6404 CAMIA =D

So this may be a bit late because practically the entire local blogging world has been abuzz about this place since...uh....two months ago. Still, I suppose, there's merit in writing about it as it has figured in several of our key occasions lately: Valentine's Day, Hubby Sweet's Birthday and First Dinner Out with My Visiting In-Laws.

I first heard about it from our CFO who couldn't seem to stop raving about it.

"There's this hole-in-the-wall Chinese restaurant near Rockwell," he would say, "It's owned by recent migrants from China who couldn't even speak English! And it's not regular Chinese food," he would continue, "It's Hunan cuisine so it's really, REALLY spicy. Sarap!"

More than just rave about it, however, he practically hauls over everyone who would care to go with him to eat there for lunch. Now CFO has a Thai wife who is excellent at cooking; he is used to spicy food and is not beyond eating everything with fresh siling labuyo. So it got me fully intrigued that he has brought even our expat visitors to eat there, only to come back raving even more about how everyone loved the food and how their eyes watered at the spiciness of practically everything in the menu! "I even asked them to tone it down because I wasn't sure what Mr. So-&-So's tolerance for heat is," he usually exclaims, "but even with 'medium-spicy', we were really sweating!" (Mental note to self: request for mild spicy when we go there.)

Now, there are two things you ought to know about 6404 Camia (that's more the address than the "official name" which escapes me at the moment):

(1) They will not charge you for ambience. There is none. White walls. No decors. Wooden tables and chairs. Just about it. Heck, even "house water" is served on recycled 1.5L Coke PET bottles. Table napkin is unheard off. In their place, you would find a roll of toilet paper in a plastic container. Diners are even allowed to come in their basketball jerseys and slippers. It's like there is this big, invisible sign: "Please leave your pretentions by the door. They are not allowed inside." Haha. =D

(2) Bottomless rice. None of the sticky bottomless rice at Mang Inasal. This one is all about fragrant, long-grain rice. The servers are not about to volunteer the information so it is pretty much passed on from one customer to the next through word of mouth. There is a reason this rice cooker sits in plain view in the middle of the dining area (yes, in plain view--didn't I tell you there was no ambience? =)). It is so you can get up and get your own rice refill--as much as you want, as often as you want. =)

We went there first on V-Day, before proceeding to RCBC for the restaging of Rent. Now, it hardly seemed like an appropriate place for a V-Day dinner, but we really were averse to queuing (and on V-Day, there usually are queues even in Pizza Hut, ngyar). I suggested that maybe eating in some hole-in-the-wall, off-the-beaten-track Chinese restaurant may be the better option. I was pretty sure Hubby Sweet would be intrigued. He likes eating in places like these where it's really less about the ambience and more about the food. Our V-Day dinner consisted of the "bestsellers" and the highly recommended dishes. Given CFO's warning, we decided to go slow and requested that everything be prepared with "mild spiciness" only.

"It's our first time," I felt like telling the waitress, "Please be gentle." Haha. ;p On to the line-up!

Hot Pot Duck. There are several hot pot versions on the menu, but on this, our first visit, we decided to go for one thing that we probably won't be able to order easily from anywhere else. The serving size was good for 3-4 people, depending on how big their appetites are or how many other dishes they order. It pretty much reminded me of the Adobong Itik that one of the Test Kitchen girls (who lived in Pateros) used to bring for lunch sharing. I liked it, but I suppose, with all the hype, I wished we did not request that the level of spiciness be toned down. Next time, Hubby Sweet and I agreed, we will level up to--at least--medium spicy. =D

Gong Bao Chicken. Or Kung Pao Chicken if you're more familiar with the term because of all those American sitcom reruns you've been watching. Now this has become a regular part of the line-up everytime we go there. I LOVE Kung Pao Chicken, but before 6404 Camia have been unable to find a restaurant that serves a decent version. Oh, joy now that I've got a place to go to everytime I need a fix! Happy, happy. Joy, joy. ^_^


Boiled Dumplings. Now, this I ordered because everyone kept telling me it's like eating Dong Bei dumplings. Now, I haven't eaten Dong Bei dumplings yet because I haven't been anywhere near Binondo lately so I thought, maybe, this is my chance. I had high expectations though, thinking that it would approximate the dumplings Hubby Sweet and I had during one of our trips to the side streets of Mongkok. I remember that day clearly. Tired, we decided to just plop down in one of the "carinderias" where no one really spoke English and this lady was preparing dumplings right in the middle of the dining area, a steel basin (batya, yes) in front of her filled with...uh...dumpling fillings. So we asked to taste. It was divine. I was hoping to replicate it here, but was disappointed. I found the dumplings a bit bland for my taste. It wasn't bad. It's just that it wasn't what I expected. It tasted more like fresh gyoza to me. Oh, well. =)


Mapo Tofu. We ordered it only because the Hubby needed a protein fix, but I suppose we can skip it in future visits. There are other more interesting dishes to try. =)

Egg and Seaweed Soup. This was not really part of the plan, but the Hubby was going through a cough spell and he desperately wanted something to soothe the throat in preparation for Rent. He didn't want to be known as the man who kept on coughing at Orchestra Center. Haha. =D It tasted....uh....medicinal. I suppose if I had a really bad flu, this would be the one mean soup that could get rid of it. Hahaha. =D


On our next visit (for the Hubby's birthday), we decided to keep the Gong Bao Chicken and try other things on the menu. He was on a quest and right there and then, we decided that while we will retain our favorites in future visits, we will have to try something new everytime we go.

Boiled Fish with Spicy. I kid you not. That is the name written on the menu. Now, I'm not particularly a fan of fish. Especially not of boiled fish! I like my viands strongly flavored and fatty. Haha. But this one....oh, this one, I loved. ^_^ As soon as they set it down before us, Hubby Sweet and I looked at each other. Thought balloon: "Oh, we are sooooooooo in trouble." Slivers of white fish swimming in red soup. Oh, yes, it looked like it was definitely "with spicy". Haha! =D With one sip, Hubby Sweet declared that if Gong Bao Chicken is going to be my staple at 6404 Camia, this was going to be his! Game. =D

Twice Cooked Pork with Tofu. I stupidly asked, "Miss, maanghang ba 'to?" The waitress cheekily replied, "Ma'am, lahat ng pagkain namin maanghang." Hmp. Haha. Anyway, I meant to ask what they mean by twice-cooked, but the owners don't speak English and the servers don't really know how the dishes are prepared. Never mind. 'Twas good--a new taste at least. The tofu, in particular, had a different taste dimension. The Hubby suspects that it was made to rest first in a soy sauce-based marinade before being sliced and cooked. I actually liked it, but wouldn't really mind bumping it off from the menu in favor of some other new dish to try next time.


Steamed Pork with Buns. Ain't it pretty? =) The servers recommended that we eat it with buns. You'd have to order the buns separately though. I originally thought it would be a glorified version of Asado siopao. Haha. I was wrong. Expecting the meat to be sweet, I was actually taken aback when I first bit into it and found it salty. Maybe I should've eaten it with the bed of pickled vegetables it was served with to get a full appreciation of the taste, but I never did like the taste of pickled vegetables (I grew up thinking they were food decor, haha) so I didn't. I asked Hubby Sweet to taste it, but he was too distracted by the Boiled Fish to even give this one a serious try. Oh, well. I had the time of my life using the steamed buns to sop up the sauce of the Gong Bao Chicken and of the Twice-Cooked Pork with Tofu though. Haha! How plebian. =D

Hot Pot Spareribs. Last weekend, my in-laws were in town for a visit as Hubby Sweet's sister was flying in from San Francisco sometime this week. So we decided to bring them over and in addition to the Boiled Fish and the Gong Bao Chicken, we decided to give this hotpot dish a try (basically because, this time, it was going to be the "designated pork dish" in the line-up). 'Twas OK, but I felt that they may have overcooked the spareribs a bit because I found it to be a bit dry (despite the fact that the dish was actually saucy). Oh, well. I suppose this means, we would have to try the other pork dishes naman next time.

Fried Lamb. Now, I'm a huge fan of lamb but have never really tried it "fried" so I was actually wondering if the game-iness would be too overpowering. I loved and decided that this will be part of the staple now. Woopee! =D (Forgive the hazy picture. I was rushing the photo because the Hubby looked like he really wanted to devour it ALREADY! Haha. =D)

On our last visit, Hubby Sweet also discovered that they now serve more than water in recycled PET bottles and softdrinks in can. Tsing Tao Beer has arrived! Double woopee for him! Yahoo. =D

***************************************

Giving directions to 6404 Camia to a first-timer is the equivalent of leaving direction clues for The Amazing Race contestants. It's the kind of place that people-who-know have to struggle with everytime they are asked exactly how to get there. The first time I heard directions to the place, there was instant recognition on my part only because it ran right smack in the middle of the "shortcut" that I usually take through the maze of Guadalupe Viejo sidestreets on my way home to House Pioneer. I use the word "shortcut" loosely because on a by-kilometer basis, going straight up on EDSA would definitely be the shorter route, except that one can save up at least 20 minutes by going through the traffic-less sidestreets. (I digress.)

Now, when first-timers finally hit a "eureka-moment" on the street directions, the entire thing begins all over--this time with having to identify which apartment along Camia they would be welcomed to dine in (as opposed to all the other apartments they may accidentally barge into only to find the entire family glued to either Panday Kids or Agua Bendita. Haha.)

In any case, these days, I just tell people to go up the Rockwell ramp from EDSA to get to Estrella. On the second street (between SC Johnson and the old Metro Club), turn right. They should see the Barangay Hall along the street. Otherwise, they turned on the wrong one. After turning right, they should then turn left on the first street (Camia St.). On the right side, they will see a beauty parlor, CozKuts--yes, CozKuts =)--and that they should attempt to find parking as close to it as possible. The restaurant will be along that row of apartments, to the right of the beauty parlor. They would have to look for the very small 6404 on top of one of the doors.

In all the visits we've had so far, our bill ranged from P1,000 - P1,500. Good enough for 4-5 viands with softdrinks and bottomless rice, right?

Go. =D