COCONUTS HOT SPOT — By now, you’ve already heard of BonChon aka the source of the best chicken wings ever. When it arrived in our shores a couple of years ago, it instantly took the Philippines by storm.
It also didn’t take long before copycats emerged. One “copycat” is Manang’s. The reason for the quotation marks, however, is because Manang’s has been around for the longest time — probably longer than BonChon; it’s just that they’re not as famous as the Korean chicken place.
They started out from the family dinner table, graduated to local weekend markets, and now they finally have some branches in the country.
The reason why a lot of people are saying Manang’s is the poor man’s BonChon is because apart from being so much more affordable than the Korean chicken place, the proudly homegrown Manang’s also serves sweet soy garlic chicken.
Actually, the two’s chickens don’t taste exactly alike; Manang’s chicken, which has sesame seeds sprinkled on it, is a little sweeter than that of BonChon’s — and that’s not a bad thing. In fact, some people prefer the sweeter, crunchier and meatier chicken of Manang’s over BonChon’s.
And while Manang’s has superb chicken (in original soy garlic, mildly spicy, and extra spicy), they aren’t just about chicken. They also have fish fillet, spaghetti (which, instead of grated cheese has a dollop of cheese spread), and macaroni salad, plus others that competitors do not offer, like Sesame Beef Stew Rice Meal, Garlic Pork Rice Meal, and Fried Pansit.
Using the tag “Ang Bagong Fried Chicken ng Pinoy,” Manang’s is sure making a lot of noise. They have over 10 branches now but basing on all the buzz, the good feedback and even how fast they’re expanding, it won’t be long before they need to remove “bagong” from their tagline. In fact, KFC and Max’s should really feel a little nervous now.
Check out the Manang’s website, blog, and Twitter account.
