As someone of Filipino background, I can say these guys really know how to cook true, authentic…read moreFilipino food. Lately there's been a creative movement where chefs make Asian-fusion dishes inspired by Filipino cuisine. But it's really rare to find restaurants like this in America that capture true traditional, authentic flavors - even in densely Filipino populated areas like California. I will go ahead and say this is the best place to get Filipino food in Georgia as it definitely beats the Filipino food I've had in Atlanta and Savannah.
Adobo Filipino Restaurant is located in the Kroger shopping plaza. It is a small restaurant that can hold about 20 people. The interior of the restaurant is humble and clean. There are some pictures of the menu items above the front counter. This place seems popular since customers kept coming in.
The menu consists of appetizers (lumpia, siopao, empanadas), noodles (pancit bihon/canton), silogs (typically eaten for breakfast featuring cured meat/fish, garlic fried rice, and fried egg), an all day menu (ex. Sinigang, dinuguan, adobo, lechon kawali, etc), dinner menu (ex. Beef steak, beef caldareta, pinakbet, etc.), and dessert (bubble tea, sapin-sapin, halo halo, and leche flan). Prices are very reasonable with most entrees being $7.99-$9.99. Some of the more expensive items are $13.99 at most.
Although it is not on the menu, I heard some customers order kare-kare. Also, I am not sure what separates the "all day menu" from the dinner menu since we were able to order from the dinner menu during lunch time. If you want a drink/water you'll have to purchase one from the fridge.
I cannot eat pork so I cannot vouch for a majority of the dishes since Filipino cuisine heavily involves pork.
Here is what we ordered:
-Chicken Lumpia
-Pancit Bihon w/ Chicken
-Tapsilog (beef tapa with rice and egg)
-Chicken adobo
-Shrimp Pinakbet
-Leche Flan
-Chicken Siopao
-Chicken Empanada
Everything was incredibly delicious. I had my guard up but these guys did not disappoint. I may be wrong, but I think the workers/cooks here are from one of the smaller provinces in the Philippines as opposed to Manila City. To me, that makes for even better tasting food because that means these guys really know what they're doing.
The chicken lumpia was served first. It was crispy, packed with the right amount of meat, and was basically everything I look for in a lumpia. You can tell these were fresh. The lumpia was served with sweet chili sauce for dipping.
The pancit bihon with chicken also had good flavor but the noodles are softer than I'm used to. My mother enjoyed them as well but is more picky when it comes to her pancit bihon. She said they used sotanghon noodles (cellophane) as opposed to bihon noodles (rice vermicelli). Other than that though the pancit was great. There was a good number of vegetables in the pancit as well.
The tapsilog was delicious and really hits the spot for a silog. This was the most tender beef tapa I have ever had. The fried egg was cooked to perfection with a runny yolk. The rice unfortunately was steamed rice and not garlic fried rice (sinangag) as is customary of silog. I was a little disappointed about that but maybe if I specify next time they'll be able to serve it with fried rice.
I was amazed by the chicken adobo. It's the most classic Filipino dish but most of the time I find it's hard for restaurants to get it right - typically the chicken is dried out. But man, these guys do it SO WELL. It tastes just like my grandmother's adobo. It has more oil in the sauce than my liking but the overall flavor was on point. The chicken was tender and the adobo curry had a bit of chili in it giving the adobo a mild kick (nothing too spicy).
The shrimp pinakbet was also very good. Once again I was amazed at how well they executed the dish. It's like I'm in Philippines again. There was a generous helping of vegetables and small shrimp in the dish. For those of you who are curious about pinakbet, I would not recommend it unless you are feeling adventurous as it incorporates bitter melon (ampalaya). If you don't think you'd enjoy eating something so bitter I'd avoid it.
Their leche flan was very good, but for $4.99 I think the portion is a bit small.
We got the chicken empanada and siopao to-go. The empanada was huge, packed with meat and adobo seasoning.
The siopao is amazing. The bun was warm and chewy and the meat was seasoned so well. It really hits the spot for a good snack.
I think Adobo Filipino Restaurant stands out because as I keep emphasizing, they really do a good job of putting out authentic Filipino flavors. Their food gives me nostalgia of being back in the Philippines. Not only that but quality and taste was superb. Everything was made fresh and you could tell with every bite. I don't think you can go wrong with anything here.
Service was friendly.
We drove 45 minutes just to dine in here and we're gonna do it again this week.
