Phillipine Food ,What's it like?

I was curious if anyone knows much about the cusine of the Phillipines? Why,because in Universal City,Tx,just down the road from me,they are going to open up a fillipino restaurant at the coner of Pat Booker and Kittyhawk,behind the Taco Cabana. It was Richter's Cafe,but that folded.Have had chinese,vietnamese and japanese food,but never fillipino,so i was wondering what it was like
and if you could recomend some dishes to try.

Limited experience with Filipino food, but the Lumpia (eggrolls)are good, Ponsit(sp) is a noodle dish also good and Pork Adobo is good too, DO NOT eat Balut if they have it on the menu but I highly doubt they would.

Chicken or Pork Adobo over white rice.
It tastes like chicken or pork with soy sauce, pickling spices, vinegar and crushed garlic. Love it with hot sauce.

Holly .... go for the Balut. It is a must have !!

I once dated a Filipina, and her mother made fabulous ponsit, to which I became quickly addicted. This noodle dish is a close cousin to Pad Thai or even Vietnamese noodle dishes. Her mother used to give me bags of frozen spring rolls to take home -- absolutely delicious! Chris

quote:

Originally posted by firecommander3565

Holly .... go for the Balut. It is a must have !!

Don't bother, Holly. You won't enjoy it as Mama Duck will be pecking away at you and angry as heck!

If you are in Knoxville, try the Phillipine Connection on Magnolia next to Chilhowee Park.

Great lumpia and other goodies. They cook to order and you will have to wait a few minutes for your order.

http://www.gotricities.com/content/article.dna?idnumber=050316110710

Paul E. Smith
Knoxville, TN

Thanks for all the suggestions. I'll have to try it when they open and will try to post about the visit.

In 1967, on my way back to Saigon from a 3 month stay at an USAF hospital in Japan (broken ankle), I spent a few days in the Philippines and, although most meals were taken at the Airmen's Club on Clark Air Base, I did manage to develop a liking for a couple of "street food" dishes.

Some kind of pork bbq on a stick made from the meat of a fatty hog the likes of which I haven't had in many a year.


Fried rice (Sinangag?) in many forms, pork, vegetable, and the shrimp variety shown here.


Delicious and cheap. I'll bet a serving of both didn't cost more than a dollar. Those were the days, my friends! pb

And I'm sure you had your share of San Miguel too.

Holly Dolly, All my Fillipino friends tell me that ballut is much better if you've had about a six pack first. Other than that. I'll vouch for about everything named though I think it is pancit, not ponsit. SFAIK, the only prepared Fillipine food around Atlanta are home style dishes made by the friends of the woman who runs a little grocery and that is only on Saturday and Sunday. Available items may be different each time. I think they have about one card table to sit at if you don't want to take the food home. The food is good.

Lumpias are an excellent appetizer and I've learned to make them from my sister in law who is Filipino.
Pancit Guisado is a noodle dish with spaghetti-like noodles, the Pancit Bihon is same dish with angelhair-like pasta noodles. All excellent.

My best buddy in high school was Phillipino and he used to show me the "old country" food his mother loved. What got my attention was bitter melon, which was the most bitter thing I have ever tasted in my life. I couldn't understand why anybody would eat it. Also, his mother liked dried fish heads. I never did get to eat anything "traditional".

The woman I am dating is from the Philippines, but she doesn't cook. Obviously, I love to eat out, so I don't mind this at all. But, I am curious about her native cuisine, also.

We did go eat at the Filipino restaurant here in town and ordered the chicken adobo and the beef caldereta, but neither one of us liked it at all. I'm not saying those are bad dishes, they just weren't very good at that place.

My brother goes on frequent business trips to the Philippines and raves about this place called Max's Chicken. I asked my SO about it and she loves the place, too. They are apparently all over the Philippines and have several branches now in California. Anyone ever eat at one?

http://www.maxschicken.com/

Well folks,I'm going to have to see if this place is open yet
and check it out.For those in Texas,and specifically here in the Universal City,Schertz, Cibolo and Randolph AFB area,there is a new mexican place coming to Schertz Parkway called Aguave Mexican restaurant.It is where the Texas Smokehouse BBQ place was. Also,the place formerly known as Sue's Cafe next to Papa John's Pizza is also a mexican place called Jalisco I think.Haven't eaten there yet.

FYI. Under BBQ there is a Phillipine BBQ thread. Worth reading if you have not. Also, a link is given to an interesting Wiki article about Phillipine food. I've tried to copy the link in this space.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filipino_cuisine

===Some kind of pork bbq on a stick made from the meat of a fatty hog the likes of which I haven't had in many a year.===


We used to call those Monkey Meat on a Stick.
I posted elsewhere that I worked with Philipino cooks in the Navy, and enjoyed my time there on the islands. San Magooo was dirt cheap, $.50 a bottle.

My mom had a staff of Philipino women who always brought their own food, and everything mentioned in this thread is true. These women were very generous and would send her home with bagful of lumpia as they knew that I liked them.

mark

Hi! It's nice to see all your messages here talking about Filipino food. Those of you who have tasted Filipino dishes, all of your ccomments are true. Most non-Filipino would be difficult to like eating Balut. It's a delicacy usually found being sold by street vendors and it is quite popular as a snack. It's a hard boiled duck egg with fetus inside, typically between 17 - 20 days in gestation. It is said to be an aprodisiac for men. But most Filipino women cannot take it too, especially when you see a head of a chick there and with beak! ahhhhh! So much for Balut thing.

Except for most traditional exotic food like Balut, most Filipino dishes that are popular were derived from or rather influenced by foreign dishes particularly Spanish and Chinese. As mentioned already, the Lumpia (Filipino version of spring rolls) and Pansit were influenced by Chinese dish but only we made them better to suit our taste . And of course, we have one of the best tasting barbecue! We barbecue almost anything... from the usual pork and chicken, we also grill fishes and other seafood. Aside from the popular Adobo, You should try Beef Caldereta, Bistek, Beef Morcon, Chicken Curry, and of course the most popular dish in every feast is the Lechon, a roasted pig! Yes pig, not just pork, but the whole body of pig, marinated and stuffed it with special spices then roasted it in a very special way until the skin becomes crispy and its meat gets tender. Here's is the photo link below. Sorry I dont know how to embed photos here as html is off.

http://images.world66.com/fi/li/pi/filipino_lechon_ba_galleryfull

http://www.tanauan-leyte.gov.ph/images/photos/other_pix/our_products/lechon/lechon05.JPG

http://eatingasia.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/2007/09/27/wsja_lechon_2_4_ea.jpg

By the way, sorry for this long post. It's my first post here actually. Just stumbled on this forum while i was googling for filipino food review. I was surprised seeing a thread talking about Filipino food by all-non-filipino members.

To the TS, i hope that the filipino restaurant that will open near your place will be a good one. Because some of them are not.

ciao!

I was at Clark on R&R. I remember all the street vendors w/meat on a stick. It looked like pork. I asked and was told it was monkey. Didnt finish it after that. Sorry, but primate meat is too close to home!
britt

Chocofries,

Those excellent pig photos brought up memories that my ship did have a beach party with the roasted pig. I think that it was a problem as -one- pig doesn't feed 80 people, and the scuttlebutt was that we were cheated.( poor planning by the Chief in charge). There was plenty of other food.

====...And of course, we have one of the best tasting barbecue! We barbecue almost anything... from the usual pork and chicken, we also grill fishes and other seafood. Aside from the popular Adobo, You should try Beef Caldereta, Bistek, Beef Morcon, Chicken Curry, and of course the most popular dish in every feast is the Lechon, a roasted pig! Yes pig, not just pork, but the whole body of pig, marinated and stuffed it with special spices then roasted it in a very special way until the skin becomes crispy and its meat gets tender... ===

It is obvious that Philipino food and BBQ has a Spanish origin. Many of these dishes sound like they came from a taco truck. Just curious, is there a Philipino version of a tortilla? I've never seen anything like that.
Your usuage of the word 'bbq' is different than others. I think that there is a term for the style of BBQ that is done there and from where I am familiar in California. I call it Pacific Rim BBQ or grilling, take your pick. It is just food cooked over a open flame, and long smoking rarely happens.

One last thing, in Oahu, there is a Chinatown district which is kind of lacking.... But there are quite a few Philipino restaurants that are located near the major inter-city bus stop. I had lunch there when my favorite piroshki (think runza) store was closed for vacation...*** There were a variety of places to choose from.

mark

*** I flew all the way across the Pacific in anticipation of these piroskis. Is this the longest trip where a "closed for vacation' sign ruined it all?

In Knoxville on Magnolia, there is a place that has been there for years and it is called the Phillipine Connection. They cook everything to order. I have stopped there many times and it is always very good.

This past Friday night when I went to the fair, they had a booth at the fair and I bought their lumpia. They had it with either pork, chicken or beef. I got the pork. They were small but very tasty and spicy.

http://local.yahoo.com/info-15028686-philippine-connection-carry-out-food-knoxville;_ylt=AlXwYWCDmZYe253Wjhpv8TrmUGoL

http://www.gotricities.com/content/article.dna?idnumber=050316110710

Paul E. Smith
Knoxville, TN

Well,this Saturday I went past the new filipino place and it was packed. Maybe this coming Saturday,when i get off work from TJMAXx, I'll stop over there and check it out.
Thanks for all the posts and advice.

Holly, I asked a dentist friend of ours who is 100% Filipina. She says the place is great, and even has karaoke on weekends. If you know the Chok-Dee oriental market on Aviation, this is the same lady, just needed a bigger place for the restaurant. I'll get by there next time I'm in UC visiting the dentist.

Mark

Lot of food for thought here: Can't wait to move beyond lumpia!