dailygaelley

The Ketogenic Diet has gotten its fair share of applause and controversy. The diet, while having proving itself to many individuals as effective, is known to be one of the least restricting diets. It basically is a high-fat, low carb diet.

The idea behind Keto is that usually the body gets its energy from carbohydrates— in short, sugar. Its goal is to reverse that and switch the energy source from carbohydrates to lipids, or as we commonly know it, fat. As Filipinos we’re used to having our meals with a cup (or two!) of rice. This is probably one of the main reasons why the country has over 5,000,000 diabetic patients.

Keto is something I have tried before. I did it last March 2019 and I undoubtedly failed because of the side effects I felt. Later, however, I learned that I must’ve experienced what is called the Keto Flu. I later learned that it is important to just stick it through that period of difficulty and after a couple of days, it should clear out.

Mommy Gaya’s Restaurant

I think Davao’s always been known to be a city of people who like the familiar. In the early 2000s, the Davaoeño market was considered a tough crowd to please as people would rather opt to dine at home— even for lunch– rather than spend money and try new restaurants. This is probably one of the reasons why so many foreign food chains veered away from our city. It took a lot of years to even open a Starbucks here, right?

Knowing this, many restaurants have tried and failed to make it into the Davao market. Some restaurants, like Edens, stood out and definitely have left a mark. When you talk about foodcourts in Davao malls, Edens is a stall that you’d probably line up for, if you’re a Davaoeño. Because it is 2020 and sometimes a newer generation calls for rebranding, Mommy Gaya was born.

Mommy Gaya recently replaced Anabelle’s in the ground floor of Abreeza Ayala Mall and aside from featuring the Edens’ staples, including lechon, they now offer ketogenic meals. This is a first in Davao. More often than not, people who diet choose to make their own meal plans at home. Mommy Gaya is the first restaurant in Davao that actually offers a full menu of Ketogenic meals.

We were offered the entire menu to try and by the end of it, I was positively busog. The thing about it is… when you’re thinking about the words “diet”, you kind of associate it as super healthy yet kind of unappetising. This was definitely not the case for Mommy Gaya. 

We were able to try the Keto Quarter Pounder, the Keto Embutido, their breakfast meals in the form of the Chicken and Pork Tocino with Cauliflower Mash, the Keto Pesto Hello Tuna, the Cauliflower Fried “Rice” and the Keto Walnut Avocado Salad.

Mommy Gaya’s daughter, Ms. Sweet, is the brains behind making Keto dishes. Being a Ketogenic fan herself, she thought that it was important that people who diet also have an option when dining out. It’s so sad and restricting to walk around a mall seeing different dishes and not being able to order some.

She has since conceptualized and experimented with various dishes and plan to make them available in the restaurant soon. She also let us try the Keto Smoothies and the Bulletproof Coffee, a coffee that is served with butter instead of creamer. Interesting, right?

Another thing we got to try was their Keto Milktea! I was so curious as to how it would taste and how it would fare compared to the usual milktea but I was impressed. I liked it!  I, however, am not a milktea expert and choose classic milktea over the over-complicated ones in the market but it still amazed me!

Lastly, we couldn’t really leave Mommy Gaya’s without trying their signature dishes, right? They served us their Crispy Lechon, Beef Pares, Crunchy Dinuguan and Paksiw with Adlai Rice. My favorite? The Crispy Lechon, of course!!!

Before we could leave, however, they served their signature Halo-halo and their Keto Chaffles, which is mozarella cheese & egg waffles. It was delicious and I highly recommend trying out their Keto menu!