Oh man, what a pleasant discovery! From the sweet, smiling and helpful waitresses at the entrance,…read moreall the way to the clean bathrooms and then back in between with the unique Filipino food, this place defines the term "hidden gem"!
After bookmarking it months ago, I finally dropped by to verify the hype and also because every once a while your body tells you to have something different from the 5000 regular choices out there. Filipino food happens to be on my rare list because we do not have many choices in the city and the ones I've been to, weren't anything much to rave about. This place changed the game for me for that cuisine.
Surely it doesn't look much from the outside. Located in a shopping outdoor plaza and easily missed while driving by. Once inside, it's a different welcoming world. Contemporary, elegant yet casual decor with a hint of "hey come on in, this is our home, not just another restaurant" versus the usual "Just eat, gimme your money and lemme see your backside soon please" kinda attitude. Well hell, Bingo! That's what I mean. Give that waitress a cookie and an extra star just for that! The name is Angela btw.
My first dish here was the Pansit Bihon. It was a day where I wasn't craving red meat so had this on a Saturday for lunch. It hit the spot and more with the added fish sauce and a few squeezes of lemon recommended by sweet Angela, who's the daughter of the owner by the way. Also worth noting at this visit that I asked for a sample of Sisig just to test the waters and make a comparison with another place I'd had that with a major disappointment in the past. After finishing my sample, I was surprised with the super tasty, tangy delightful taste. Couldn't contain myself so told Angela how much I liked it. At this point she said this dish is their specialty and also her mom comes from the Pampanga region where Sisig is originated. Cool! Guess what's my next main dish will be on my next visit.
I returned the next day Sunday to give their buffet a try and get well acquainted with Filipino food. This is held from 10-2:30 on Sundays only and the menu rotates every week. If you're fussy about your food, better call ahead and find out what's on the menu. You can do so on Saturdays also if planning to go there for next day buffet. Again, everting from A-Z was super good. 7-8 dishes every time to savour. Really delish, fresh and very light on the stomach. My personal favs were the Misua soup, fried Tulingan (fish), Pork Adobo, chicken Caldereta, and of course a new discovery called Pork Dinuguan. Mouth is watering as I'm writing these. Thumbs up... all the way up up! Excellent job guy!
Oh, and try their Ginataang Munggo, a red bean pudding dessert. Mmmm!!
Some side notes, they don't have license for alcohol yet but they accepted my suggestion to have a BYOW at least with a smile and said they'd look into it.
Other than that, nothing negative to report and I'm very happy to add this place to my "Top Picks" bookmark. Check it out.
Cheers and bon appétit :)