Epic Grill Silogs

To say we have a shortage of Filipino restaurants in Vancouver is a huge understatement.  Considering the Filipino population, it is perplexing why there aren't more Filipino restaurants.  Yes, I've heard that cooking it at home is more cost efficient and could very well be better.  But really, isn't Filipino food supposed to be the next big thing???  So when Epic Grill Silogs opened nearly a year ago, I was not only surprised at it's Queensborough location, rather, it was a Filipino restaurant specializing in Silogs (or Filipino breakfast featuring garlic rice, eggs and a meat of some sort).

Diana, Steph and I ventured out to Epic Grill Silogs and proceeded to wait an hour for a table and almost an hour more for our food.  We each got a combo silog where we got to choose 3 meats each.  I went for Biya (dried sole), Tapislog (beef) and Lumpia (spring roll) combo.  I found the biya to be light, crispy and chip-like.  This was actually quite good and easy to eat.  The tapsilog was tender, well-seared and sweet with a balancing amount of saltiness.  The best part was the lumpia as it was firmly crunchy with a very tasty filling which was meaty and lean.

Diana had Bangus (milk fish), Longanisa (sausage) and Corned Beef.  This was a substantial amount of food where the charred sausage was the highlight.  It was meaty and smoky but curiously not red in colour (like it usually is).  The fish was a touch dry, but crispy while meaty.  More like a corned beef hash, the corned beef itself was moist and tender with its classic saltiness.  We wished the cubes of potato were smaller and more cooked through.  The garlic rice underneath was in need of more salt and garlic flavour.

Steph had the Lechon (pork belly), Tocilog (pork) and Pusit (dried squid) combo.  I thought the tocilog was pretty good being flavourful with a balanced sweetness and saltiness.  The lechon was fatty while a touch dry in spots.  However, it was still aromatic and fatty.  The sauce on the side was vinegary, meaty and thick.  We weren't super enthused with the pusit as it was really chewy and hard.  It took us forever to get through one of them.  On the flip side (sorry for the pun), it tasted like dried squid with a sweet brininess.

For good measure, we added the Crispy Pata which was served with its usual vinegary dipping sauce.  It was more or less good with tender meat and crunchy skin.  Some parts were a bit hard, but overall, it was a decent offering.  In general, the food at Epic Silogs was decent, but not the best I've ever had.  However, there aren't many places to compare to, so at the moment, this is your place to go if you have a craving for silogs.

The Good:
- Large portions
- Something not readily available
- Okay pricing

The Bad:
- Long wait for food
- Decent, but could be better
- No A/C