Filipino Noodle Joint

For those who have visited Filipino Noodle Joint in Chinatown, you may or may not already know that they have moved locations.  In fact, they have moved to another city into Surrey.  Hey business is tough these days and also factor in operating costs and rent, yah, I'd get out of Vancity as well!  Now they have a proper full-service restaurant complete with a bar (liquor license pending), karoake and dedicated takeout counter.  They also have all the favourites and more...

We are going to focus on their daily specials (at 15% off) including the Sisig on Mondays.  As you can see, they serve the full version with tender crispy nuggets of pig head (yes, you read that right).  There is a good tang to it which helps cut down the heaviness.  I find that the spice level is noticeable.  That is great for me as I like a kick that goes with the rest of the complimentary flavours.  To add even more acidity, the lemon wedge is there for you to squeeze.

So on Tuesdays, you can get the Lomi with a rich and thickened chicken broth, egg noodles and bagnet on top.  Yes, this is also quite the filling bowl where the starch-thickened soup is silky and somewhat sweet with equal parts savoury.  The egg noodles are plentiful and nicely al dente.  Of course the best part is the bagnet on top (pork belly) with its crunchy crackling as well as its fatty (not too fatty) and tender meat.  It is aromatic and natural tasting.

Moving onto Wednesdays, we find the Loaded Beef Pares which is a beef brisket stew topped with bagnet and fried chicken skin.  This comes with a choice of egg noodles or rice.  The rich beef broth gravy pairs well with both the noodles and rice.  The rice would be my choice of starch as it really soaks up all of the beefy goodness of the gravy.  Now the gravy isn't overly sweet nor salty.  Rather, it has the natural beef flavours really coming through.  The chunks of brisket are fall-apart tender.

Okay, bagnet resides in 2 of the dishes already, so why not have the Ilocos Bagnet on top of a rice bowl?  Well, this Thursday special is made for those people who love pork belly with crunchy cracklings.  Lots of texture in this and the accompanying fried pork fat aromatics.  To lighten the load, there is a side of vinegary dip.  To top it off literally and figuratively, we have a fried egg.  The rice is perfect being fluffy and not wet.  This also comes with a side of soup too.

So Fridays are reserved for the grandest of offerings in the Skewer Tray with 2 each of the pork, chicken and fish balls with one Filipino wiener.  This will go really well with a beer (when they get their license).  This is all meat, so I don't recommend that you finish this by yourself (unless you are a football player).  Love the char on the chicken and pork.  Nice smokiness and further enhancement by the sweet sauce.  Meat is juicy.  Fish balls are bouncy and airy.

On Saturdays, they are featuring Karaoke and bottomless Sago At Gulaman.  This brown sugar drink is sweet (but not too sweet).  There is a wealth of sago pearls and different jellies that make this a refreshing and texturally interesting beverage.  On Sundays, we find Fried Chicken Skin with some slaw, lemon wedge and tangy sweet dip.  Also great with beer, the crispy skin is rendered and has a light crunch.  As you can see, the specials are the full-versions and at that, they are huge.  Good value here and also good food.  Just waiting to get their liquor license!

*All food and drink were complimentary for this blog post*

The Good:
- Large portions
- Hearty food
- They have a full dining room now

The Bad:
- Yes, area is still in transition but don't worry about that, people will leave you alone

Win Win Chick-N

Boy, I haven't been back to Win Win Chick-N in quite some time.  In fact, I don't even recall the last time I visited the Steveston location.  When I was doing my fried chicken quest (I stopped because my bloodwork came back horrible), I had went to the Main Street store (which is not there anymore).  This time around, we were here to sample some classics as well as their Summer Sliders.  Yes, it isn't Summer anymore, but they are still available until October 21st!

Let's get right to the Chicken Sliders!  There are 5 choices including BBQ, Szechuan, Mango Tajin, Honey Dijon and Original.  Beyond these flavours, if you just look at the sliders, you'll notice that they are pretty large with 2 whole chicken strips.  These were crispy with moist breast meat.  I liked the batter as it was well-spiced and seasoned.  My favourite flavour of the bunch was the Szechuan with its salty spiciness.

If these sliders aren't big enough for you (it would be hard to finish even 2 of them by yourself!), then you can go outright to the Fried Chicken Sandwich.  As you can see, it was pretty large too with enough moist chicken to occupy every bite.  I've actually had this a few times before and it is a solid sandwich.  The toasted brioche paired well with the crispy spiced batter, mayo and lettuce.  You won't go hungry with this one.

Of course we couldn't visit Win Win without ordering some Fried Chicken right???  We ended up with original dark meat pieces with drums and a thigh.  Unlike some of my previous visits, the chicken was pretty juicy.  I like how the batter (much like their other items) was flavourful with some spice.  But I still dunked it into their peppery gravy because it just made the chicken even better.  Good for the fries as well.

They also have some pretty good sides too including the Filipino Mac.  Consider this a version of Filipino spaghetti (but with macaroni).  It was sweet as expected and yes, the sliced hot dog wieners were there.  Surprisingly, their Poutine was super legit with crispy house-cut fries (and they were still crispy even with all the gravy), real cheese curds and of course, the gravy.  I would recommend this as a must order.

We ended off with an Mini Ube Flan Cake.  As you can see, there was an actual flan right on top.  This was quite good with the unmistakable flavour of ube and a purposeful sweetness.  The flan really did it for me with its silkiness and caramel flavour.  Overall, this was a delicious visit to Win Win Chick-N.  Chicken and sides were solid while their featured sliders could be considered full-blown chicken sammies.

*All food was complimentary for this blog post*

The Good:

- Solid fried chicken with a flavourful coating

- Those sliders are huge

- Good sides

The Bad:

- Um, it is far for most?

La Meza Grill

It has been awhile since I've been back to La Meza Grill.  I personally think it is one of the best, if not the best Filipino restaurant in the Lower Mainland.  The place isn't fancy, but it is modern and comfortable, complete with a Filipino grocery store attached to it.  I've said it before and have said it again, I'm still waiting for Filipino food to be the "it" cuisine.  They've been saying for years that it will happen and well, it hasn't.  Whatever the case, I brought my resident Filipino food expert in Steph to ensure that I'm not liking something that I shouldn't.

Trying to hit some of their greatest hits, we started with the Lumpiang Shanghai.  These Filipino spring rolls were on point featuring the classic thin wrapper.  It was wound up tightly enough so that the layers were crunchy.  I enjoyed how they were not overly greasy.  Inside, the pork filling was excellent.  It was juicy and delicate with a good rebound texture.  There was also no absence of flavour where the sweetness from the onions and veggies came through.  This was served with a side of sweet & sour sauce.

Moving on, we also had the Pork BBQ skewer.  As you can see in the picture, this was beautifully charred and sporting a sweet banana ketchup-based glaze.  They used pork belly and that resulted in very tender and fatty pieces of meat.  With the fat activated, there was plenty of natural pork flavour that was caramelized by the grilling.  With the charring of the sweet glaze, there was both smokiness and intense caramel notes.

We really couldn't be dining on Filipino food without including the Crispy Pata right?  So of course we ordered it!  This was excellent where it was pretty large and also fried up beautifully.  The pork hock meat was gelatinous and super tender.  Now the best part is the crackling and it was crunchy while not being hard.  It was almost airy with some sinful fat and gelatin underneath.  As usual, it was served with a soy vinegar dip on the side.

One item I've never had before was the Bulalo or beef bone marrow and mixed veggie soup.  This was a great suggestion by Steph as it was comforting, especially during these cold days.  This wasn't a complex soup, but it had a good meatiness complemented by the sweetness of corn, cabbage and bak choy.  Hidden underneath, there was quite a bit of tender beef shank.  This could be eaten as a meal by itself.

Continuing on the greatest hits of Filipino cuisine, we got the Filipino Spaghetti.  To be honest, I really like this dish, so it didn't matter if it was rather defaultish.  The pasta was prepared fairly al dente and it was sauced with the classic sweet tomato and banana ketchup mix (maybe a bit too sweet).  There was plenty of ground pork and beef with minor hints of onion. I would've liked to see a bit more hot dog wiener though.

Another favourite of mine is the Pork Sisig or aka sizzling pig face.  Yes, that doesn't sound super appetizing, but trust me, it is!  The fatty and gelatinous texture of the fatty meat crisps up with the hot cast iron plate.  Despite the heaviness of the main ingredient, things are balanced by the calamansi as well as the lemon wedge on the side.  This is best eaten with a side of garlic rice, which of course we also ordered. 

To complete all of our savoury dishes, we had another classic in the Mixed Pancit featuring stir-fried egg and rice noodles with chicken, pork, shrimp and vegetables.  At first, I thought this was a bit too mild-tasting, but as I dug into it more and mixed everything together, we found hits of garlic, sweetness and brininess.  Noodles were slippery and not clumpy while the veggies were cooked through without being soggy.

Hey, if we were doing the greatest hits, we just had to get the Halo Halo for dessert!   This had all of the elements including the base of shaved ice, gelatin, beans, flan, ube ice cream and evaporated milk.  However, the ice itself was not crushed properly where there was literally a big ice cube in the middle.  Oh well, just one minor detail in an otherwise delicious and affordable meal at La Meza.  If you haven't had Filipino food before, this is a great place to try it.  Portions are large and prices are small.  Did I mention it was yummy too?

The Good:
- On point food
- Inexpensive
- Large portions

The Bad:
- Not the biggest place, so not a lot of room for large groups
- Hopefully the next time I have the Halo Halo, there isn't a large ice cube in the middle  

Liberte Cafe & Restaurant

Hidden restaurants tend to have a certain charm about them.  This is especially true when the food is good as well as the service.  Then for the people who find it first, they get to share this with everyone else, hence, the place is no longer a hidden gem nor a secret.  For Liberte Cafe & Restaurant, they have all of the aforementioned characteristics including the fact they serve Filipino-inspired cuisine.  That makes it even more interesting as they are not merely "another" cafe.

I came in for a quick bite and only tried 3 dishes, but it was enough to give me a good idea of the place.  We enjoyed the Honey-Truffle Fried Chicken with rice, however, the frozen veggies were limp and lifeless.  Beyond that, the fried chicken thighs were fantastic.  Crispy and light, the batter stayed as such even though it was drenched in sauce.  The dark meat was juicy while cooked through.  We really liked the sauce as it was just sweet enough with a restrained amount of truffle.

Next, we had the classic Tapsilog with sliced beef rib steak, garlic fried rice, sunny side eggs and veggies.  I thought this was quite good with tender strips of beef that retained a good chew.  There was a balanced amount of seasoning including sweet, tangy and savoury.  The side of vinegar dipping sauce brightened things up as usual.  Garlic rice was chewy and full of flavour.  Eggs were nicely runny and went well with the rice.

We liked the beef so much, it was the featured protein in the Signature Tapa Waffle.  Included with the beef was an ube waffle which was crispy and somewhat light.  The seasoned wedge fries were also crispy due to the starch coating.  It also came with a house salad which provided us with some more veggies.  Now even though we only had 3 dishes, they were good enough to warrant a repeat visit.  The place is definitely charming and serves up food that is not the usual.  Pricing is also quite reasonable.

The Good:
- Decent eats
- Well-priced
- Nice people

The Bad:
- Those frozen veggies (they might've changed that by now)
- Not a big place, better make a rez 

 

The Filipino Noodle Joint

Often, my Filipino friends tell me that they don't prefer going out to eat at Filipino restaurants because they can make the food better at home and of course, at a fraction of the cost.  I mean that can hold true for most types of cuisine but Filipino food is quite home-style and hence, I can see their point.  That might also partly explain the lack of good Filipino restaurants in town as well.  However, what if I told you there is this little hidden gem in the Chinatown food court in the main parking structure?  Also, what if the place is reasonably-priced and boasts massive portions?  Lastly, the food is prepared with love and is definitely more home-style than the mass-produced restaurant variety.  This place is called The Filipino Noodle Joint and I got the chance to sample a variety of dishes with Mijune.

To illustrate the portion size, look at the Ilocos Pancit with egg noodles & veggies topped with longganisa, bagnet and fried egg.  This thing was packed with chewy noodles that were nice seasoned and completely covered by meat!  We found meaty and lightly sweet sausage on top as well as crunchy and aromatic pork belly.  This made for a really filling and heavy dish.  However, the lemon wedges lightened things up.  This could easily feed 2 people if not more.

Continuing on that trend, the Filipino Spaghetti was one of the best I've ever had.  Normally and rightfully, the sauce is usually quite sweet due to the use of banana ketchup and brown sugar, however, this one was really balanced.  Unlike other ketchupy versions, this one was more of an actual sauce with lots of natural sweetness from the onions complimented by the additional deep sweetness of the ketchup and sugar (yet, there was equal parts of savouriness and meatiness).  Plenty of minced meat as well as the classic sliced wieners to make this very hearty.  Moreover, the spaghetti itself was perfectly al dente.  Even though it was missing the cheese, this was still really good.

To complete the trifecta of classic noodle dishes, we had the Pancit Palabok with the usual shrimpy and fishy taste (topped with smoked fish flakes, shrimp and chicharon).  However, the flavours were more pronounced in this one and for me at least, that was perfect.  It could've used a bit more salt, but in the end, there was enough brininess and meatiness to make this tasty.  With the thicker noodles, this was more of a malabon. Again, the portion size was massive and it can easily be 2 meals for one person.  

One thing that was a little of everything was their Baon Box, specifically the Famous Breakfast Box with garlic rice, fried egg, lumpia, beef tapa, longganisa, tocino and eggplant omelette.  Again, this was plenty of food, specifically with the meat.  The beef tapa was tender  as well as being well-seasoned. The tocino was sweet and caramelized exhibiting a nice smokiness.  I particularly loved the eggplant omelette was it was delicate and carefully prepared.  Nice silky texture.  This was essentially a tocilog, tapsilog and longsilog all in one box.

For our soupy item, we tried the Illocos Miki with Bagnet Toppings.  So that the noodles didn't get soggy, the soup was served on the side.  I know I sound like a broken record, but this was another huge portion (this was a large) of slippery white noodles, bagnet, chicharon and egg .  I thought the chicken broth was full of flavour and depth.  Lots of natural sweetness and umaminess.  Noodles were al dente, but got soft quickly, so I would use the soup conservatively or if you eat this at home, separate into small portions rather than eating out of the big bowl.

All of the dishes so far were really good, but the Sisig was our favourite.  Usually, this is made with pig's head, but to keep things less heavy (relatively speaking), they used pork belly here instead.  Hence, the combination of meat and chicharon on top was rich with crispy bits, but not overly greasy.  It was super flavourful and of course, went well with the rice.  Loved the balance of sweet, salty and tang as well as a real kick of spice.   If you have never tried this dish, I suggest you try it. 

Onto the sweets, we were served the Turon with saba banana and jackfruit.  Think sweet version of a Lumpia.  By virtue of using a saba banana, it was more sweet and starchier.  The jackfruit provided extra sweetness and aromatics.  This was encased with a wheat spring roll wrapper which was fried until crispy.  This was not that greasy and had a nice contrast of textures between the filling an the exterior.

In addition to their noodles and other Filipino items on the menu, there was the Buko Pandan.  This dessert drink is a combination of coconut milk and pandan which really offers up tropical flavours.  Be warned, this is a pretty sweet concoction, but the trick is to let the ice melt first and the result is a milky, aromatic and refreshing beverage.  Great for warm days of Summer.

Of course, we couldn't get out of their without having the Halo-Halo.  Now the word essentially means mixed and you are supposed to combine all of the ingredients (crushed ice, evaporated milk, coconut milk, ube jam, sweetened beans, sago, coconut jelly and ube ice cream). together.  As you can see, that would be quite the challenge in the cup we were presented with.  However, after a demonstration, it was proved it can be done without making a complete mess!  This was predictably sweet and full of textures/flavours.  Also an excellent dessert for the hot weather.   So as you can probably tell, I really enjoyed the food and thought it was an excellent value.  Such a hidden gem.  I'll definitely be back!

*All food and beverages were complimentary*

The Good:
- Home-style cooking done right
- Large portions
- Wonderful people

The Bad:- Not the most obvious location, but worth trying to find!- Desserts on the sweeter side, but some people like their sweets, well sweet

Jollibee

Okay, I finally made it out to Vancouver's 1st location of Jollibee on Granville in Downtown.  Hey, I would've gone earlier but I'm not that committed to wait 3 hours in line for fried chicken!  Besides, I've had Jollibee before at Southcenter in the Seattle area in the past.  Besides, I'm glad I waited because there was a $30.00 gift card encouraging me to visit and post about it.  Well, to be honest, I would've went anyways and $30.00 wasn't going to get me very far since I like to over order.

That I did, with 2 family meals and one extra order of chicken.  Hence, I ended up with 3 buckets of Jolly Crispy Fried Chicken (with 6 pieces of dark meat each).  Let's start with the original fried chicken first.  The batter (a good balance of cornstarch and flour) was crunchy and stayed that way even though I had to transport this a good 20 minutes before eating it.  The chicken was juicy and tender with a slight hint of five spice.  As for the spicy chicken, it did have a real kick.  I preferred this one more than the original.  Of course, there was the requisite gravy on the side and it was thick, flavourful and creamy.

As part of the combos, we received a family pack of Jolly Spaghetti with its classic sweet sauce and hot dog wieners.  I am a fan of Asian-style spaghetti including HK-style and Japanese style.  So this was right up my alley with a sweet and tangy sauce hiding the sliced wieners, ham and ground meat.  Even though it had been sitting in the takeout container for awhile, the spaghetti was still al dente.

The other item in the combo was the Palabok Fiesta Noodles topped with pork, shrimp and sliced boiled egg.  This was briny and shrimpy as it should be, but wasn't as strong as some other versions I've had in the past.  Noodles were rather soft (softer than usual), but that might've had something to do with not eating it right away.  There was more than enough sauce to coat the noodles and it was a decent version.

To get my fill of chicken sammies, I got both the Original Chicken Sandwich and the Spicy Chicken Sandwich.  Both versions featured their toasted brioche bun which was a little on the denser side and was pleasantly sweet.  The hand-breaded chicken breast was large and rather thick.  It was coated in a crunchy batter that was flavourful and held its texture from start to finish.  I found the chicken to be tender if not a bit stiff.  I enjoyed the spicy version more due to the sriracha mayo and the sliced jalapenos.

For dessert, we had a the classic Peach Mango Pie that were fried (like the McD's used to do with their pies).  Hence, the exterior was crunchy and light while giving way to sweet mangoes and peaches.  I was only going to eat half, but devoured the whole thing.  Overall, this was not overly different than the last time I was at a Jollibee.  I was impressed with the quality of food given how busy they are currently.  I really wish I could eat it right away, but at the moment, there is no dine-in.

*A $30.00 gift card was provided for me to try the food at Jollibee, I did spent way over that though*

The Good:
- Chicken (and other items) remained crunchy even after 20 minutes
- Something a bit different including the Filipino noodles
- Love that pie

The Bad:
- A little pricier than other fried chicken spots
- No dine-in at the moment  

 

Shameless Buns

For the time being, it appears that restaurants have it tough considering that they are paying for rent and are limited to the amount of people who can dine-in.  Furthermore, the fixed costs in running a restaurant aren't exactly something they can stop paying for.  Fortunately, some are able to pivot and do more takeout and offer other options.  One type of food purveyor that seems to be able to weather this storm are food trucks.  All of the costs involved with a food truck are not going to waste and they do not need to worry about offering a dine-in space.   With that in mind, Jacqueline and I made our way out to the Clayton Community Farmer's Market in the parking lot of Clayton Heights Secondary to make the long overdue visit to Shameless Buns.

Known for their sammies (hence, the name Shameless Buns), we tried the Tapa Dat Bun consisting of marinated beef, chipotle cheese sauce, sarsi caramelized onions, sriracha mayo, chicharron and green onions on toasted pandesal.  This was messy, yet ultimately delicious.  Tender and practically fall-apart tender, the beef by itself was on the saltier side, but combined with the soft sweet bun and the spice from the mayo, it was balanced and complete.

Since we are in October and we both love Spam, it was only fitting to try the Pumpkin Spice Sir Spam-A-Lot topped with a fried farm egg, onions, green onions, fried garlic and smoky maple mayo on toasted pandesal.  We really enjoyed this as the pumpkin spice was not overwhelming so that the Spam was able to do its salty and fatty thing.  Again, this meshed well with the sweet bun and the sharpness of the onions.

The most surprising item we tried was the Filipino Spaghetti Lumpia with chipotle cheese sauce.  Okay, I've had lumpia and Filipino spaghetti before, but not combined into one item!  I was skeptical because of the carb on carb premise, but holy moly this was outrageously good.  The outer wrapper was firmly crunchy and held the whole thing together successfully.  Inside, the al dente spaghetti was its usual sweet self with sausage.  Cheese sauce added the necessary moisture and spice.

Another majestic-looking offering was the Adobo Fries sporting crispy AF (yes they were!) sinigang fries, braised chicken adobo, garlic calamansi aioli, tomato, green onion and fried garlic.  Literally, this ate like a meal since there was so much tender chicken on top!  Loved the hints of acidity from the adobo and aioli where it helped brighten the dish.  The fries remained crispy despite the plethora of toppings and even after our incessant picture-taking!

Along the same lines, we also had the Sausage Party with the same crispy AF sinigang fries, longaniza, garlic calamansi aioli, sexy farm egg, sriracha mayo, green onion and fried garlic.  There was some similarities with the adobo fries except the sausage added sweetness while the egg yolk was at its silky best.  So if it wasn't obvious to you, the food at Shameless Buns isn't your typical Filipino fare.  There is plenty of creativity and risks being taken.  From what we tried, the result is Food Network worthy eats that tastes as outrageously good as they appear.  Definitely recommended.

*All food and beverages were complimentary*

The Good:

- Creative take on Filipino food (modernized)

- No shortage of flavour

- Truck moves to multiple locations

The Bad:

- Not diet food.  LOL...