Food, Restaurants, Sana Nasa South

Feel Good Comfort Food - Grams Diner

If you�d have come up to me during one of last month�s downpours and told me that this month we�d be worrying about drought and praying for rain, I wouldn�t have believed you. I did start out our July posts, after all, with a rainy day theme, fully expecting the onset of the typhoon season. This month was supposed to have a stay-at-home theme, as a result of the anticipated endless typhoons and days of school and work called off� no such luck, though: instead we�ve had dry days and dwindling water reserves. So despite unceremoniously getting doused in Makati today (caught off guard without an umbrella again!), I guess I�ve got to be thankful for the much-needed shower (and perhaps the incoming typhoon as well).

To bolster our spirits in the miserable wet weather, my sister, her husband, and I had dinner at a self proclaimed �feel good comfort food� place: Grams Diner in Rockwell. This place is one of the most compelling reasons left for us to visit Rockwell (not that the mall isn�t reason enough, but what with a Glorietta branch for Zara and the huge Fully Booked in High Street, it�s been a while since we�ve been here); hearken to my sister plaintively asking, �Somebody, please open a franchise in Westgate already!�

The all-American soda fountain interiors (I keep expecting to see Archie Andrews and Jughead Jones walk in) are clean, homey, and comforting. The food is reasonably priced and very good in a basic but hearty way. Most days, this place (along with the ever popular library next door known as Starbucks) is jampacked, testament to its popularity.

Tonight, cold, wet, and shivering in my shoes, I ordered a nice hot bowl of Carrot and Squash Soup (P55). The soup was creamy but not too thick (I find soup goes down better that way), and laden with all sorts of herbs (just the way I like it), so it really hit the spot.

Briefly endowed with restraint and foresight, instead of ordering an entr�e for myself (and going home stuffed to the gills yet again), I split a Smothered Chicken (P195) with my sister. Good thing, too: less than half of the gravy-smothered chicken and mashed potatoes was enough to fill me up.

My brother in law ordered the Patriotic Set Breakfast, which came with two eggs, tapa (alternatively, you can have adobo, longganisa, or daing na bangus), garlic rice, achara, a fruit platter, coffee, and pineapple juice.

I haven�t tried as many of their items as I�d like (looking forward to some milkshakes and a banana split the next time I�m here), but Grams is the sort of place I think I�d be able to eat anything they serve. I have been known to order their Betty�s Spaghetti and Meatballs (P155) just because of the name (for the record, the meatballs were really good). A friend, newly arrived from an educational stint in Massachusetts, likes ordering their Boston Burger (P165, also an excellent meal, no matter what they call it).

Even with such haphazard selection strategies, we always leave full and happy. I suppose that�s the idea behind comfort food: it�s reassuring, fun, familiar, safe, and yummy. That�s why people keep coming back. And that�s why we keep on hoping for a local Grams branch�wouldn�t it be such a comfort to know all this was nearby?

Grams Diner

Rockwell Info Center

Rockwell Drive corner Lopez Drive,

Rockwell Center, Makati

www.gramsdiner.com

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