Want to know how I know that this place is good? I've been here three times. Each time, I have over-ordered, probably have ordered 2-3 too many dishes. Each time, I've over-ordered, I've over-eaten. And each time, I have had no regrets, the food here is authentic, delicious and I love all of the people working here. Tucked inside the Oriental Mart, Filipino Express Restaurant was my first true taste of Filipino cuisine and I just cannot get enough of it. It is the go-to place of many of my Filipino friends, who have introduced me to many popular and even some uncommon delights. My previous knowledge of Filipino food was fairly limited, mainly to the traditional items which of course, Filipino Express has. Their lechon kawali (fried pork), pancit (noodles) and lumpia (Filipino spring rolls) are must gets, with each item being super fresh and tasty. Despite my admiration for the classics, there are so many new things that I've tried here that are also fantastic that I just can never decide. I guess that is why we always over-order. My new love is sinigang, a tangy soup that is filled with pork. While the sour may throw you off, it is so comforting. The longganisa is a Filipino sausage that has a unique sweetness to it that is just undeniably great. And the kare kare is a unique take on pork, with the main sauce being made of peanuts. It is a rich dish, but a unique flavor that is good at balancing out the fried and savory flavors. Lastly, I first experienced a halo halo here and it may just be a top 5 dessert. It is so much fun to eat, and delicious too! I covered some of my favorites here, but this really just scratches the surface of all of the amazing things that Filipino Express offers. I am always excited to go back and try something new, maybe the next thing I should try to do is not leave in a food coma! read more

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I'll be honest, I haven't tried a ton of Filipino food before, but I went with a Filipino friend and he said it was pretty authentic. Filipino Express is tucked inside Oriental Store, so the setup is more of a casual, food court style. You order at the counter, grab your food when it's ready, and then find a seat. The ambiance is simple and laid-back. I noticed more customers get takeout. The aunties working behind the counter are super efficient, and the food not only looks good but tastes great. read more

Filipino Express Restaurant - Kare-Kare, Pork Adobo, Laing - Filipino Near Me - Raleigh, North Carolina

The food was really good. The restaurant is located in the back portion of the supermarket. We got chicken adobo which was really good and flavorful. The service was great. I will definitely return to try other items. read more

Filipino Express Restaurant - Chicken Adobo - Filipino Near Me - Raleigh, North Carolina

That little Filipino karenderya/food store is a total hole in the wall, but they make the best authentic Philippine food in Raleigh, or I assume the entire North Carolina. I've been to several Filipino joints but overall for the price , quality and flavor. This is my Go-to place when ever I crave for some delicious grandma's, grandpa's, auntie, uncle's lutong bahay ( home cooked) fresh off the stove meals. Try it and thank me later people. Karaoke machine is missing?! read more

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This place is such a hidden gem! The food was phenomenal and hits the spot. My favorite was the sisig and it is the Filipino dish that keeps me coming back. read more

Terrible service If they make you wait they will forget about you Idc how much customers they have or how good the food is If I receive it an hour later then it's bad Just experienced the worst experience of my life Tempted to throw my order on the ground Happy birthday to the floor But God gave me the prudence and wherewithal to brave the storms of injustice and cruelty read more

A simple Filipino grocery store that sells amazing tasting food that you can eat in or take out. The pancit, adobo chicken with white rice and lumpia caused my wife and I to over eat because it was so good. The young lady that served us was friendly, helpful and amazing. As I said, it's a grocery store with cooks preparing food so don't expect anything fancy but expect great food. We'll be back read more

Good authentic Filipino food and friendly staff. Only regret is overeating and not being able to try everything

Filipino food for blinner (breakfast, lunch and dinner) for travel day The combo is $12 - plenty of food for that amount. You can choose what you want from what's available (this is turo-turo style, literally means point-point as you point which dish you want with your rice) my pick was pork menudo and a vegetable dish called pinakbet). They certainly have a home-cooked feel to it. The smiles of people around you were just a plus - total Filipino vibe. Their halo-halo is the best I've had in the US so far Why I didn't give 5 stars: 1) No one seems to be wiping tables. It's up to the customers to clean them. 2) There were some annoying flies which was a turnoff. read more

Filipino Express Restaurant - Combo meal: pork menudo, pinakbet and steamed rice - Filipino Near Me - Raleigh, North Carolina

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Something I have noticed but it didn't really register, there is uncooked pork sitting on a tray under the microwave, behind the cashier wanting to be cooked. Looks like pork belly and not under temp control. read more

I stopped and got a pick up order. Lumpia. (Get two orders they are hot and addictive). Pork adobo (really tender), and pancit. I made some white rice at home and it was dinner and several lunches. Very yummy. I need to go back and learn more about Filipino food. The restaurant is a stand and order place in the back of a store. There is seating as well. Look up the menu online since there is no real menu on the wall. Definitely go. read more

If you craving good Pilipino Dishes visit this Place.Service is great and the ambiance is pretty cool . read more

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I come here often as it is the only Filipino place in the area. It is located inside of an Asian market so a little tricky to find. Some tables are available to sit and eat.There is always a line. I've called ahead several times and they are always friendly and my food is ready. The lumpia is delicious and perfectly rolled. The pancit is so flavorful! The serving is very big. I also got the lechon which was crispy and hot! They serve it with a dip that was so good!! The prices are very good too! And there's always enough for leftovers! read more

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Restaurant located in the back of the grocery store. Like the previous reviewers said, Filipino ladies manning the stove!! We ordered Deep fried pork, lumpia and Pancit. Food was excellent. Deep fried pork-WOW!!! That was amazing. And the sauce they give you to dip it was even better. Not a fancy place. Cafeteria style. Well worth the visit. I didn't post any pictures because the ones already posted in Yelp tell the story. read more

Let's start by saying, if you haven't you SHOULD! Chicken adobo - Was delicious meat falling off the bone! 10/10 Chicken Curry - was good can be better with my spicy and flavor. I give it a 7/10 Lumpia- delicious fresh, hot, fresh and addictive! 8/10 Pork Belly- 10/10 delicious, crispy and just YUMMY! So good if you are craving filipino food!!!! Customers service was wonderful, they had an amazing staff with helpful insight of what to get or recommend! The space was good for a hole in the wall, it's not your typical restaurant or cafe but more like a home like atmosphere! Go go go and get you some!!!! Tell Liv sent you Raleigh you didn't disappoint this time! read more

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Food is delicious. The service is ok, sometimes there is a language barrier. Some of the staff is friendly than others. The language barrier and occasional attitudes have never deterred my husband and I from going. Wait times can be long and seating can fill quickly during weekend lunch hours. I highly recommend the pancit, fresh lumpia, fried lumpia (sometimes it's a little over cooked), and mix and match different meat plate with rice! read more

Filipino Express Restaurant - Pancit Palabok - Filipino Near Me - Raleigh, North Carolina

Oh my damn finally found some Filipino food in the area and reminds me of the stores back in the DC area . Tucked away in a grocery store is Filipino Express which serves some authentic food.. No real menu besides the pic above the counter... There is more food to offer than wahts on the wall of pics. I ended ordering the Lumpia, Pork Singang, Chicken Adobo, Pancit, and lechon kawali and man oh man it did not disappoint. The lumpia were decent sized and crispy and delicious. The Pork Singang has the right amount of sour and savory and was yummy. Chicken adobo was flavorful but a lil bit dry but flavor was there . Pancit is Pancit.. cant mess that up really . The lechon was crispy and good... fat to meat ratio was a bit more on the fatty side but overall good . I will definitely be back to try the other items especially the Kare Kare read more

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Food was poor. Nonexistent service. Playing restaurant in a cheap take out kitchen. I would pass

Food was delicious. Authentic! Service was excellent and friendly. Ambience is clean, a little cluttered but doable.

Everything was so delicious and savory. Filipino food is the best! Staff are kind as well:)

I so wanted to like this restaurant and this review is real difficult to write, and I also feel people should know. First off the people working are very courteous. That's the high point. We ordered the longanisa which was extremely greasy and quite tasteless. The lumpia was equally bland and one of the vinegar sauces they gave us had some type of insect grub in it. The rice had chunky black specks in it which looked off. The adobo was equally flavorless. Maybe we just ordered the wrong things, but being born in the RPI and growing up in the Bay Area I feel like I have some idea of what Filipino cuisine should taste like. The best part of the meal was the milkfish. Unfortunately, they said it would take 10-15 minutes and in reality took a full half-hour. There was another restaurant in the area (sadly it closed) where I'd gladly drive 45 minutes to an hour to get to. I wouldn't walk across the street to this place if I lived next to it. read more

Being the only Filipino supermarket and restaurant within 50 miles of Raleigh is supposed to make me feel so excited and eager to visit regularly but alas, I'm only content in knowing if I get a man-sized craving for all things Filipino, I know where to go. I lived for 19 years in Southern California where there are so many Filipino supermarkets and restaurants both chain or mom and pop that dot the landscape. I've had food that reminded me of my Lola (grandmother, for my non-Filipino friends) and some that I need to block my memory so as to forget how disgusting the fare was. So comparing the food at this establishment to the best ones in SoCal is middle of the road. Taste is good but not tear enducing. Serviceable at best. My main gripe is how atrocious the prices for the grocery items are. They're like marked up 10 to 15% more than what stores in SoCal sells them for. In fact, they're even more expensive than what you can buy at H Mart in Cary. Seriously... I shopped at this place twice. And I think that's enough. There are other alternatives out there and I'd rather go to those places before I come back to this one. read more

Food stall located inside the Oriental Market with very friendly staff but a little on the slower side with service since some things need to be made as ordered. Tried a few items but would probably recommend the Shanghai lumpia and crispy pork as first timers to Filipino cuisine. read more

Randomly found this place and it was so comforting after a long drive to have finally eat my comfort food. It is located inside a big Filipino grocery store. You go up to the display food then pick what you want. Most restaurant like this offers combo meal but this one is different because you pick the food then they give you their regular serving of food which is a lot. One dish can feed 3 people. I actually like it than combo meals. So we ordered, lechon kawali or deep fried pork, it was so crispy and tasty. What a treat! Its our go to dish. We also got pinakbet, its mix sauteed veges with shrimp paste. Its a perfect match with lechon kawali. It was such a good meal and we even had a left overs that I took for to go. Service was fast. When I'll be in the area again I'll surely go back to this place. read more

Went to Raleigh to visit a friend and stop by at this filipino restaurant around the block. I couldn't contain my happiness after tasting the food they have!!! Their dinuguan, lumpia and halo-halo are to die for!!!! Come by at the place! You wont regret it! Customer service was top notch! Glenda and Joana was helpful in giving their recommendations. read more

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Restaurant is located in a grocery store so it might be hard to find but they do have tables inside were you can eat. The workers there were extremely friendly I told them it was my first time there and asked what they liked and they gave me a bunch of samples to try all of them were really good. I ended up getting the pork adobo and pork lechon both was really good the sauce with the lechon was really good and would recommend you ask for extra. read more

Filipino Express Restaurant - Pork lechon and pork adobo - Filipino Near Me - Raleigh, North Carolina

Don't let this unassuming spot fool you folks - it is indeed a hidden gem. It's actually inside at the back of an oriental supermarket. And the supermarket is located in a run down strip plaza so it may be hard to find. I've never had Filipino food before but all the tastes of the dishes left a good impression. The dishes all looked and reminded me of sweet ol' home cooking. Nothing fancy to look at but the flavors inside do all the talking. In fact, it was all elder aunties in the kitchen cooking up a storm. Since I've never eaten Filipino food before I let my bad habit of surplus ordering take over as I just wanted to try everything there. Fortunately for my wallet I didn't do that but I did get a good amount - too much for two people. I got: Fried lumpia (pork egg rolls) Chicken adobo (chicken in brown sauce) Laing (pork stir fried with taro leaves) Pansit (stir fried rice vermicelli) Fried galonggong (saury fish) Longganisa (sausage in sweet sauce) Tinolang manok (chicken soup with veggies) All of the dishes were pretty good with my favorites being the lumpia, longganisa, and laing. The lumpia were nice and crispy and the pork inside was savory. Dipped into the sweet chili sauce provided and it was a home run. The longganisa sausage had a nice savory and sweet tone to it and went well with the rice. The laing had a hint of coconut milk in it and almost gave me Thai curry kind of vibes but not really - it was an interesting combination with the taro leaves in there. The pancit pretty much tasted like stir fried rice vermicelli noodles (chow mei fun) you find at Chinese take out joints but nevertheless it was good. Chicken adobo was fire too. It's just my preference, but what would have really took it next level for me would be if all of the dishes had a decent spicy kick to them. The dishes all had no heat to them but I guess it works out for the non spicy food lovers. Either way the flavors were still there. All of the dishes were priced pretty fairly for the amount of food given and they pack a good amount in the containers. Needless to say we had a ton of leftovers. Not a single dish was finished in its entirety. Overall, this is a great spot for Filipino food. I think this might be the only one I know of in the area. Price to quantity ratio and the flavors just make this place so right. I'll definitely be back again to try out the remaining dishes I didn't get this time around. read more

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food here has never tasted the same esp. the pinakbet, squid and dinuguan. It's bland., needs flavor., pinakbet is just soggy vegetables.

What a hidden gem that deserve so much attention! Filipino Express Restaurant is located inside of a small Filipino grocery store. Tucked away in the back of the store, they have a small + a bit confusing menu. We got a few dishes and shared between 2 people. We had leftovers for days. The food is so authentic and packed with flavor. Their portions are extremely huge. They have a table with condiments but none of them were labeled. If you're new to Filipino cuisine, you'd be confused for sure. read more

Tl;dr: MASARAP! Authentic filipino food made by filipinos in a classic filipino market. Was looking for an asian store to buy ingredients to make filipino food and happened upon this place that is in a filipino store. I could smell the lechon kawali as soon as I parked so I made my way to the back and took a look at the menu. It was hot bar style, so I ordered pancit, lumpia shanghai, and lechon kawali. The pancit was flavorful and moist. Nothing upsets me more than dried out pancit. The noodles were a combination of bihon and canton noodles. There was pork, green beans, carrots, and cabbage mixed in. The lumpia shanghai came with ten pieces and sweet-and-sour sauce. They were juicy and crispy with tons of flavor, it was balanced out with the sweet and sour sauce. The lechon kawali was VERY juicy and crispy! I used it in pinakbet and the pork held up and gave off enough oil to flavor the whole dish. read more

Fabulous food and really friendly staff! I went in initially for their lumpia, and I'm looking forward to continuing to try different things on their menu. I had barbecued pig ear on a stick because it looked very succulent and delicious. I was amazed at how great the flavor and the textures were! The restaurant is in the back of a really awesome general store, with a ton of isles and refrigerated and frozen foods! I'm definitely going to stop in to try more items on the menu every time I'm in the area! Thank you for being there and thank you for being such wonderful people! And thank you for some amazing foods! read more

Authentic Filipino food experience. The ladies back in that kitchen cook food like in their own homes. The live can get long and slow, especially on the weekends when plenty of Filipinos order en masse, but they have a great selection. read more

Food was authentic Filipino food, Fast and yummy For desert, I had Halo Halo and it was delicious read more

This food was amazing! Service was top notch...exceeded my expectations. One of us was a beginner and 2 are experienced and there was something for all of us. For beginners I suggest the BBQ skewers and Adobo. I'm more experienced and adored the Kare Kare, and the fired bananas had a lot of flavor. read more

Filipino Express Restaurant - Do guan and coconut macaroons - Filipino Near Me - Raleigh, North Carolina

Love that there is diverse Filipino food in the area! We've been one other time off peak with no wait but the food wasn't as hot, but this time we got there around 12/12:30 and the line was a bit long. It took around 20 min to order, another 10 minutes to get all the food because they had to make more pancit. I enjoyed the foods we got because they were mostly made to order - we got 20 lumpia Shanghai (since we ordered in a big batch it was fried there) and a combo platter with pancit, adobo chicken, and sausage. The adobo was so flavorful with a slight sweet, and the chicken was juicy and slightly fatty (so good!) the sausage also had a nice sweetness to it, like a turkey sausage, and the lumpia Shanghai had a fantastic crunch. Everything is truly so cheap and you can get a meal under $10 if you're willing to wait. I do wish the pancit had more flavor so it serves more as a carb to compliment the other two sides. Parking spots are a bit small, there is a dining area in the store. I think this time I did stick with getting what was more popular to ensure the food was hot as that makes a big difference for me. If I were to try the other options I'd probably get take out to heat it at home! read more

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Inefficient, dishonest service and quite expensive for serving you get. We ordered bopis, pakbet, lechon kawali, kare kare, lumpiang shanghai and the bill was $70. When they gave me the bags they did not tell me the lumpiang shanghai is not in any of the bags until I asked because I counted the containers and there were only 4 containers in the bags. So I waited for the lumpiang shanghai for a long time maybe longer than 15 minutes. Then we drove home 16 miles to find out that the container we thought they put the lechon kawali in is actually white rice!!!! The kare kare was not oxtail but a piece of fatty pork leg (pata) with just about 25% meat and the rest is fat and huge bone!!! We should have checked each container while we were there! Of course we are not going to drive back nor call them because they may just deny it as there is no way to trace the transaction as we paid in cash coz if you pay using crefit card there is almost 4% surcharge and we don't want to use debit cards. SO CHECK YOUR BAGS and EACH AND EVERY CONTAINER BEFORE YOU LEAVE THE PLACE AS YOU MAY NOT GET EVERYTHING YOU PAID FOR!!! read more

Food is amazingly delicious. The lechon belly is mouth watering. Also love their liempo the place is clean and the staff are very friendly that's why I always come back at this place. read more

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We ordered food for my daughter's birthday. Lechan and lumpia. Amateurs absolute amateurs. Rule 101 when making lumpia is NOT to cover it. Condensation will make the wrappers moist immediately. We had to serve soggy lumpia. They also burnt so many of them. The lechan wasn't crispy either. It was rubbery. If you can't cater just decline the order. Luckily my mother in-law made pancit and we had Chick-fil-A nuggets. Otherwise we all would have starved. Two of the foods every guest always looks forward to at parties was just a disappointment. I need to find someone in the Raleigh area that knows how to package food up for catering and not burning the food. This isn't it!!! They aren't it!!! I will say two positive things. Eating at the restaurant totally different story, the food is good, lumpia isn't burnt, lumpia and lechan aren't soggy. Also they have a great selection of Filipino groceries! Just don't order catering! read more

Filipino Express Restaurant - Shanghai Pork Lumpia soggy - Filipino Near Me - Raleigh, North Carolina

Our meal was wonderful. We've never had Filipino food, and man what an introduction, absolutely delicious! read more

Filipino Express Restaurant - Delicious food - Filipino Near Me - Raleigh, North Carolina

I loved trying the new foods and their patience in explaining them to me and helping me choose