Filipino food

[Mooshmouse]

After much forum surfing and coming up empty, I'm forced to ask whether anyone outside of the Philippines has ever dined in a Filipino restaurant?

Here in Vancouver, British Columbia, all of our Filipino restaurants are essentially cafeteria style where you can pick and choose from a variety of entrees. Weekends often feature specialty dishes, and restaurants are often combined with Filipino bakeries and/or food stores. I lament the fact that there aren't any eating establishments that do justice to our cuisine which is so varied and diverse.

Comments? Experiences? Favourite dishes?

[jschyun]

Come to California. We have tons of Filipino restaurants, bakeries etc here, esp in Carson and Daly City, but I did find a bakery in a Vietnamese neighborhood where I live, so even in the outskirts there is stuff.

But so far, I still like best the homemade stuff I get from friends and co-workers at potlucks.

[wordplay]

Mooshmouse, I've often wondered the same thing. You can find all sorts of Asian cuisine in Manhattan, but when it comes to Filipino food, it usually comes down to two places on far ends of the spectrum: Elvie's Turo-Turo or Cendrillon, which is pegged as "nouveau Pan-Asian." I was weirded out there a few years ago when I spotted people eating pancit with chopsticks!

There are more places in Jersey and Queens, but I haven't been out to most of them yet. jschyun, my father-in-law – who's a great cook – thinks along the same lines as you do: Why go out to eat something that you can cook better yourself?

So then do you think that the success of new Filipino restaurants would depend on getting people from other cultures interested in the cuisine? I would love to see more bakeries out here; trekking out to Jersey City to get mamon and pan de sal is sometimes too much!

[Pan]

Wordplay, do you live in Manhattan? There are some Filipino stores around 14 St. between 1st and 2nd and vicinity.

Edited June 10, 2004 by Pan (log)

[Mooshmouse]

You can find all sorts of Asian cuisine in Manhattan, but when it comes to Filipino food, it usually comes down to two places on far ends of the spectrum: Elvie's Turo-Turo or Cendrillon, which is pegged as "nouveau Pan-Asian."

And there's the kicker. At least you have two ends of the spectrum. Here, all we have to choose from is a variety of turo-turo places. Gotta tell you, I damn near split my pants laughing when I read "Elvie's Turo-Turo". Not to say that these places are bad; however, to echo your explanation of jschyun's sentiment, they're certainly not better than what I can whip up in my own kitchen. I don't cook Filipino food at home all that often, but the only time I ever really get a craving to go out for it is when I want something that's too time consuming to do myself... or when I can't convince my Mom to make it for me!

There used to be a hip eatery here that billed itself as somewhat Filipino, but that consisted all of two dishes on a "pan-Asian" tapas menu: the requisite variant of lumpia, and then some kind of adobo recipe. And even that closed down late last year. Is Cendrillon about the same? A couple of Filipino dishes in a sea of multi-ethnic Asian entrees?

Given the large Filipino populations in both California and New York, not to mention Dallas and Chicago, it makes infinte sense that there are a multitude of restaurants to choose from at both ends of the spectrum. Fortunately we have no shortage of bakeries and stores here, of which the largest is, obviously, Goldilocks. Your point about increasing cross-cultural awareness of Filipino food is probably what I'm really trying to get at. It's such a diverse food with it's interplay of Spanish, Chinese, Indonesian, and native influences that I wish more people could experience it. All the friends I've introduced to Filipino food love it, no matter what their ethnic background, and they're always amazed at the amount of food that we prepare for our family get togethers. And so much for a low carb diet in a Filipino household... bread, bread and more bread baby!

[Phatlouie07]

Come to California. We have tons of Filipino restaurants, bakeries etc here, esp in Carson and Daly City, but I did find a bakery in a Vietnamese neighborhood where I live, so even in the outskirts there is stuff.

But so far, I still like best the homemade stuff I get from friends and co-workers at potlucks.

where's the goldilocks and red ribbon bakeshops located in california??

[jschyun]

Come to California.  We have tons of Filipino restaurants, bakeries etc here, esp in Carson and Daly City, but I did find a bakery in a Vietnamese neighborhood where I live, so even in the outskirts there is stuff. 

But so far, I still like best the homemade stuff I get from friends and co-workers at potlucks.

where's the goldilocks and red ribbon bakeshops located in california??

Well, it was hard to find the website for Red Ribbon, but this article gives you an idea of the cities where they're located. I'm most familiar with the one in La Palma (or Cerritos, forget where the boundaries lie)

here's a list of all the Goldilocks stores in CA

Hope that helps.