I will be busy most of the day today molding young minds but I just want to ask (imagine a Seinfeld voice right now), what's the deal with Filipino food? I've never had it, what am I missing? This question was prompted by this review. I want to know where to go and what to get. And this one, too. And I keep hearing a lot about Vinh Phat recently, mostly because local celebrity chef Joshua Ploeg shops there. I just noticed that his legendary band Behead the prophet no lord shall live have a myspace now.
Also, people who like Pooja, what do you like there? And don't say the buffet. I don't do buffets.
And another thing, I had another excellent meal at Pho Bac Hoa Viet last night with nary a dirty look or thrown menu in sight.
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16 comments:
pooja has some good mutli course dinners you can choose from that let you try a bunch of different stuff. i always got their vegi one but they had a couple with meat to choose from too.
I had four different Filipino roommates over the years, which exposed me to some good eats. I really like Filipino food, but it can be pretty unhealthy. We used to alter the recipes to make them a little lighter. My favorites:
Sinigang: a tangy soup with a tamarind base.
Pancit: (we made it with ground turkey in stead of pork) spicy noodle dish.
Chicken Adobo: cook the chicken in a soy sauce/vinegar mixture. It is easy to make!
I also love the grilled/fried bananas.
I know there are a lot of Filipino resturants in Daly City, but I am not sure about Sac.
Alisha
I also read a neat article on Goldilocks once. It is a big chain in the Phillipines. They are the only chain that actually makes more money than McDonalds in their home country.
-Alisha
There's a Filipino video store in North Highlands called Peenoy that also sells prepared food. It's pretty close to Stolighniy, maybe even in the same complex. I've never been inside the place but we used to order lunch from there at work. Some of the food is pretty tasty, but as Alisha stated, not too healthy. -GW
My favorite Filipino dish would have to be pork adobo with pancit coming in at second. And I'm sure most everyone likes lumpia. If you're brave, try balut and dinuguan/blood stew. Alisha is right about Daly City having the best/most Filipino restaurants...
Pres,
SASSF
I like the food at Queen's Market which is next door to the DMV on Florin. The Torun (did I spell that right?) are mmmm! They are like little Lumpia filled with a piece of plantian and fried and then topped with honey. What is there not to like? I also like the bbq pork stuff on a skewer which is yummy with Banana Catsup! One brand of banana catsup comes in old 1960's american coca cola bottles which were obviously re sold and recycled in the Philipines.
Lisa D. always cracked me up talking about the classic Halo Halo vs. Ice Cream fight she continually waged with her Filipino family as a child.
Ella
Hello, a little bird told me about this conversation and I thought I'd drop in. Goldilocks is a bakery with what I consider to be Filipino fast food. We are considering ordering our wedding cake from them because my birthday ube cake was such a smash hit. Ella's right, I hated Filipino food as a kid except for lumpia. Its just soooo weird! Its a combination of Polynesian, Spanish, Chinese, Arab, Indian many other kinds of cuisine. I've grown to love it and think that South Villa does it best. Manilla's cool and usually has a lunch buffet so you can sample many dishes. My favorites are Sinigang Baboy, Miki Bihon, Daing Na Bangus, Pinakbet, Kare Kare and corn & cheese milkshakes. I don't see how Filipino cuisine is less healthy than other Asian cuisines.
Corn and Cheese Milkshake is blowing my mind right now.
Ella
Bec--
The largest community of Filipinos in the continental United States is, or used to be ... [insert drum roll]: Stockton. Yep, they imported them as laborers to build the delta levees in the early 20th century. If you want Filipino food, go to downtown Stockton to the Filipino Center (it's right next to the Greyhound bus depot where Big Nick Slurb slipped off this mortal coil) and ask around.
Actually, the Filipinos were brought in as agricultural laborers to replace the Chinese and Japanese whose immigration was severely curtailed (dang Whiteys). Most of the Delta infrastructure had already been built when they arrived.
Yea, Stockton is sometimes called "Little Manilla" (mainly around the El Dorado/Church/Lafayette St. areas). I remember going trick or treating at the old Filipino bachelor clubs (like Iloilo Circle) as a kid--they were smokey dens filled with old WW2 vets and farm workers who played cards all day. Iloilo Circle was for the Ilocanos.
Pres,
SASSF
I'm about thisclose to moving to Stockton right now. The best thrift stores ever, cute downtown, manny's california fresh and a large vietnamese and filipino population? AND K-fed's from there and will probably move back soon? how could it get any better?
Is K-fed-ex from Stockton? I thought he's from Fresno (they can have him regardless).
Lisa D!: Got any good recommendations for pork adobo in Sac? Also, Filipino fast food joints are such a curiosity for me (the only one I've been to is Jollibee in SF)--I think the combinatiions are pretty dang fascinating: spaghetti + hot dogs or fried chicken + rice for example...
http://www.jollibee.com.ph/products.htm
Pres,
SASSF
oops. now i've insulted stockton, kfed IS from fresno.
Yea, K-Fed is 559, not 209. Yo.
P-Res,
SASSF
when i lived in nyc in 1996, my roommate jay brown, who was pinoy himself, got this bug that he had to find the best flip restaurant in new york. so he does some research and we go out to this place with a cool bamboo hut canoe/nautical rustic theme, dust caked all over everything, old filipino waitresses, the whole bit. all i remember is that there were cut-up hot dogs in one of the dishes. i guess spam is really popular in the philippines, too. but that's true of nearly all island nations, isn't it?
My favorite Filipino dish is fresh lumpia. It's nothing like the fried version (which are usually great but not always what I'm looking for). Fresh lumpia is fresh vegetables (pretty much of a rarity for Filipino cuisine) like cabbage, onions, garlic and carrot slivers etc. that are slightly sauteed with chicken and/or shrimp, and then rolled in a eggy crepe and smothered in a sweet dark sauce topped with chopped peanuts. I could do without the sauce but it's one of the few healthy choices I know for Filipino cooking. South Villa has a mighty tasty fresh lumpia. Pinakbet is another vegetable dish, but only order it if like bitter vegetables. South Villa's halo halo (that means mix-mix I think) isn't bad. I'm always amused by the purple ube ice cream on top.
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