Sunnyhere

Since moving to sunny, southern Nevada ten years ago; one of my greatest pleasures has been meeting and befriending Filipinos. I work in the healthcare industry, which especially in Las Vegas, is chock full of Filipinos. I found myself dining with my Filipino co-workers, at first, at Thai restaurants.

Eventually, they wooed me into the many Filipino restaurants and I was hooked. At lunch, we generally hit one the many, many restaurants on Maryland Parkway. The food has always been delicious, the portions huge and prices rock-bottom. The only non-fast food restaurant I've tried is Salo-Salo. Quite often, I'm the only non-Filipino dining. I'm especially fond of adobo chicken, but I truly can't remember-don't know the names of most of the foods I've eaten.

Recently, Seafood City opened on Maryland Parkway. Inside the grocery are two new Filipino restaurants: Chow King and Jollibees. On opening day, it took one hour to order and receive our lunch. It seemed that every Filipino, in town, was there.

My Tokyo friend says he knows of only one Filipino restaurant, in Tokyo. Can this be true? Are there Filipino restaurants where you live?

kaukau

I'm taking you to Elena's in Waipahu, next time you visit, for some ono Filipino grindz! Can't get enough of her lumpia.

Salamat!!!

Sweet Willie

Not many Filipino restaurants in Chicago, I have dined at a few which I wrote up threads for, I'll have to try and find them.

From the book The Food Lover's Atlas of the World which I received a few years ago while participating in the FT Secret Santa, it states the following for the Phillipines:

Signature dishes:
Lumpia - Filipino version of egg roll
Adobo - dish usually containing chicken, beef or pork, marinated and cooked in seasoned palm vinegar. Some consider adobo the national dish
Asado - meat simmered in soy sauce with onion, tomato, peppercorns, bayleaves
Tamals - banana leaf or corn husk packages filled with rice, coconut milk, ground peanuts, meat, achiote
Lechon - crispy skinned roast suckling pig sometimes served with a sauce made from the liver

Like other Southeast Asians, use of dried fish and fermented fish sauces and pastes to flavor dishes. Rice based cuisine but noodles are important. South Pacific influences here such as yams, taro. Of course Spanish influences such as chorizo, jicama and chocolate.

--

Jaimito Cartero

I ate at Jollibee's in the Philippines a few months ago. I guess you crave what you're familiar with. I had a friend who grew up there, and raved about them, but they were run of the mill hamburger place in my opinion.

Points Scrounger

I see that balut has not yet made an appearance. And. no, I have never tried it.

Sunnyhere

For me, one of the draws to Hawai'i is its population of two of my favorite peoples: Japanese and Filipinos. Toss in a New Yorker with a good understanding of what's important, in life, and you've got a great set of islands!^ ...with some ono grindz!^ I have tried balut, and didn't find particularly disgusting or particularly inviting. Lechon is a Filipino food I eat quite often, probably because I can remember the name and it reminds me of Bavaria.

viking407rob

I tried the balut after a few drinks in Boracay. It wasn't that bad but I don't have any interest in having it again. Same goes for the snails.

Some of my favorite Filipino foods:

Adobo - Tasty dish with Spanish roots.
Menuedo - No, not the band.
Taho - Don't know if its a food or a drink but is sure is tasty. I love hearing the vendors scream "TAHOOOOOOO!"
Fried fish - Tilapia or Milkfish are my favorites
Grilled Tuna - Not exclusive to Phils but the best I've had was at a tuna place in Las Pinas.
Lechon - Yummy pork!

I could think of a lot more but those are the first ones that come to mind. I've always been brave when it comes to trying foods from vendors and buying in the wet markets. Many of the nearby restaurants offer "paluto" service, where they will cook your selections for a fee. I love to buy fresh seafood and have it cooked almost on the spot. ^

viking407rob

I'm not a big fan of Jollibee either. In my experience, the food is bland. I think most people consider the chicken better than the burgers. Even at that I'd recommend going to Max's or Kenny Roger's for chicken.

Delivery is the coolest thing about restaurants in Philippines. Almost EVERYONE delivers. You can see these little mopeds zipping through traffic all the time.

Jaimito Cartero

Oh, please! Don't even get me started on Kenny Rogers. I think there is a good reason why they are out of the US market (at least in all the states I go to.). Horrible, low quality food.

Max's chicken was okay, but nothing I'd go out of my way for.

viking407rob

I agree, Kenny Roger's sucked in the US market. However, I find it fairly tasty in Phils. The Mall of Asia location is pretty good, as well as the one located in SM Las Pinas.

Max's can be hit or miss. The one in Paranaque has been very good from my experience. I've been to others (like the along Baywalk on Roxas Blvd.) that were just avg. at best.

JT's Manukan is very good. It's grilled, not fried.

Where would you recommend going for chicken in Phils?

philipperv

Jollibee was the original fast food chain here and this is the only country where another fast food burger joint beats McDonalds in sales. I guess you have to understand the Filipino palate. Everything has to be sickly sweet, sweet, mildly sweet, or have a hint of sweetness. This includes burgers and fried chicken. The Jollibee way of cooking these foods suits the Filipino taste this way.

philipperv

Just don't try their fried chicken!

My choice is any outdoor lechon or BBQ stand. You really can't go wrong.

lance6

Growing up in Los Angeles, I only tasted the Filipino cooking of my family and relatives.

When I traveled to the Philippines in February, I found out how sweet the Filipinos like their food. My cousin liked to take us to the Mall of Asia in Manila and all of the various restaurants there all had a sweet take to all their dishes! Not that it was bad, but something different and I learned to appreciate it after out time there.

I did enjoy the Jollibee's fried chicken, we had it in Naga, Bicol. Our favorite place to go was Geewan. Yum!

viking407rob

Yeah, I've noticed that. Even the fries are sweet at some places. I've watched Filipinos cook and have seen tons of sugar added to some of the dishes. I actually like most of the foods because the sweetness doesn't bother me so much. I'm bothered more by dishes with a lot of garlic or ginger.

I've tried the Jollibee fried chicken with ketchup. I like it better that way even thought the ketchup has a hint of sweetness, too.

dd992emo

One of my fondest memories of my two years in the Philippines is the balut guy walking the neighborhood in East Bahak-Bahak early in the morning singing "Balut! Balut!". I've had them more than once, but I'm glad I can say I've already done that....

Pancit Bihon with some lumpia on the side, washed down with a cold San Miguel (the kind with the white paint on the bottle, not the paper label)...heavenly! ^