky, maybe you'll get to see them grill your catfish oders too.
I believe the only suggestion I would give is to make the branch more customer-friendly by adding visually appealing menus on display at their counter. Seeing images of the food convinces customers because we would already get an idea of what we will get to eat. I would also give recommendations on the place, but I believe they will only offer take-out branches for their franchising. Now, that could be a more convenient and with less overhead option since that would mean less manpower requirements if you take away the dine in.
Overall, I was more inclined to come back for the grilled hito not just because it offers a more tasteful dining experience since you would really appreciate its difference in taste compared to other fishes, but I'm also biased against anything fried, thus the breaded and fried version was not a favorite.
Do try this foodie find and let us know if you agree with us on our review.
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