Zarlitos Family Restaurant

Having the day off I decided to take a trip down to National City; and start off with a hearty "brunch" at Zarlitos Family Restaurant:

Located on 8th Street in National City, this little "diner" serves all the usual suspects; Adobo, Sinigang, Daing, Pinakbet, Pancit, and also has "turo-turo" (point-point) style food from 8am-2pm. But I had a specific dish in mind, and I found it on the menu under "Filipino Delights".

There it was Longsilog($5.00), anybody who knows how much I love Loco Mocos, can figure out how much I enjoy this dish:

Longsilog is Longanisa, that wonderfully sweet Filipino sausage, Fried Rice, and Egg. So the name is a derivative of all three items Long(longanisa), Si (sinangag, fried rice), Log (itlog, egg), in that wonderful way that Filipinos have of creating easy to remember and entertaining  "slang"(i.e. Adidas = chicken feet). The Longanisa was nice and slightly charred on the outside, and cooked all the way through, moist, sweet, and slightly chewy, the eggs were done easy over, I would've wished for the edges to be a little more crisp, but this was fine. The rice was simply rice fried with some soy and egg. A little dish of vinegar with chilies was served along with my Longsilog(I'm sorry, I can't remember the name of this style of vinegar), though I opted for this:

I love Jufran with eggs, so I mixed the eggs and rice with Jufran(Banana Ketchup). I hope I didn't insult anybody by eating it this way. If you've never had Jufran, by all means try it! Jufran is a bit sweeter, and perhaps a bit more savory than regular Ketchup. A friend of mine back home makes a Barbecue Sauce with Spicy Jufran that rocks!

This hearty home-style brunch got me on my way, with enough "fuel" for the whole day.

Some notes on Zarlitos; Parking is limited, it was 1030am, on a Friday morning and there was only 1 open stall in the whole parking lot. The service is very nice, and in some ways calming, the Waitress was somewhat surprised at what I ordered, and smiled and said, "Really, longsilog?" When a little one threw his bottle across the room, She came out with a mop and smiled and said; "No worry, just a small spill..."

One thing I really like about Zarlitos, is that tax is already included in all prices! What a great idea! So if you think about it, my meal was actually about $4.65 or so. Prices mostly range between $5.00-$8.25. Also, I know Zarlitos is open pretty late as well......

Thanks for the recommendation MaryAnn!

Zarlitos Family Restaurant
505 East 8th St.
National City, CA 91950

Spamsilog anyone?

Comments

[Kathy]

Ay! I've been meaning to try Jufran, now I really have to get my hands on some! I had no idea that Filipinos had their own version of the loco moco - you learn something new everyday!

[Kirk]

Hi Kathy - Jufran is good stuff, I don't care for it on fries, but love it with eggs. After thinking about it, this is more like Portuguese Sausage, Eggs, and Rice - really good stuff!

[Reid]

Hi Kirk,

Juffran is really good with fried rice. I've also had some on pancit one time, and found it a little strange, but for some reason, a few of my friends eat it this way.

I don't eat Filipino food out much preferring to eat home cooked Filipino food more...for the obvious reasons which won't be mentioned here.

[Kirk]

Hi Reid - "Back home" I never ate Filipino food in a restaurant, and when I did, well you could say I think I had the same "issues" as you. Plus all my friends had great parties, or their Mom's always could cook up a storm. In San Diego, there are many pretty good Filipino restaurants, and lot's of competition, so the quality and preparation is good.

[ed]

I noticed Menusilog on the menu. Menudo with egg and fried rice. Is this a Mexican style menudo? Or some Phillipine tripe preparation that isn't soupy or something in between or completely different? Do you know?

[Kirk]

Hi Ed - Well I don't care for Mexican Menudo, and find that Filipino Menudo varies wildly - sometimes it has tripe, sometimes no tripe, I've seen it made with pork and chicken, it's still a tomato base soup, but no chilies. I've even seen raisins in Filipino Menudo. On your next trip here, you should try Tita's, they always have Menudo, and see if you like it!

[Kristy]

Mmm...reminds me of portugeuse sausauge and eggs!!! I'm getting hungry reading through all these food posts. I love chicken adobo, pancit, and lumpia! YUM!

[Kirk]

Hi Kristy - It is alot like PSE&R, so I've probably got a third comfort breakfast to add next to PSE&R and loco moco's.

[Jack]

I LOVE a good Filipino breakfast! Looks good Kirk...although there is nothing like waking up in the morning to the smell of fried rice and longanisa cooking in the kitchen. I'll have to check this place out sometime.

[Kirk]

Hey Jack - So you love the "smell of longanisa in the morning!" ;o)

[Toppie]

This is the best place to eat Filipino food. Made fresh to server and nothing that sits in a warmer all day.

[Kirk]

Hi Toppie - Thanks for taking the time out to stop by and comment. Zarlito's makes pretty good food, and the prices are outstanding.

[SHIRLEY]

THE FOOD IS GOOD..BUT THE COSTOMER SERVICE IN THE RESTAURANT IS VERY POOR. I WENT THERE ONCE AND ORDER A TAKE OUT. I WAS TOLD THAT THE FOOD WILL BE READY IN 30 MINS.I PLACE MY ORDER AND WENT FOR A WALK AND CAME BACK IN 30 MINS. THE FOOD IS READY AND PAID FOR IT AND BEFORE LEAVING THE RESTAURANT I DECIDED TO LOOK INSIDE THE BAG IF THE ORDER WAS RIGHT AND THE FOOD INSIDE THE BAG IS NOT WHAT I ORDERED. I TOLD THE WAITRESS ( IN A NICE WAY) THAT THEY MADE A MISTAKE. SHE GAVE ME A TONE AND INSISTED THAT THE FOOD INSIDE THE BAG IS WHAT I ORDERED. I KNOW THE DIFFERENT BETWEEN CHICKEN ADODO WHICH I ORDERED AND SINIGANG WHICH SHE INSISTED I ORDERED. I ASK FOR MY MONEY BACK BUT THE OWNER AND THE WAITRESS JUST GOT MAD AT ME. I DECIDED NOT TO WASTE MY TIME WITH THEM. SO IM WRITING THIS MESSAGE SO EVERYONE KNOW HOW THEIR SERVICE IN THAT RESTAURANT. IM NOT THE ONLY ONE, I HAVE TALK TO SEVERAL PEOPLE AND HAVE THE SAME COMPLAINT.

[ISAW!]

@ shirley.. yeah! it's like that but isn't that the same with TITA'S and CONCHING'S?... I had the same experiance at ZARLITO'S . I just thinks it's not the restaurant it's a personality issue. you want to know bad service you should eat at FLAVOR THAI in convoy....geeessshhh! that place. I just stop eating at TITA'S and CONCHING cuz they mix my food. MAHARLIKA is way better but as we speak they're being bought out. have a little patience shirley. happy new year! mabuhay