Banapple Smoked Barbecue Hickory Country Ribs Reviewed

Banapple Hickory Smoked Barbeque Country Ribs

I know you have more important things to do than to read a hickory ribs review, so let us go to the bone of contention right away, or should I say, “ribs of contention.”

Banapple is a diner that has branches in Katipunan, Timog, Makati, and BGC. The rustic design of their stores feels like home. It can be a place for casual dining or romantic dates. Have you tried their Savory Tuna Pie with Potato Salad? I am a fan. But tonight, I ordered hickory ribs.

Hickory Smoked Barbecue Country Ribs is described as an extra tender country ribs grilled in hickory smoke, glazed with homemade hickory barbecue sauce, served with corn relish and seasoned garlic rice”. The whole thing costs 200 Petot. Blame inflation, last year it is just 185 Petot.

Garlic rice is served generously. The barbecue sauce reminds me of Hunt's Ranch BBQ sauce - smokey and too sweet. The corn is umm… just corn. Did you know that are more than 3,000 uses for corn? Aside from feeding people and animals, it is used in soaps, vitamins, antibiotics, films, plastics, rust preventatives, paint, fuel, fireworks, and nuclear warheads. I just made up that last one.

As I probed my fork and knife into the meat, I found out that my hickory ribs had no ribs. Sigh. Again? Getting a chance at hickory ribs with actual ribs is like getting a chance at winning in jack-en-poy. It is like watching a LIP-SYNCED Red Hot Chili Peppers concert. It is like drinking “fresh” buko juice in a tetra-pack. It is like being served bulalo with no bone where you can scrape off the utak inside. Perhaps Banapple realized that it was OK to serve hickory ribs without the ribs. I can imagine the chef’s evil grin while telling the restaurant owner, “Don’t worry boss, no one will notice.”

I think I have come to a point in life where little things matter. John Wooden, the legendary coach who has led UCLA to record wins still unmatched in the world of basketball once said, "It is the little things that matter. Little things make grand things happen.” I am not asking for a grand meal, though. I just want the ribs in my hickory ribs.

If there is one thing that is hard to reconcile in life, it is making ends meet between what we want and what is given. Fate is like a restaurant with waiters who bring you food you never asked for and may not always like. Life, after all, has a sense of humor. 

Friedrich Nietzsche once said, “Amor Fati – Love Your Fate”, your fate is your life. Well, if my fate is to eat hickory ribs with no ribs, bring it on. But, before that, perhaps it is not too much to ask for the “actual” ribs in hickory ribs the next time I order it again.

The verdict: it is a must try. But don’t forget there are other dishes in their menu that is as sumptuous as well, like that savory tuna pie with potato salad. Regards. – Raah. 

*photo from clickthecity.com