See Seafood!

I believe that every family (or shall I say foodie-family lol) has that one favorite place in common to eat out. Think back to your childhood. Or perhaps even now? Or perhaps you don't go there as often anymore but you continue recommending it to friends? Here in the Philippines, our family place is "that seafood restaurant". Yep, that's how we call it. Of course that restaurant has a name 'Yatai Ramen' but if I tell my parents or brother let's go to Yatai Ramen, they'd have no idea where I'm talking about. Someone brought us there several years ago, and we just kept coming back. During my University years here, my family would visit me once every year and I'd drive them straight from the airport to this restaurant. My brother and I have celebrated birthdays there, and I've brought a few visiting Baha'i friends there as well. Of course the Philippines has its national/popular favorites (eg. pancit - noodles and pork adobo) but then we also enjoy an abundance of seafood
(coz we're a bunch of islands!)

seafood market with a variety of shrimps, fish & clams

Yatai Ramen is only one of dozens of restaurants in an area called Dampa (along Macapagal, near Mall of Asia). On one side you see the seafood market and on the other side you see lots of restaurants. Yatai Ramen also happens to be the first you see when you enter. You have to go to the market first and buy your fish, then bring it to the restaurant and choose from their menu how you'd like your fish cooked. This is really good, because at least you've seen that your fish is fresh. And besides, the is very organized and is always clean, but you have to do a lot of bargaining. Sometimes we walk all the way til the last stall before we can find cheaper shrimps. Our family pick is ALWAYS shrimps and mussels (tahong). Four the four of us, a kilo of each is ideal. We bring them over to Yatai Ramen and ask for the shrimps to be cooked in "chilli garlic sauce" and the mussels "baked with cheese and garlic". This is our classic order. 

perfect for 3 - 4 people. 

I went there few days ago and I was really impressed with how the taste never changed - the richness of the chilli garlic sauce on the shrimps and the generous quantity of cheese on the mussels are the same! My parents actually tried making these at home before - my mom bought mussels and baked them with cheese and garlic, and my Dad once tried making a chilli garlic sauce for the shrimps (but with Nigerian pepper, so it was chilli chilli garlic hehe). I realized the recipe is really simple, but certain long-time-favorites are just better enjoyed NOT at home :)

Pictures from that seafood place

This is their delicious baked mussels! See the cheese and the garlic
Sometimes I scoop it out with a spoon, sometimes I suck it off the shell. 

Family orders. Picture below is with a visiting friend from Japan.
We usually start off with spoonand fork but we always end up 
having to get our fingers dirty (and yummy) peeling the shrimps

This was on my 20th birthday - see how we nothing was left in the end!