Back in 2008, "Maribelle" left a comment on my April 2006 post on Manila Fast Food informing me that this very popular "turo-turo" shop had come under new ownership. I made a note in my black book, and kinda just forgot about the place for a while, Until reading Kirbie Cravings post a couple of months ago. So a few weeks back, finding myself in the area, I found myself back at the strip mall which houses Seafood City.
And I gotta say, the place is as busy as ever. And it seemed that for every Filipino in the place, there was someone of another ethnicity in line.
The tocino and lechon kawale looked good, so I purchased a two item combo with those two pork items.
The Lechon Kawale, the wonderful simmered than fried pork belly dish looked great.
As with Lechon Kawale, whether at Pinoy Fiesta, Tita's, or Point Point Joint timing is important, so I nowadays, I never set my heart on Lechon Kawale when going somewhere. I wait until I arrive, and if the Lechon looks nice and fresh, I'll get it. This looked good, but the skin was too hard and chewy, and the fat was waxy and greasy, instead of silken and gelatinous. The Lechon sauce was fine, but a bit too sweet for my tastes.
The tocino was hard (even for tocino), and pretty bland. Not the best I've had. All in all, not quite as good as I've previously. So of course, I wasn't about to leave it at that, and returned a few weeks later. This time, there was a full complement of dishes available, and I ordered what looked good.
One of the dishes I quickly pointed to was the Kaldereta (basically a spicy stewed goat dish), one of my favorites. As the young lady started scooping up the Kaldereta, the young lady behind her yelled out, "hey, wait..." and looking straight at me said, "that is goat you know." I found the young lady's reluctance to serve me the Kaldereta strange since I made it a point to wear my "Kaldereta gear":
After pointing to my t-shirt, and telling her that I love goat, she added, "hey, you know it's spicy...." I can sort of understand her reluctance, especially since it seems that the customer base is much more diverse now, I'm wondering how many folks have bought the Kaldereta, and once getting a whiff of the branch chain fatty acids produced by the rumen of sheep and lamb, combined with the thymol stored in the fat might have freaked out a bit.
This was very good, the meat was tender and moist, very gamy, mild spice, and well flavored. It was perhaps over stewed as the potatoes had melted away, but that didn't bother me at all.
I always thought the Sisig on my previous visits had a decent sour and spicy flavor, but was always a bit too wet. And indeed it did look a bit wet on the steam table, but I decided to have it anyway.
Wow, this was waaaay to soupy. I did think the flavor was good though, a nice amount of sour and decent spiciness. In my opinion, if you combined the flavor of the Sisig at Manila Fast Food with the texture from Betchays, you'd have some pretty good Sisig on your hands.
And of course, there's still Crispy Pata ($11.99)..... well, maybe next time!
Manila Fast Food and Desserts
8979 Mira Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92126
"branch chain fatty acids produced by the rumen...combined with the thymol stored in the fat.."
NICE!
Posted by: Chris | Thursday, 20 August 2009 at 10:02 PM
glad the goat dish was good :)
Posted by: kat | Friday, 21 August 2009 at 04:02 AM
hi kirk! i like how you were "prepared" to represent with your GOT GOAT shirt!!!! ha ha
that's funny how they were reluctant to give you the kaldereta...you know more about Filipino food than some Filipinos!
Posted by: caninecologne | Friday, 21 August 2009 at 06:38 AM
Hi Chris - LOL! I had always wondered what gave lamb and goat meat their unique "fragrance".
Hi Kat - Yes, it was good.
Hi CC - Actually, it was just coincidence.... I just happened to have that shirt on that day. I realized it when the young lady didn't want to give me the Kaldereta! ;o)
Posted by: Kirk | Friday, 21 August 2009 at 07:31 AM
Totally off the topic but has anyone tried Quik Wok in RB for their chinese breakfast, you tiao, soybean milk, beef roll.
Saw it on yelp that they have breakfast"chinese menu" on the weekends.
Posted by: Roland | Friday, 21 August 2009 at 07:49 AM
haha, love the shirt! Kaldereta is one of my favorite dishes, along with menudo (sp?). Too bad the lechon wasn't good. I've had nothing but mediocre to bleh lechon lately.
Posted by: Carol | Friday, 21 August 2009 at 08:56 AM
Gotta love the sci tech food approach. And the goat does look good.
Posted by: ed (from Yuma) | Friday, 21 August 2009 at 08:58 AM
i love that you pointed to your shirt. 'see? i am wearing a shirt proclaiming my love of goat!'
Posted by: dave | Friday, 21 August 2009 at 09:08 AM
Glad you came out with something decent.
Posted by: nhbilly | Friday, 21 August 2009 at 10:01 AM
Thanks for the link Kirk! I've had the crispy pata a few times. Sometimes it's good, sometimes it is a bit too dry. I'm going to try the Kaldereta next time.
Posted by: kirbie | Friday, 21 August 2009 at 10:06 AM
That is the funniest shirt ever! Hahaha!
Posted by: Faye | Friday, 21 August 2009 at 10:47 AM
Kirk I must have that shirt!!!!! :P
Posted by: Masa Assassin | Friday, 21 August 2009 at 02:13 PM
now stored into GPS =)
Posted by: Andy (美國土子) | Friday, 21 August 2009 at 03:14 PM
hmmm, that lechon kawale looks just like chicharrone... and what's crispy pata? too bad it wasn't as good as it looks.
Posted by: foodhoe | Saturday, 22 August 2009 at 08:27 AM
That shirt really is fantastic. Where did you get it?
Posted by: Lynnea | Saturday, 22 August 2009 at 09:12 AM
Hi Roland - Wow, another one for my list!
Hi Carol - This version was pretty good.
Hi Ed - Awhile back, I was wondering what gave goat and lamb it's unique smell and flavor, and that's what I learned.
Hi Dave - LOL! I really didn't pay attnetion when I chose that t-shirt, but I guess it was useful!
Hi Billy - I'm glad as well!
Hi Kirbie - If you don't mind goat, give the kaldereta a shot. I thought it was pretty good.
Hi Faye - Thanks..... I love that shirt!
Hi MA - I'll see if they still have it in stock! There's one that says "Got Balut"..... ;o)
Hi Andy - This place is cheap, and not bad.
Hi FH - Lechon Kawale is simmered than deep fried pork belly... it still has the skin on. Crispy Pata is a simmered, than deep fried pork leg ("pata"):
http://mmm-yoso.typepad.com/mmmyoso/2005/10/villa_manila_re.html
Hi Lynnea - It's from a company called "Filipino Style".... but that shirt is really, "my style" wouldn't you agree? ;o)
Posted by: Kirk | Sunday, 23 August 2009 at 10:53 AM
Wow! they are so delicious all the food looks so nice i like all of them,thank you for sharing this.
reign
Posted by: In Lechon Philippine | Tuesday, 25 August 2009 at 01:53 AM
Lechon Kawali sauce is usually kinda gross for me too. I like it dipped in the garlic vinegar.
Where is the best place you've had lechon kawali?
I LOVE this stuff. I'm currently learning to make some at home because the closest fix is Salo Salo out in Artesia.
Posted by: Hungry Huy | Friday, 16 October 2009 at 02:40 AM
Hi HH - There are a couple of places that do it well, Point-Point, Pinoy Fiesta, etc..... but so much of it is timing. If you get there when it is fresh, oh-man.....
Posted by: Kirk | Friday, 16 October 2009 at 07:41 AM
too bad this isn't in the Philippines, i would have headed off towards it if it was just around the city... glad you enjoyed it! :D
Posted by: zaech | Saturday, 31 October 2009 at 05:21 PM