(Dined 09/20/2025 SA @ 1:30pm): Filipino street food from a truck was the way to go!…read more
While friends and I enjoyed the 14th Annual All About Downtown Street Fair that celebrated and promoted the businesses and vendors in downtown Jersey City, It was time to get our drink and food on, which secondarily brought us to Kanto Filipino Street Food Truck. Before the pandemic, I used to work a ton of local outdoor events where food trucks lined up ready to take you money. During that time, I got very familiar with these mobile businesses, their owners, and sometimes even hired them for events I was a part of. After the pandemic, some of these events sadly folded, so I pivoted to other avenues for outdoor entertainment work that were less-focused on food trucks and more on actual booths/stalls. Nowadays, my more poignant exposure to these meals on wheels was at breweries and various street festivals. "Born" in 2024 by husband and wife duo John and Mary Jo who both grew up in Pampanga - the Philippines' culinary capital, this veteran and family-owned food truck and trailer served authentic Filipino street eats and charcoal-grilled skewers across New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and surrounding areas. In Tagalog, "kanto" translated to corner or street corner where Filipino street food was sold. How was their little traveling kanto compared to other Filipino food trucks I've eaten at!?
PURCHASE(S)
BBQ Pork Isaw 1 Skewer 4pc ($4.00): Marinated and grilled traditionally over charcoal, it was bouncy, chewy, and with a slight charring at the edges from the grill. I laughed as none of my friends wanted to try this (more for me!) when it basically was a type of sausage - yummy!
BBQ Chicken 2 Skewers 8pc ($15.00): Smoky sweet-savory barbecue grilled fresh on the truck, each piece was juicy, tender, and thick that tantalized my taste buds. These appeared to be the favorite of many as I scanned the customers!
Credit Card Fee 4.00% ($0.76): Passing along such fees to the consumer was just the direction where the economy was going...
SERVICE
A friendly female warmly greeted us, took our orders, and less than ten minutes later, all of our food was ready. They had a constantly busy line, so there wasn't much time for chit-chat, which was fine. Everything was efficient and straightforward - salamat!
PARKING
(Varied; N/A this instance): This was a moot point since we walked the slightly flat-to-downhill leisure 20-minute distance from my friend's place. Additionally, because the main drags of Newark Ave. and Grove St., respectively, and adjacent side streets were all closed to vehicular traffic, parking was extremely limited and generally pushed to the periphery of the event area - 'nuff said.
ATMOSPHERE, DÉCOR, AMBIENCE
Your standard self-sufficient catering/food truck/pop-up tent with a limited food menu where you placed/picked-up your order, no area for condiments, napkins, utensils (maybe they supplied these if you asked), nor designated seating area except for the ample outdoor DIY space such as the curb or planters, and natural lighting was prevalent during the daytime while plenty of electric street lighting glowed once the sun went down. There were no TVs while the sounds of consumerism, conversations, kids, and off-in-the-not-so-distant vehicular traffic could be constantly heard in the background.
ATTIRE
Totally casual, so I would normally be in a t-shirt, boardshorts, and flip-flops.
OVERALL
I thoroughly enjoyed my eats from Kanto Filipino Street Food Food Truck, and I would seek them out again if I saw a row of food booths/trucks at the next event I attended (come to Los Angeles!). I'm Pinoy and loved Filipino food, so I may be biased, but they were doing their nationality proud. My only recommendation to them was to try and include other staple Filipino food on the menu such as babinka, crispy pata, lechon kawali, pancit, and pork adobo. I only mentioned this because some Filipino food trucks in L.A. have managed to have a slightly expanded menu with some of these dishes, too. The prices were relatively comparable, the food and portion size were very good, and the service was easy, friendly, and straightforward. I found complete value based on the prices, service, and experience noted above (TOTAL paid experience was around $21.00 BEFORE any discounts and/or tip). And, they accepted my credit card of choice...AMEX! 5.0 STARS
