240 – On A Corner Market Lunch: Triptych 39

The Corner Market Food Hall at The Podium Mall in Ortigas opened in 2018, alongside the mall complex’s renovation. Its main clientele is the white-collar working crowd of the Ortigas central business district looking for a quick and affordable lunch meal. See, the thing with Ortigas is that despite its abundance of restaurants, these tend to be either expensive or crowded during the lunch hour. It’s a good thing, then, that most of The Corner Market’s concessionaires offer combo meals.

I usually check out Inari by Hamaru for Japanese specialties that fill me up, but this spot has closed down. Birdhouse is the answer for my fried chicken cravings with its affordable choices and “dirty rice” that packs a kick. For budget-friendly Thai meals, Easy Tiger‘s first branch is patronized by customers (before it established a branch at Eastwood Mall.) Ca Phe Saigon is my go-to for light and easy Vietnamese fare. No matter what the meal, however, I always wash it down with horchata (rice milk with cinnamon) from El Chupacabra.

Today’s triptych features some of my orders from the instances I found myself dining at The Corner Market Food Hall.

Birdhouse Chicken Tenders with Dirty Rice and Chicken Skin, Milk Gravy, and Extra Dirty Rice (Birdhouse)

Seafood Pad Thai with Tom Yum Soup and Thai Milk Tea (Easy Tiger)

Vegetarian Fresh Spring Rolls and Vegetarian Fried Spring Rolls (Ca Phe Saigon)

Until the next post, bon appetit!