Filipino Archives - Foodology

In Filipino

Pampanga’s Cuisine: Take Out in Vancouver

April 21, 2020

I like to browse the take out apps to see what is new out there around my neighbourhood. One of the restaurants that kept popping up is Pampanga’s Cuisine for their Pampanga-style of Filipino cuisine. They are located right by Joyce Skytrain Station serving up their delicious cuisine.

I normally would order through food apps for delivery, but I wanted to make sure more money goes into the pockets of the owners.

Staff Meal

Pampanga’s Cuisine has joined the “Staff Meal” program initiated by Say Mercy, another local restaurant. There is a $2 donation per order and it is donated to the Vancouver Food Bank. It’s a great way to help those who need it.

Crispy Sisig

The Crispy Sisig has crispy chunks of pork with ginger, onions, chilli and their secret seasoning spices. The seasoning spices at first is quite strong and tart, but after a little bit, it does subside. For takeout, I was surprised how crisp the pork was even when we got home.

Beefsteak

The Beefsteak has thin slices of beef, marinated in soy sauce and lemon, topped with onions and potatoes. The beef was tender and the sauce was very nice. A great item to go on top of rice.

BBQ Chicken

This has chunks of chicken marinated in special mixture, grilled and mixed with their homemade special bbq sauce. It was good and has a nice char to the chicken.

Adobo

This adobo has chicken and pork cooked in vinegar and garlic soy sauce with diced potatoes. Definitely Filipino comfort food right here. A good depth of flavour.

Pinakbet

This has an assortment of vegetables such as bitter melon, okra, long beans and squash with shrimp and sautéed in shrimp paste. This was very delicious. The vegetables definitely standout and was a good accompaniment to the other meaty dishes in our meal.

Ginisang Monggo

This was a dish I’ve never had before. It has sautéed mung beans with sliced bitter melon and shrimp. The bitter melon was good and it wasn’t too bitter. I usually try to avoid that vegetable, but I wanted to give it a try. My parents also enjoyed this.

Pancit Palabok

This has thick rice noodles with sauce made of ground pork garnished with boiled eggs, onion leeks, shrimps and lemon. Their version was ok, but it needed a bit more sauce to go with the noodles.

Spaghetti

This has spaghetti noodles with Filipino style sweet sauce, ground pork and cheese topping. This was ok, but we felt the spaghetti needed to be mixed with the sauce. The spaghetti was underneath and then the sauce was on top. It didn’t get the chance to soak in the flavours of the sauce into the noodles.

Pork Spring Roll

The pork spring rolls are really cute. It’s their homemade pork spring roll with a sweet chilli sauce on the side. They look like cute little cigars, but they taste very good.

Ube Halaya

Onto dessert! This is purple yam cooked in evaporated milk and sugar with latik and desiccated coconut flakes on top. I really enjoyed this! It’s not too sweet and it’s like a soft pudding thats room temperature. I would get this again.

Buko Pandan

A classic Filipino dessert – Buko Pandan. This has sliced green jello & coconut strips mixed with whipped cream and pandan flavour. The pandan flavour isn’t strong as there is mostly a stronger coconut flavour.

Final Thoughts

It’s hard to be a restaurant at this time during the Covid-19 Pandemic, but the family behind Pampanga’s Cuisine is making this work. The dishes are well priced and tastes homey. The noodle dishes were mediocre but will give them another chance once dining rooms are open again.

They were busy for take out and delivery during the weekend lunch hour, so that was great to see.

Address:
5179 Joyce St, Vancouver, BC

Website:
https://pampangascuisine.ca/

In Filipino

Archie’s Grill: Filipino Cuisine in Surrey

March 7, 2019

I’ve been trying to find more hole in the wall restaurants to go to outside of Vancouver. There are a lot of restaurants in Metro Vancouver that are family owned whose foods tastes very homey and authentic. Today I found Archie’s Grill in Surrey near the Guildford Mall area. They specialize in home cooked Filipino cuisine.

Interior

The interior isn’t anything interesting but they have a few tables for small to large groups. You can also reserve tables if you have a very large group and want to ensure your spot at peak hours.

Congee Combo

The congee combo has Arroz Caldo, which is a Filipino Congee and it comes with a side of pork and tofu covered in vinegar.

The congee has a boiled egg in it, lots of garlic flavour, and topped with crispy chicharon. I also liked how it came with a calamansi lime too. The congee combo was very filling and it was hard to finish it all in one sitting. The congee was ok compared to the other ones I’ve had in the past. But I did like the extra touch of pork and tofu to round out the meal.

Spaghetti Combo

My husband went with his all time favourite Filipino dish of spaghetti. He loved it and it is served with chicken and garlic bread. A strange combination to some but it works really well. The sauce of the pasta is savoury and sweet, which gives it that signature taste.

Sizzling Sisig

This is sizzling pork sisig served with egg and a plate of garlic rice. I love when the Sizzling sisig arrives at the table as it really gets you salivating as the pork on the hot grill makes a lot of noises. When you eat the pork with rice, it’s really delicious with all the fatty porky aroma.

Final Thoughts

Overall, we were impressed by this little gem – Archie’s Grill near Guildford Mall. The food is on point, it’s nothing fancy, but for the price, it hits the spot. If you feel like you want some homey Filipino food in Surrey, check out Archie’s Grill. For the two of us, 3 dishes was a good amount of items to share.

Address:
10161 153 St, Surrey, BC

Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/jayhebron15/

In California

Jollibee: Filipino Fast Food Review

February 2, 2019

Jolibee is a popular Filipino fast food chain all around the world. I haven’t been yet, so when we were in California, we went here multiple times for breakfast and lunch. We really couldn’t stop devouring the great tastes of Filipino dishes. There are over 30 locations across the US.

We went crazy just ordering a bit of everything for the 2 of us. It needed to be done since there isn’t a Jollibee in Western Canada where we are from. We stuffed ourselves with Jollibee and we did not regret it at all.

Breakfast Joys

Breakfast Joys are only available until 11am and there are 5 types to choose from – Breakfast Chickenjoy, Pork Sausage, Beef Tenders, Corned Beef, and Sweet Pork. Each comes with garlic rice and an egg.

Corned Beef Breakfast Joys

This was surprisingly good. A good portion of corned beef, rice and egg. We also got free coffee that comes with this too, which was interesting. This was my favourite of the 2 breakfast items we ordered.

Pork Sausage Breakfast Joys

The Pork Sausage comes with 2 pieces with the egg and garlic rice. The sausage was devoured quickly and had a slight sweet flavour to it.

Buko Pandan Pearl Cooler with boba

One of their dessert items is their buko pandan pearl cooler with some sweet pearls on the bottom. It was good but on the sweet side.

Chickenjoy

This is their 2 pieces chickenjoy meal with adobo rice and a cup of gravy. The skin is very crispy and when you dunk it onto the gravy, it’s so heavenly. Plus, the adobo rice is so savoury and good.

Chickenjoy and Jolly Spaghetti Combo

Best of both worlds to get a combo so you can taste more. You can mix up the spaghetti so all the sauce is incorporated. For fast food Filipino spaghetti, it wasn’t bad at all. It’s meaty, savoury with a touch of sweetness. Also, having the chickenjoy of the side was awesome.

Chickenjoy and Palabok Fiesta Combo

I was so excited to try this dish. A classic item with bohon noodles topped with secret Jollibee palabok sauce, eggs, shrimp, and other meats. Delicious.

Pineapple Juice

Included in meals is the pineapple juice. Instead of getting the regular fountain drinks, why not have pineapple juice to shake things up. A lot of people prefer this, but I did find it a bit sweet.

Peach Mango Pie

One of their warm desserts on the menu is peach mango pie, deep-fried to a golden perfection. The crunchy exterior was nice and the filling was surprisingly not too sweet. It does have a tinge of artificial peachy mango taste.

Tuna Pie

Yes, you heard that right…tuna pie. This is one of their items on the menu that is available for a limited time. It also has a tasty flaky crust with a creamy tuna mixture inside with strong notes of pepper.

Final Thoughts

We devoured quite a few items during our trips to Jollibee, but we still have many items to go through still. For Filipino fast food, it’s a great option. It’s like if KFC and McDonads had a baby. There were no line ups at the locations around San Francisco, so it was great.

Website:
http://www.jollibeeusa.com/

In Delta

La Meza Grill: Filipino Food in North Delta

December 28, 2018

La Meza Grill is family-owned and specializes in traditional Filipino cuisine. They opened in June 2014 and created a menu that captures the richness of Filipino cooking. The cooking is heavily influenced by the Spanish Colonial era and a lot of the dishes are sweet, savoury and spicy,

They are located in North Delta right between Richmond and Surrey. Closer to Surrey, but it’s far from Downtown Vancouver to get to. Most people get here by driving and there are lots of parking spots in the plaza.

Interior

To get into the restaurant, you need to enter through Season’s Market, which is a Filipino Grocery store with tons of well-priced snacks and goods.

It can get quite busy on weekends at peak hours, but there are always tables available for groups. You can always call ahead for reservations. They also do delivery, take out and catering.

Longsilog

The boys were craving breakfast, so they got their own longsilog breakfast, which has sweet pork sausages with egg, salad and garlic rice. It’s pretty awesome and hits the spot. The garlic rice is so good and you’ll wonder how you went without garlic in rice for such a long time.

The best part is that it’s available all day.

Seafood Palabok

This noodle dish – seafood palabok has thick rice noodles, ground pork rinds, bard-boiled egg in a mixed seafood sauce. I personally loved it but my Filipino friend thought it missed the mark as she’s had many many seafood palabok in her lifetime. It could have used more seafood too.

Spaghetti

The spaghetti has ground beef and pork, hotdogs, Filipino-style sweet tomato sauce, and topped with cheese. We loved this especially my husband. It’s not too sweet but it’s like every kid’s dream to have spaghetti and hot dogs hahaha. Reminded us of an elevated comfort dish.

Fresh Lumpia

This is huge and it is a fresh vegetable roll with house special garlic sauce and topped with green onion and peanuts. The garlic sauce is a touch sweet but it goes well with the fresh lumpia.

Laing

This is a mixture of taro leaves and minced pork in a spicy coconut milk sauce. It also has some hot peppers in it, so watch out. As we never had taro leaves before, I thought it would be interesting to try. We all didn’t like it because it was more like a mush.

Arroz Caldo

I absolutely love this chicken congee with tons of garlic. It’s like elevated Chinese congee but probably worse for you health-wise, but so damn delicious.

Lechon Kawali

This is delicious deep-fried pork belly and served with a housemade sarsa sauce. You can’t deny the taste of deep-fried pork belly. It’s a must.

Chicken Chicharon Sisig

On a hot sizzling skillet is diced chicken and chicken chicharon marinated in soy and calamansi. There is also a freshly cracked egg on top, so make sure to mix it a little bit before eating. The hot skillet will cook the egg. I love this dish for its textures and salty and savoury taste.

BBQ Chicken and BBQ Pork Skewers

Both the pork and chicken skewers are marinated in their house sauce and grilled to perfection. It has a good amount of meat on each skewer too.

Garlic Rice

To go with all the dishes, garlic rice is a must. We got a big bowl to share.

Final Thoughts

Surprisingly, we really enjoyed La Meza Grill. The food was excellent, value for the price was outstanding, and the service was ok. It’s now one of my favourite places to go for Filipino Cuisine in the Lower Mainland and you really can’t beat their price for the quality of food you get. Highly recommended.

Address:
11955 88 Ave, Delta, B

Website:
http://lamezagrill.com/

In Coquitlam

Kulinarya: Kamayan-style Dinner in Coquitlam

November 23, 2017

We heard that Kulinarya has a Kamayan-style dinner. What this mean is that there are no plates, no silverware, so you eat with your hands. This is by reservation only and needs to be placed days in advanced with payment made 48 hours before the reserved date. You also need a minimum of 6 adults, but luckily we had 8 in our party. It costs $25 per person between Tuesday and Thursday.

Interior

We arrived promptly at 7pm and all the food was ready on the table for us to indulge. A few of us arrived early but had to wait till closer to the time.

Kamayan-Style Dinner

This has steamed rice, lumpiang shanghai, longganisa, chopped onions, tomatoes, green onions, fried sweet potato, plantain banana, pork, beef, chicken, seafood, veggies, mangoes and halo-halo for dessert.

You can choose one of each category:

Pork: crispy pata, lechon kawali, or crispy binagoongan
Beef: kaldereta or kare-kare
Chicken: manok sa gata, adobo, or fried tamarind chicken
Veggies: pinakbet, or ginataang kalabasa
Seafood: tilapia, bangus fried or grilled, galunggong, or inihaw na pusit

Using our hands was a fun experience, but as soon as we got started, a few other asked for utensil as some items are oily. There is actually lots of food on the table and it was a scavenger hunt trying to find out what is what. My favourite items were the pork and longganisa.

Once everything was assembled on the table, it wasn’t as hot as we would have liked it to be. A few people at the table felt the chicken was dry. I understand why it’s not served when its ready for logistical reasons.

Halo Halo

At the end of the meal, we had halo halo, which I enjoyed as it has so many different ingredients inside. Super fun to eat and share.

Final Thoughts

Overall, good experience to have this once so I can say I had it in my life. I would rather have items off their regular dinner menu as it would be pipping hot and fresh compared to having it laid out of the table before arrival.

We Rate Kulinarya:

Website:
http://www.kulinarya.ca/

Address:
2922 Glen Dr, Coquitlam, BC

In Dessert

O! Taho: Filipino-Style Tofu Dessert on Fraser St

September 12, 2017

O! Taho has been on my list of places to go to for a while to try their Filipino-style Soya Pudding. There’s only a handful of places to get handmade soya pudding in Metro Vancouver, but I’ve never heard of the Filipino version. My friends were having lunch close by, so we decided to come here.

Interior

The interior isn’t very interesting. Simple, but they focus their efforts of their food. There are 2 small tables to eat here, but most people do takeout. They have on the menu Filipino congee, various longanisa, lumpia, empanada, BBQ, halo-halo and the soy pudding. When we were here, they didn’t have any more congee, so we stuck with the soy pudding.

Hot Soy Pudding

We decided to share the 1 serving size for $5. They also have cold soy pudding too. We went with the hot and it is served with the sweet brown sugar syrup and tapioca pearls on top. Mostly everyone takes it to go, but we had some time to kill, so we had it here.

The tofu was delicious and very smooth. I’ll definitely try it cold next time.

We Rate O! Taho:

Address:
4223 Fraser Street, Vancouver

In Filipino

Epic Grill Silogs: Philippine Cuisine in New Westminster

August 17, 2017

Epic Grill Silogs is located in New Westminster near Queensborough Landing by the outlet shops. Hidden away in the residential area is this Filipino restaurant specializing in silogs and sansrival.

Interior

The space is large and can fit small to large groups. It was definitely busy when we came here. There was a long line up to get a table and an even longer wait to get your order. We waited a very very long time…because we were determined to try the silogs.

Ube Milkshake

Ube is a purple yam that has a bright lavender colour. I don’t believe they use real ube as there is the dried ube sprinkled on top.

Sago At Gulaman

This is a sweet Filipino drink that is good for the Summer. It is made with brown sugar, tapioca and other types of jellies. Even when it was mixed around, it was still pretty sweet for our liking.

Calamansi

Calamansi are little limes from the Philippines. Imagine this as like Filipino lemonade.

Crispy Pata

Crispy Pata is a deep-fried pork hock with a delicious sauce that goes with it. It’s very very decadent but oh so good. The crisp skin with the succulent meat was addictive.

Silogs

We got a 3 meat silog with Pusit Silog (Dried squid), Lechon Silog (Crispy pork belly), and Tosi Silog (pork). It is served with garlic rice and 2 eggs.

We got another with Long Silog (Sweet sausage), Bang Silog (Boneless Milkfish), and Corned Silog (corned beef). Of all 3, I liked the corned beef the most.

Biya Silog (Dried Sole Fish), Lumpia Silog, and Tap Silog (Beef) was the next 3 meat silog that we ordered. It was interesting to try the sole fish, but it was pretty dry and crisp.

Final Thoughts

It’s a pretty unique place to have a lot of silog options all in one place. We tried 9 different meats, but next time, we would just get our silogs with just 1 type of protein as it’s a lot cheaper and we know our favourite meats. The wait time was a bit long for our order, which was annoying, so next time we will definitely come earlier.

We Rate Epic Grill Silogs:

Address:
538 Ewen Ave, New Westminster

Website:
https://www.facebook.com/EpicSilogsGrill/

In Filipino

Siga-Siga’s Filipino Food in Vancouver

March 18, 2017

Siga-Siga’s Filipino Food is located near Broadway and Fraser. We were going to a nearby restaurant and saw a sign for their ‘To Die For’ Wings. How could we not? Might as well go on an impromptu eating adventure.

They are a small hole in the wall restaurant with one person working.

Interior

It is a very small shop and has no public washroom, which was odd.

Wings

10 wings for $5.99 and made to order were a bit on the smaller side, but went well with the sauce that was at the table. It had a nice acidity to it that it matched with the wings.

I wouldn’t die for these wings, but they were ok.

BBQ Chicken Leg

One item the owner suggested was the BBQ Chicken leg with garlic rice and a side of salad. The BBQ leg was delicious and flavourful. The garlic rice needed a bit more salt for the flavour to shine through. We added some of the vinegar sauce to it and it was so good.

Potato and Tomato Stuffed Squid

The tomato and potato stuffed squid had a nice char on the outside and was packed full of veggies. The quid was a bit chewy.

Final Thoughts

Overall, the food was meh, but the prices were really good.

We Rate Siga-Siga’s:

Address:
650 East Broadway, Vancouver

In Filipino

Bao Down Snack Bar: Filipino Style Tapas in Gastown

November 27, 2016

Bao Down Snack Bar is the 3rd location to open up from the minds behind Bao Down. This particular location features Filipino Style Tapas. I’ve been to the other 2 locations and I’m always surprised how each location has a different menu and concept.

The interior has the classic Gastown bricks and then the beautiful mural from a local artist.

Drinks

They have a pretty good cocktail menu with a bit of Philipino inspiration.

Taka has Suntory Toki Japanese whiskey, Taylor Fladgae white port, Shoju, and angostura bitters

Bagyo has dark, white and overproof rum, passion fruit syrup, agave syrup, and fresh lemon juice.

Calamasita has a mix of hornitos plata tequila, sweet and sour shrub, cointreau, egg white, calamansi limes, and agave syrup. A good amount of sweetness in this drink. It is even garnished with a small calamani lime.

Dinner

Lumpia is a Filipino spring roll. You can choose from either:

Free range chicken and Water Chestnuts
Local pork and garlic

It is served with a sweet chili sauce and plum sauce. It is crisp on the outside with the savoury filling inside.

Empanada Bao comes with 2 deep-fried bao buns with either:

Lechon Palsiw, chicharon, onions and garlic
Organic, local, Gluten-free BBQ Chicken, Inasal, and a basting sauce
Adobo eggplant, onions, garlic, and Tamari

We had the lechon version and it was really good. The bun is crisp and warm with the delectable pork filling.

Charcuterie Plate isn’t like your typical plate, it has a Filipino twist. It has:

Tocino
Longanisa
Chorizo
Fried Quail Eggs
Garlic Mayo Sauce

Nice little bites to pick at while having drinks. When it comes to the taste, it was ok compared to other places I’ve been to.

Pork Belly Lechon was a beast. It’s a slow roasted crispy pork belly with ultra crispy skin. It is served with a sarsa sauce. I wasn’t a fan of the sauce as it was a bit sweet, but I would have preferred another sauce to break up the fatty taste.

House Blended Rice is purple in colour due to the wild rice. Great texture and it has a bit of garlic to it too.

Adobo Fried Chicken uses Gluten-free flour, a buttermilk marinade, adobo glaze and a banana sauce. It’s great that they cater to those who are Celiac or are avoiding gluten.

It tasted great and has a nice crunchy skin.

Eggplant Torta is a roasted eggplant omelette with tamarind, and a charred tomato. It was ok, but it wasn’t my favourite dish.

Okoy Yam Fritter was really good. It has crispy fried yams, local greens and veggie with prawns. I would get this again. Super crispy and addictive.

Overall, the food was good and you can see the Filipino inspiration in the food. They have a good beer and cocktail menu and its great to pair it with the snacks on the menu. Good items to share.

We Rate Bao Down Snack Bar:

Address:
221 Carrall Street, Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://baodown.net/menu/bao-down-snackbar/

In Coquitlam

Kulinarya: Delicious Filipino Food in Coquitlam

September 10, 2015

I’ve come to Kulinarya serveral times in the past few years for their delicious Filipino food. This would be my 4th visit to be exact. This cozy restaurant serves up authentic Filipino cuisine in the heart of Coquitlam. There is free parking outside and it’s located quite close to Coquitlam Mall.

Complimentary Boy Bawang garlic corn nuts arrive at the table before you begin your meal. They are delicious corn nuts with garlic flavour. It’s so addictive! You can find bags of theses at T&T for under $1. It’s so damn good.

Calamansi Juice has changed this time. They use Gina brand instead of the Philippines brand. It tastes different but not in a good way. It tastes a lot more artificial.

Large Garlic Rice ($5) is a good item to order if you have saucy dishes or stews to go with this. Garlic rice is so much better than regular rice. Garlic is so addictive, but don’t forget to pop a mint or eat gum right after.

Chicken Adobo ($12) is a Filipino classic! It has chicken braised in vinegar soy sauce. Delicious dish!

BBQ Pork Skewers ($9) were ok, but they were a tad dry and had a lot of char on them. I still prefer the skewers at Kumare in Richmond.

Sizzling Sisig ($12) is crispy minced pork with egg. This is a heart attack on a plate, but very addictive.

Galunggong ($12) is deep-fried mackerel. It is served with pickled vegetables and a vinegar soy sauce. It’s definitely not a dish for everyone as the head is still attached. You have to eat all the bones with it as well.

Bistek ($13) has fried beef and onions cooked in soy sauce and lemon. This was a good dish but the onion was cut into large pieces. The beef was tender and the sauce went very well with it. Definitely eat it with the garlic rice.

Overall, it’s still an awesome place to go to. If you haven’t been to a Filipino restaurant before, you should add it onto your list of things to eat. In the Lower Mainland, there is only a handful of Filipino restaurants and this on is one of the better ones. My other go to place is Kumare in Richmond.

We Rate Kulinarya:

Address:
Coquitlam Square
114-2918 Glen Drive, Coquitlam

Website:
www.kulinarya.ca

In British Columbia

JJs Trucketeria: Filipino Food Truck

July 11, 2015

JJs Trucketeria was outside one of our offices during the lunch hour, so we decided to devour their amazing Filipino BBQ meats. You can’t go wrong with anything from their menu. For healthier options, they do have a market bowl or salad.

JJ’s Signature Panwich ($7.50) has your choice of either Filipino BBQ pork or Lemongrass chicken. It is served on top of pandesa, which is a Filipino bun. Mags and Anne got theirs with BBQ pork.

It’s a sandwich with great value for lunch for so much delicious flavour.

Garlic Fried Rice Big Plate ‘The Halfer’ ($10.50) is huge. It has Filipino BBQ pork, lemongrass chicken, garlic fried rice, fried egg, and JJ’s dipping vinegar. It was massive and I could only finish about 60% of this. The garlic rice is subtle and not too pungent.

Overall, one of the best food trucks with good value plus delicious meats. You can find them at most food truck festivals around town. Just make sure to check the Vancouver Street Food App to see where they are located.

We Rate JJs Trucketeria:

Location:
Varies

Website:
http://jjstrucketeria.wix.com/jjs-trucketeria

In Filipino

Fliptop Filipino Fusion Food Truck: Flippin Fantastic

June 17, 2014

Mags and I were finding a place on Main street to eat lunch and then we stumbled upon Fliptop Filipino Fusion Food Truck. It’s one of the newer food trucks to hit the town and we just had to try it. They are usually on Main street on Saturdays, but it may change, So check out their schedule before going to the location.

Their menu has a good amount of items and everything sounds delicious. I personally love Filipino food, so I was very excited.

The aroma coming from this truck smelled amazing.

Flippin Adobo ‘Fili’ Cheesesteak ($12) has shaved prime ribs sauteed in Adobo sauce, melted provolone cheese, smoked chipotle aioli and crispy leeks served on a hoagie bun.

This was so good and there was plenty of meat. It was very tender and full of flavour. Highly recommended.

Long Silog Rice Bowl ($12) has cured pork sausage, fried egg, slaw, crispy leeks, garlic fried rice and a sriracha aioli. It was a good portion size and Mags enjoyed it so much, she bought a second box for her boyfriend.

Calamansi ($3) is what we washed our meal down with. Mmmmmm goood!

Overall, it was great. The wait wasn’t too long and the food tasted SO GOOD. I would highly recommend this food truck. If you see it, so grab some food!!

We Rate Fliptop Filipino Fusion Food Truck:

Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/FliptopTruck

Twitter:
https://twitter.com/FliptopTruck

In Filipino

Kumare: Yummy Filipino Food

May 28, 2014

My go-to Filipino Restaurant is Kumare in Richmond. The prices are fair and the food is really good if you know what to order. I’ve probably been here at least 5 times already and I haven’t been disappointed. Here was my previous visit.

There are lots of people who come here for dinner. Sometimes theres a few large groups inside, so I would suggest having a reservation if you want to avoid waiting in line.

Calamansi Juice was really good and tasted fresh. It even came in a cute mason jar.

Small Garlic Rice ($2) is good for an individual person, the size is one small bowl. If you have a group, it’s best to get the large for $4 to get a better deal.

Beef Mami ($7) was ordered by accident, we wanted the beef congee, but the waitress mistook our order. Since we already waited a long time for our food, we decided to keep it.

It has egg noodles, cabbage, egg, beef, then garnished with green onions and garlic. It was pretty good and the broth reminded me of chicken noodle soup.

Kumare Fish ($10) is a Basa filet topped with garlic sauce. There are a few other sauces you can have on top, but we choose the garlic one. Garlic is so good.

Beef Caldereta ($10) has beef, shank, potatoes, and bell peppers braised in tomato sauce. It was pretty good. The beef was tender and the dish went well with garlic rice.

BBQ Pork ($3.25) has a 10″ BBQ pork skewer, marinated and grilled street style. The char on this is very delicious and will probably be one of the top places for pork skewers. Highly Recommended.

Sizzling Tofu ($12) has tofu, green onions, and bell peppers served on a hot plate. After ordering it a few times at Kumare, we never get tired of this dish. It’s true that it is greasy, but it’s so flavourful! Highly recommended.

Overall the food was good, but this particular visit, the service was very slow. They seemed quite overwhelmed by the packed dining room with only 2 servers.

We Rate Kumare:

Address:
8130 Park Rd
Richmond, BC

Website:
http://www.kumare.ca/

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In British Columbia

Dine Out Vancouver: Street Food City III

January 23, 2014

Street Food City is back for the third time brings together a plethora of Vancouver Food truck in one convenient location. It’s been very successful in the past years and keep coming back. I remember my first time here in 2012 when I got some Hot Chocolate from the Juice Truck.

The event is completely free and they feature a bunch of food trucks from January 22 to 26, 2014 outside the Art Gallery.

11:00am – 3:00pm Wednesday through Friday
11:00am – 5:00pm Saturday and Sunday

The food trucks participating include:

JJ’s Trucketeria
Roaming Dragon
Feastro
Holy Perogy
Dougie Dog
REEL Mac
Aussie Pie
Reef Runner
Vij’s Railway Express
Roaming Dragon
Guanaco
Le Tigre
Tacofino
Mom’s Grilled Cheese
Soho Road
Mangal Kiss
Yolks
Eli Serious
Mogu
Chili Tank
Taser
Kaboom Box
The Juice Truck.

It’s a great selection of food trucks and you will definitely find something you like. I came around 1pm, so the lines were manageable. The popular food trucks definitely have longer lines.

Lots of the tables were occupied, so you definitely need to stalk your way to find a seat. It sucks if you are with a bunch of people because you may not get a seat. Perhaps bring it back to the office to eat or eat somewhere else close by.

My pick was JJ’s Trucketeria because of their menu. The prices range from $5 to $8 and will be guaranteed full. Plus, Filipino food is pretty damn good.

Garlic Fried Rice Big Plate ($8) has a bed of garlic fried rice, a fried egg, Filipino BBQ Pork and a vinegar sauce. It smell so good and it made everyone want to line up just to get it. It’s a filling meal and worth the $8.

I only had one stomach, so I could only make one stop while I was here. My other coworker went to Le Tigre to get a soup and sandwich.

I did enjoying stopping by Street Food City for lunch. You have lots of options and can’t disappoint. Its a little bit chilly outside, but it’s much better than sitting inside a food court. Expect long lines during peak lunch hour.

Website: http://www.dineoutvancouver.com/events/street-food-city/

In Brunch

Kulinarya: Filipino Food in Coquitlam

January 16, 2014

KoreanGirl and I had a lazy Saturday filled with food and shopping. Thats how we girls roll. We came at 11am and it wasn’t busy at all. Kulinarya is a Filipino restaurant located near the Coquitlam Mall. It’s quite a drive from Vancouver, but if you’re in the area, definitely put this on your list of places to check out.

Breakfast was definitely on our minds and all of the breakfast items sounds like a delicious heart attack. There’s a lot of meat and carbs, but it’s really good food!

You get a small dish of complimentary Boy Bawang garlic corn nuts. These corn nuts were very good and lightly seasoned. It is light and airy so biting into it is no problem at all. It’s so good! You can buy larger bags at Kulinarya or at grocery stores like T&T.

Tapsilog ($10) has sauteed beef, garlic rice, and a fried egg. KoreanGirl liked it. Simple but very great flavours.

Bangsilong ($10) has fried milkfish, garlic rice and fried egg. There’s not too much meat on the fish because its a small fish. It’s a good portion for breakfast. That garlic rice is quite addictive!

Crispy Pata (Small – $10) is deep fried pork hock with a nice spicy vinegar sauce. We saw this on their menu and just had to have it! Worst thing to have it for breakfast but we didn’t care. The skin is very crunchy and was music to our ears. crunch crunch crunch!

Overall, the food was good and it’s great to see what Filipino Cuisine tastes like. The only issue is that a lot of the menu items are hard to choose from because if you aren’t familiar with the items, you have no idea what you are ordering. Plus, a few of the dishes are quite expensive and can rack up your bill.

We Rate Kulinarya:

Address:
114 – 2922 Glen Drive
Coquitlam, BC

Website:
www.kulinarya.ca

[googlemap width=”620″ height=”480″ src=”https://maps.google.ca/maps?q=114+%E2%80%93+2922+Glen+Drive+Coquitlam,+BC&ie=UTF8&t=m&hnear=2922+Glen+Dr+%23114,+Coquitlam,+Greater+Vancouver,+British+Columbia+V3B+2P5&z=16 “]

In Filipino

Kumare: Filipino Food in Richmond

September 17, 2013

Kumare is located in Richmond and serves up delicious Filipino food. I came out here with a bunch of my friends for dinner. Since it was a large group, we made a reservation just so we would get a spot. A good thing about Kumare is that they can accommodate really large groups.

Sago at Gulaman is made of sugar, tapioca pearls, and lime gelatin. It looks crazy green but it’s very refreshing to go with the meal.

Chicken Pandan ($12) is fried chicken marinated in coconut milk and wrapped with pandan leaves. You unwrap the leaves and them bite into the chicken. It was sooooo good and addictive. Highly recommended.

Garlic Rice ($4) is also a must if you are ordering a few meaty dishes. So good!

Vegetable Bicol Express ($9) has asssorted vegetables, shrimp, and pork in spicy coconut milk. It was an ok dish.

Adobong Kang Kong has water spinach, shrimp, and pork braised in soy sauce, garlic, and vinegar. It’s only available in the spring and summer. This dish was alright, but not as sinfully delicious as the others.

Seafood Palabok ($10) has thick noodles, mixed seafood ground in palabok sauce, tinapa, green onions, ground pork rinds, and a hard boiled egg. It was really good! The noodles and sauce were really creamy. Highly recommended.

Inihaw na Bangus ($12) is marinated boneless milkfish with tomatoes and onions. I thought the fish was a bit dry on its own. but the vinegar on the adds more dimension to its taste.

Sizzling Sisig ($9.50) has crispy pork, onions, ginger, and an egg. It’s so bad for you, but it’s pretty damn good. You definitely need to order this with garlic rice. There’s a lot of fat and salt in this, but it’s delicious.

Sizzling Tofu ($12) has tofu, green onions, and bell peppers served on a hot plate. We thought this would be a weird dish, but it was pretty good. It’s also very greasy and probably has some sort of animal fat, but so good! Highly recommended.

Ube Ice cream is purple yam. The flavour is pretty subtle but it’s good. It’s unique!

Buko Pie ($2.50) is a coconut pie and you can see all the delicious coconut layers in the crispy pie shell.

Halo Halo ($6.75) has assorted beans, jellies, sweetened banana, jackfruit, macapuno strings, leche flan, pinipig, ube halaya, and ice cream. It’s a mishmash of a bunch of different ingredients. Great for the summer time. The one thing I didn’t like was the ice chunks, it doesn’t melt too easily.

Overall, the food was pretty good, but certain dishes are very oily. You probably can’t come here everyday or else you will clog your arteries. All my Filipino friends were moaning at how delicious the food is and how it reminded them of back home.

We Rate Kumare:

Address:
8130 Park Rd
Richmond, BC

Website:
http://www.kumare.ca/

In BBQ

Chinatown Night Market: Closest Night Market to Downtown

July 6, 2013

The Chinatown Night Market has changed a lot since I was a kid. With the emergence of the other Night Markets in town, the quality of the Chinatown Night Market isn’t as good as it used to be. Despite that, it still attracts thousands of people every weekend to enjoy the festivities. It’s the closest night market to the Downtown core, so it makes sense. If you’re in the area, take a short stroller here and then enjoy the sunset at False Creek near Science World.

The Vancouver Chinatown Night Market is open from May 17th till September 8th, 2013 on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.

Related Link:

2011 Chinatown Night Market Food Vendors

The market spans from Main Street to Columbia Street on Keefer street. The block is closed off so people can walk freely on the streets.

There are a few stalls that sell toys, jewellery , clothing, and a lot of random stuff.

I honestly never come here to buy things. It’s all about the food for me. But when it was about 10 years ago, I would come here to buy pokemon cards. Nowadays, there’s nothing very spectacular from the vendors.

Bar-B-Q

There’s a stall that sells a lot of skewers. It’s one of those staple items that you must have at a night market.

Bubble Gallo Tea House

There’s bubble tea too. Perfect for the hot summer weather.

Dim Sum Express

The food area is quite popular and the most congested part of the street. There’s even Dim Sum Express, they have a food truck near Waterfront station too.

Potato Tornado

One thing that was a must for MedicalGiraffe and I were the potato tornadoes. You might know them as hurricane potatoes…. depending on where you’ve been. It’s $3.75 each and you can choose your seasoning. They also sell popcorn chicken for $4.50.

This was a popular stall, so the food did take about 10 minutes.

The way that they cut the potatoes is with a drill. Very strange but I guess it gets the job done. Then they deep fry it for the crunchy goodness. The last step is sprinkling on the spices.

We got our ketchup flavoured potato tornado and it sure looked pretty. The taste was ok, but it was very very oily.

Takoyaki

Takoyaki was another item on our mind. It was very very busy at this stall, so it took about 20 minutes to get our order.

They had a lot of people waiting for them, but it took me a long time to figure out something was off about this stall.

All the balls looked ready and perfect to eat, but they took a long time to cook. After watching them for a while, we realized they were frozen store bought takoyaki heated up in these pans.

She wasn’t poking to see if the batter in the centre was cooked, she was seeing if it was not frozen on the centre.

6 pieces for $4.50.

We did feel a bit ripped off since we now know we could probably go to T&T and get a gab of frozen takoyaki for that price.
It tasted passable, but sucks that it wasn’t prepared the way it should be.

Bubble Waffles

There was also bubble waffles too. 1 for $3.75 or 2 for $6.50.

Near the other side of the Night Market seemed a little more Gastown-like with artist, local produce, plants, and jams on sale. There were also 3 Food Trucks there too – JJ’s Trucketeria, Holy Perogy and Ze Bite.

JJs Trucketeria

JJ Trucketeria is a Filipino themed Food Truck. I’ve always wanted to go for a visit but they are usually on Fraser and 43rd. Way too far for me to get to during lunch.

During the night market, they had salads, garlic fried rice plate, panwiches and their market bowls. Their prices are pretty good for a food truck. We really wanted to try their meaty items but we held back and decided to try the market bowl.

Market Bowl ($5) has brown rice, carrots, leeks, caramelized onions, yams, black beans, chick peas with their signature JJ sauce. It is completely vegan, so good for those people with dietary restrictions.

MedicalGiraffe and I didn’t particularly like this item since it was mostly the brown rice mixture with a bit of sauce.

Ze Bite

Ze Bite was there selling their amazing French food.

Nice Pops

Nice Pops were selling some gourmet popsicles with 4 flavours:

Rhubarb and Cardamom
Cucumber, lime and Chili
Strawberry and balsamic Vinegar
Strawberry and buttermilk

The prices are $4 each or 3 for $10.

Cucumber, lime and Chili starts off with the refreshing cucumber and lime flavours but them the spicy chili taste kicks in. MedicalGiraffe’s mouth was literally on fire. She can handle her spice, but this was definitely spicy.

Rhubarb and cardamom was very refreshing. Highly recommended.

On the day that we went, there was outdoor karaoke. Surprisingly a lot of people were fearless and stepped up on the mic. There was a variety of songs sang by people of various ethnicities.

The Chinatown Night Market is not as impressive as the Richmond Night market, so don’t go out of your way to come here. If you are in the area after dinner Downtown, you can just take a stroll over here after dinner.

Website: http://vancouverchinatownnightmarket.com/

In Filipino

Max’s Restaurant: Filipino Food on Kingsway

November 24, 2012

Max’s Restaurant is a Filipino chain restaurant that has recently opened on Kingsway. M, Scarface and I were curious about the food, so we decided to check it out. There are a ton of seats inside, so its great for large families. Private rooms are also available for birthdays or large gatherings. When we went at night, there were tons of families here. There was a wait for a table, which I was surprised.

Calamansi juice was really good and tasted fresh. Much better than the canned one from stores.

Tapsilog Breakfast comes with garlic rice, 2 eggs, pickled peppers and the meat. Breakfast is served all day and is one of the cheaper items on the menu. It’s simple but its way cheaper than the other items on the menu.

Milk Fish was a good item and you must dip it in the vinegar sauce. M and Scarface enjoyed it.

Lechon Kawali is deep-fried pork belly served with atchara and lechon sauce. Its meant for 2 -3 people since it is quite fatty. The quality of this wasn’t very good at Max’s Restaurant, I’ve had better at other restaurants.

Pork Binagoongan are pork cubes sauteed in a rich, mildly sweet and salty shrimp paste sauce. There is also a bed of fried eggplant. It is garnished with tomatoes and chopped spring onion. It’s not a dish for everyone, but I thought it was good.

Garlic Rice is a must order item if you are ordering meaty dishes.

Buko Pandan is made of buko strips, green gulaman and cooked tapioca. It is then flavored with sugar & pandan. M got this and he loved it.

Overall, Max’s Restaurant is a good place if you have a large group of friends or family. In terms of quality, it really isn’t that good compared to Kulinarya. I would just come for the breakfast items, but if you want quality meat dishes, you can find that elsewhere. It’s not worth the price for what you pay here

We Rate Max’s Restaurant:

Address:
3546 Kingsway
Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://www.maxschicken.com/

[googlemap width=”620″ height=”480″ src=”https://maps.google.ca/maps?q=3546+Kingsway+Vancouver,+BC&hnear=3546+Kingsway,+Vancouver,+Greater+Vancouver+Regional+District,+British+Columbia+V5R+5L7&gl=ca&t=m&z=16″]

Filipino

Staff Meal

Menu

Crispy Sisig

Beefsteak

BBQ Chicken

Adobo

Pinakbet

Ginisang Monggo

Pancit Palabok

Spaghetti

Pork Spring Roll

Ube Halaya

Buko Pandan

Final Thoughts

Interior

Menu

Congee Combo

Spaghetti Combo

Sizzling Sisig

Final Thoughts

Menu

Breakfast Joys

Corned Beef Breakfast Joys

Pork Sausage Breakfast Joys

Buko Pandan Pearl Cooler with boba

Chickenjoy

Chickenjoy and Jolly Spaghetti Combo

Chickenjoy and Palabok Fiesta Combo

Pineapple Juice

Peach Mango Pie

Tuna Pie

Final Thoughts

Interior

Menu

Longsilog

Seafood Palabok

Spaghetti

Fresh Lumpia

Laing

Arroz Caldo

Lechon Kawali

Chicken Chicharon Sisig

BBQ Chicken and BBQ Pork Skewers

Garlic Rice

Final Thoughts

Interior

Kamayan-Style Dinner

Halo Halo

Final Thoughts

Interior

Hot Soy Pudding

Interior

Ube Milkshake

Sago At Gulaman

Calamansi

Crispy Pata

Silogs

Final Thoughts

Interior

Wings

BBQ Chicken Leg

Potato and Tomato Stuffed Squid

Final Thoughts

Drinks

Dinner

Bar-B-Q

Bubble Gallo Tea House

Dim Sum Express

Potato Tornado

Takoyaki

Bubble Waffles

JJs Trucketeria

Ze Bite

Nice Pops