There has been a proliferation of Filipino restaurants in Manhattan over the past year of so, which I heartily welcome since our fantastic brunch at Maharlika. One restaurant, Sa Aming Nayon has been on our radar since it has opened a few months back. We knew we had to go once I read our friend Tia from Bionic Bites’ review that featured the Crispy Pata. This is a whole, fried pig’s foot. How could we not try that? For the icing on the cake, we bought a $25 gift certificate for ONE DOLLAR from Restaurant.com. Thanks Mom for telling me about that website.

After arriving, we knew this place was the real deal since many of the other customers appeared to be Filipino. Always a good sign when an ethnic restaurant has people of that ethnicity eating there. To drink we both had San Miguel beer. It was a nice, light pilsner that ended up pairing well with the food(as expected). When traveling I almost always try the local beer and usually do the same at restaurants.

I decided we should order the Sizzling Sisig ($12) to compare to the version I previously had at Maharlika for brunch. Here it was listed as an appetizer. It had three kinds of pig parts (ears, belly and snout). It came out steaming on the plate which made for a bad picture. Our friendly waitress offered to mix up the egg for us. The first thing I noticed was that the pork pieces weren’t as finely chopped as the Maharlika version, which gave it a better texture and less corned beef hash-like. I would definitely order this again.

All mixed together!

To counteract all of the pork, we also ordered one of the salads, Ensaladang Pipino ($5). This was simply sliced cucumber served with a special vinaigrette. Clean and refreshing, exactly what we wanted.

We also ordered one of the noodle dishes, Bihon Rice Noodle with Chicken & Shrimp. They offer a regular ($7) or large ($9), I think we ordered the regular. Since we weren’t very familar with Filipino food, we were a little surprised the noodles were served with some white bread. We didn’t end up eating the bread as we had too much food to eat already. The noodles were light and not very greasy, almost like lo mein. There wasn’t that much chicken or shrimp, but we didn’t need any more proteins. The veggies were good and plentiful.

The MAIN EVENT: Crispy Pata ($12). A whole pig’s foot deep fried. It was quite the sight to behold. I was happy to see so much crispy skin! Although the meat was only lightly seasoned, if at all, the accompanying chili vinegar gave it some great flavor. The meat was nice and juicy and pretty much all of the fat was rendered out. The rendered fat and cartilage had that lip sticking aspect to it that you get from eating connective tissue. I couldn’t believe how cheap this dish was, so I didn’t feel bad about leaving some leftover. I would also order this again, but my cardiologist said I can only have it once, maybe twice a year.

Almost like roast beef!

Crispy skin FTW!

It was served with some rice.

All in all, Sa Aming Nayon knows their pork! We were quite happy with all of the dishes, so much so that we inevitably overate and put ourselves in a pork-coma. It was also nice to have the gift certificate to save a few bucks. You should definitely check out the sisig and pata for yourself!

© TT for The Feisty Foodie, 2012. | Permalink | 8 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: restaurant.com

Pop-up restaurants are the latest trend here in NYC. Move over cupcakes, artisanal pizza, and food trucks. These temporary establishments allow chefs to get super creative with their menu. Since the startup costs are relatively small compared to opening a full on restaurant, the savings usually result in a more reasonably priced menu. The downside is that if you had a really great meal, the restaurant may be gone before you have a chance to go back.

Maharlika was opened by the General Manager of Resto Leon’s sister restaurant, Juliette. I think it was fantastic for the owner to allow the GM to do this. The place was packed the entire time we were there, so hopefully that translated into a healthy profit.

Even with reservations, there was a wait due to the incredibly small size of the restaurant. I believe the term used is “cozy” for most East Village restaurants. Once we wedged into our seats, we were given a couple snacks while we looked over the menu. I was liking this place a lot already!

A couple coffee cups filled with garlic cracker nuts. These were a super traditional Filipino snack. Very similar to American beer nuts. They were super salty and crunchy, but in a good way. It was a nice touch that they gave the table a whole bottle of tap water so we could refill our glasses ourselves to stave off dehydration from these nuts and the previous night’s escapades.

CT says: After gulping down the whole first bottle of water myself (yes, that “previous night’s escapades” may have been referring to me), these crunchy snacks were a great delight! I’m not a big fan of nuts, but I couldn’t stop snacking on these as we waited, and not just because I was starving.

We were also given a couple plates of chicharróns except it was chicken skin instead of pork. At first I thought this name was wrong because I though chicharrón meant exclusively pork, also I was incorrect. For those familiar with Jewish cuisine, these can be called gribenes. I learned about gribenes only a couple years ago, so I feel totally robbed that these were not part of my childhood. To accompany the chicharrón, the waitress poured some house-infused vinegar with chilies and garlic. This vinegar really elevated the flavor of the crunchy skin by adding some salt and sour. It is a little hard to see in the picture, but the freshness of these was confirmed in the couple of small feathers remaining in the skin. I never plucked a chicken, but can’t imagine it being that easy.

CT says: I always enjoy a crunchy bite of chicharrón, but I’ve never had the chicken version before. Even more, I’ve never had it served with a side of vinegar for dipping. However, this was a great way to enjoy the dish!! The acidity cut through the grease perfectly, without making it soggy because it was just a quick dip and bite!

For her main, CT order the tribute dish to Imelda Marcos, the infamous wife of the former Philippine President. Eggs Imelda($16): Lola Mahal’s home-style pandesal, laing (taro root leaves, coconut milk, shrimp paste, and chilies), grilled prawns, kalamansi hollandaise, kamote home fries and maliit salad. Yes, there were a lot of components in the dish. Basically, it was a Filipino version of eggs benedict with huge prawns. CT was especially elated that the eggs were perfectly poached. The last couple of brunches we had(i.e. Back Forty), the eggs were overcooked. This time the yolks were nice and runny!

CT says: To say I enjoyed the dish would be an understatement. As you can see, it was quite a large portion – and I ate every bite (plus some of TT’s). The eggs were poaches so perfectly… oozing yolk, coating everything on the plate in a rich, creamy deliciousness. The grilled prawns were succulently sweet, also cooked perfectly. The kamote fries were slightly crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside. The texture was similar to potatoes, but slightly creamier. On their own their wasn’t much flavor to them – but dipped in the hot sauce and banana ketchup (yup – banana-flavored ketchup, weird but delicious), they added nicely to the overall dish.

The GM also made some hot sauce tableside with more of the same infused vinegar except this time with a lot more chilies.

CT says: Not too hot, but added a nice little spice to the meal.

I chose a more traditional Filipino dish. Pampangan-style sizzling Sisig($13) with egg and garlic rice. Sisig is made of pig ears, snout, belly cooked 3x (boiled, grilled, sauteed) with onions, garlic, lemon and kalamansi. Served in a sizzling cast iron pan, it was basically an awesome corned beef hash. Except various pig parts substituted for corned beef and no pesky potatoes getting in the way. It came with a pretty big portion of garlic rice. I enjoyed taking a bit of the sisig and putting it in the rice to soak up some of the grease. I would have preferred a little more chili to amp up the spice but still enjoyed it for what it was especially since it was my first time eating it. Whenever eating new foods, I always try it unadorned first so none of the flavors get masked. Then I will decide if it needs a little something more.

As if this wasn’t enough food, I also order a side of Longganisa ($5) to share. These were super traditional sausages that lean towards the sweet side. I enjoyed them even more when dipped in some of the vinegar hot sauce. A must order if you have never had.

CT says: On top of my huge meal, I also indulged in these and really enjoyed them! If you like dipping your morning sausage in syrup – then these are perfect! Sweet and meaty… I would love to have rolled one up in a pancake and chomp away!

All in all, Robi made a fantastic choice for some of us to reconnect. Although CT and I have been on quite the brunch kick recently, it was fun to try something totally new. Filipinos know how to do brunch right. Although it was tight quarters, the food and prices more than made up for it. I hope this pop-up sticks around for a long time to come. As evidenced by the line, there was definitely a big demand for Filipino food. NOTE: Maharlika is cash only and reservations are strongly recommend for groups larger than four.

© TT for The Feisty Foodie, 2011. | Permalink | 14 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Brunch, east village, Pop-up

I recently had dinner with two of my favorite food bloggers, Esther & Ulla.  Since we three all live in Queens, we decided to explore a bit more of our borough and try a place that was new to two of us, and a cuisine that I think we’re all somewhat not that well-versed in: Filipino food!  (Well, I let them do the ordering, to be honest…)

I wanted to be adventurous, and so I chose a drink that the waiter explained had jello in it.  I guess I didn’t believe him, but when it came… the drink itself tasted like tamarind to me, but the jelly was actual jello, and not something I enjoyed very much.  However…

Esther and Ulla both wisely chose mango juice, and Esther, after seeing my less-than-happy expression with the drink, offered to trade.  In fact, she practically insisted (after trying it), so I felt better about it cuz otherwise, I’d feel really bad about giving her something I didn’t like.  The mango nectar was awesome – like eating a fresh mango in the off-season.  I stress here that the original drink I ordered wasn’t bad, per se, just something that isn’t to my tastes.  That happens…

Fried pork something arrived quickly and look at it… egg yolk just begging to be popped over the super hot sizzle plate.  We obliged. 

Lumpia, Filipino egg rolls, basically one of the very few Filipino foods I’ve ever eaten in my life.  At the beginning of the meal, Esther and Ulla asked me if I’d ever had Filipino food, and I admitted that I’d had it two or three times in my life; once at Elvie’s Turo Turo, and once or twice at the home of a Filipino friend.  This was something I’d had every single time I’ve had Filipino food, varying degrees of ‘good’ – this was definitely good. 

Dipping sauce for the lumpia; slightly sweet.  Reminds me of duck sauce to be honest, or McDonald’s sweet&sour sauce… 

Noodles. 

Chicken adobo.

My plate!

Chicken adobo over rice; I thought this was very mild and a little blah. 

Lumpia – one coated in the sauce.  Don’t let the picture fool you; I had probably half that plate.  I loved the crisp exterior…

And the meaty interior.  Nothing to dislike here. 

The fried noodle dish, which was boosted considerably with a squirt of lemon juice, but wasn’t all that interesting overall. 

Fried pork!  Crispy fatty bits of pork… but again, the flavor just was very muted and not much oomph.  I wanted something to pop.  Spicy or salty or sweet, but not one of those flavors stood out. 

When we were done eating, our server brought over slices of cake and told us it was free dessert.  It wasn’t too sweet, and actually wasn’t a bad end – mocha/java flavored, and tasty in its own right.  But if you compare… nothing really stood out, and this fell in line with that: not overly sweet, not overly anything. 

Yvo says: I don’t think Filipno cuisine tends towards the mild side, but this place leaned hard on that note.  Everything was pretty one-note, with no flavors popping or sticking out, nothing offensive but nothing amazing either.  I found the food tasty enough, but not amazing, definitely not a place I’ll crave or feel strongly about going again.  I’d go if someone asked me to, but I won’t insist on going, either…  The prices were super reasonable.  (Also, apologies that I don’t know the names of most of the dishes.  I spaced on taking a picture of the menu.) 
middle of the road…

© Feisty Foodie for The Feisty Foodie, 2011. | Permalink | 11 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: lumpia

This past Saturday, HB and I headed to our annual Yankees/Mariners game. (Why the Mariners? Because we started when I was still mad at the Mets for losing the Subway World Series on my birthday, and it is much easier to get Yankees/Mariners tickets than Mets/Yankees tickets.) Despite the game being completely depressing for me – I know the Mariners aren’t the greatest team, but the sloppy playing that day really put my tail in a spin [omg, the Yankees just kept hitting it through the same hole; if it happens more than twice, MAYBE YOU SHOULD COVER THE G'DAMN HOLE?!] – sorry, I get really excited about baseball) – we’d already decided to spend the whole day together, an unusual occurrence in today’s busy lives of late 20 somethings – and just wandered around a bit.

Meanwhile, I’d been texting with our mutual friend StB, asking her where we should eat, if she wanted to come join us, other people are coming, she should just come, blah, blah, blah. At first she suggested BBQ, but then found negative reviews and changed her mine to Filipino food. Having had very little experience with Filipino food before, I was definitely game, as was HB, so off we went.

PB/MD and SW joined us at the restaurant, making our party complete.

Unfortunately, even though this was less than a week ago (!), I can’t remember the names of anything… (but stay tuned for a really funny pic!)

PB/MD’s beef soupy thing. This was served with rice. I know she really liked it; “I’m sick, this really hits the spot” were her words as she slurped it down, putting rice into it and eating it that way.

StB’s something or other… hold on, she reviewed it! (The funny thing is, until I got to this picture, I swear I didn’t read her review, but it’s going to be very similar…)

SW’s chicken skewer. Looked good so I got my own!

Err… SW’s something else. Veggies maybe? You may find this really funny, but it was cafeteria style with the menu on the wall behind the counter, so we took turns going up to order, and I went up last, by myself, so I didn’t hear anyone giving their order.

SW’s chicken in a tomato-y broth. I am pretty sure she liked everything she got – this was also served with rice (actually, everything was served with rice).

HB’s meat (oxtail?) and sausage, served with rice again. Seriously, I heard no complaints from anyone all night about their food, but we were busy gabbing about a lot of other things and so didn’t really talk about the food.

I decided to be different and not order soupy/saucy style stuff (say that 10 times fast!).

I went up to the counter and eyed everything behind the glass. The guy working there – maybe the owner? – was really helpful, explaining what the various dishes were to each person, and just really nice. I ordered the fried pork belly – I can’t resist pork belly, it’s not in me to do so, and it looked good!- and he offered to chop it up for me. Obviously a good choice, as otherwise, it’d have been a long strip and I’d have been attacking it with my butter knife. I was surprised that there was a bone in it, but it tasted good… familiar… like crispy skinned pork (a Chinese butcher item) without the skin. I love crispy skinned pork, but a large part of the appeal in that is the skin. And this was a bit dry…

…it did, however, come with rice, which I at first turned down, but the guy told me I should get rice, so I took a little bit. He also gave me “liver sauce” as he called it, which I was hesitant at first but I was really glad I took it. I think I could eat an entire bowlful of white rice with just the liver sauce (a big deal for me as I detest plain white rice). It was savory and salty and delicious with the fluffy rice, or the pork belly dipped lightly in it- mmm. I must find some of that and buy it, actually…

I also ordered a lumpia, probably the only Filipino food I’d ever had before this night. Basically similar to a spring roll, filled with veggies and whatnot, unfortunately these do not benefit from sitting out. Super soggy and the insides were pretty unimaginative nor flavorful. I barely ate two bites before I gave up.

And last- definitely least of my dishes, even worse than my lumpia wa the chicken skewer. Augh, white meat and super dry, not very tasty at all, I was really disappointed.

Note: both the lumpia and the chicken skewer benefited from being dipped in the liver sauce.

*notice something funny in the background? perhaps… PB/MD making faces at me? back at ya!

StB’s halo-halo, an ice dessert. Check out her review for what she thought of it! I didn’t try any of it, I was stuffed and it looked super rich. After having eaten all that pork, I opted out of eating the halo halo (and instead had tiramisu when we trooped over to Veniero’s afterwards for a nightcap… hahahaha).

Yvo says: The super friendly and helpful staff will guide you to a great dish, and the food is pretty cheap. I think all of my food came out to $10-12 or so, not bad at all considering. I think it’s a great place for an introduction to Filipino food (I’ve heard some Filipino restaurants are really expensive), and its location is pretty good with its prices- close enough to Union Square and lots of places to hang out after/before dinner.
recommended

© Feisty Foodie for The Feisty Foodie, 2008. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Cheap Eats