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.
Menu
Compared to their online menu, they have more specials and desserts listed in the restaurant.
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/
