FilipiNoms 🇵🇭

A staple in most dessert menus in the Philippines, this literally means "mix mix" and is a type of shaved ice dessert with an assortment of sweet ingredients plus evaporated milk. The ingredients vary but the one here features sweetened beans, jelly (agar agar type), jackfruit, halayang ube (purple yam jam), leche flan (something like a creme caramel), and a scoop of ube (purple yam) ice cream.

I personally prefer halo halo with sweetened saba banana (the cooking kind of banana), tapioca pearls, pinipig (rice crispies) and more halayang ube!

This is one of my favourite kakanins (Filipino equivalent of kuehs). Unfortunately, the rendition here is a bit too firm for my liking and comes topped with grated cheese instead of the usual grated coconut.

Since they were out of most a la carte items, we opted for another combo and tried two meat dishes that just came out of kitchen: beef kaldereta (a type of stew with liver paste) and Bicol Express (a pork dish simmered in coconut with fermented shrimp paste and chillies).

Both the beef and pork belly needed more cooking time as they were not well tenderised yet. Will be back to try the sisig, BBQ and kare kare next time!

The assortment of dishes changes regularly, but you'll most probably see adobo (vinegar and soy sauce-based stew). When we visited, they only had the chicken adobo. There are many ways of preparing adobo in the Philippines and this was prepared dry style, without any sauce to ladle over rice. The chicken may look dry, but it was tender and very tasty from being simmered in the aromatic marinade.

I tried Leslie's in Tagaytay earlier this year and we found their signature dish to be comforting (especially on a chilly night) but not mind-blowing. Expect home-style dishes, though probably better than most mediocre Filipino stalls you can find in Singapore.

The beefy flavour of the soup is there but mild, meat was tender but too little, and sadly, our bone was too shallow and didn't have any marrow 💔.

This portion is supposedly good for 4-5, but only if you're sharing many other dishes, otherwise it would realistically feed two or three modest, soup-loving, carb-supplemented appetites.

Your safest bet here would be their grilled items slicked in a sweet savoury glaze. Didn't want to deal with bones, so we opted for this beautifully cooked squid instead of chicken.

Personally not a big fan of this peanut stew as most of the time the sauce is made from a pack. As expected, the sauce was the usual cornstarch-thickened consistency, though there are positives too: oxtail meat was simmered till tender and the veggies not overcooked.

From this spread, I will NOT recommend the Lumpiang Shanghai (spring rolls; $8.95), Tokwa't Baboy (literally "tofu and pork"; $8.95), and Sizzling Sisig ($11.95).

Quite disappointed with these staples. You can easily make better spring rolls at home, while the supposed saucy tokwa't baboy was dry and barely just thrown together. The sisig is decent, but lacks the char-grilled taste.

Adobo is probably the most popular everyday dish in the Philippines, and the rendition here is nicely balanced. The tender pork cubes (along with a hard-boiled egg and some lost potatoes) come in a moat of tangy, savoury gravy perfect for spooning over rice.

Also available with chicken or squid as protein base.

This is a classic soup commonly served in the Philippines, which features tamarind as a souring agent – though most of the time a flavouring mix from a packet is used. 😅
Available with prawn, pork or fish, I would recommend getting a bowl to share to complement the many other rich dishes you'll probably order. I'm giving this place brownie points for not overcooking the veggies (lady's finger, kang kong, long beans, etc). 👌🏼

Personally, I'm not a big fan of this well-loved Filipino peanut stew, but the one here tastes like most I've tried that use instant sauce (hard to come by ones made from scratch, really). They use brisket instead of the usual cuts (oxtail+pork hock+tripe), but I reckon it'll get the job done when the craving hits.

Make sure to mix some of the fermented shrimp paste into the gravy for that extra umami oomph.

Usually prepared by grilling an eggplant whole (the same way you would when making baba ghanoush) then combining the peeled flesh with minced meat and beaten eggs, their decision to skip the first step (and use thinly sliced eggplant discs instead) cost this omelette its characteristic smoky flavour. 💔
Considering how easy this is to make at home, I wouldn't recommend forking out $8 for this, even if there are some prawns added in.