Revisiting Villa Manila

I'm getting this done rather quickly because FOY (friend of yoso) "TammyC" was wondering what we ate.

It had been at least three years since I last visited Villa Manila, and really hadn't posted on the place since October of 2005, so I figured why not. Come to think of it, I hadn't had Filipino food in quite a while. I pretty much knew the dishes I wanted, but there was no way I'd be able to eat all of that wonderful fried food and come out in one piece, so JohnL, PeterL, and Ange were nice enough to accompany me.

The place looks essentially the same as it did a three years ago, though the menu has a couple of new dishes, lunch specials, and so forth. So why don't we get right down to the food and the one item that arrived first and thus nary a remnant of it saw a doggie bag...the Chicharron Bulaklak, deep fried intestines, delicious......

 

Crisp, with a slight "stickiness" to it, these went down quite easy when dipped into vinegar and garlic.

I've always enjoyed the Nilagang Baka - Beef shank soup. At $17.75 it ain't cheap, but the broth is pretty rich.

 

There was a good amount of meat under what seemed like half a head of cabbage. What I didn't know is that you get free refills of broth....they refilled this twice and John left with what seemed like an entire container of Nilagang for later on.

One of my favorite dhishes at VM has always been the Bicol Express and was a bit dismayed when I couldn't find it on the menu. But when I asked the gentleman informed me that they still make it. For those uninformed critics of Filipino cuisine (you know who you are) this would be a surprising dish, with origins in Bicolandia, the dish utlizes coconut milk, bagoong alamang (fermented shrimp paste made from krill), and surprisingly for many, chili peppers.

 

The pork was very tender and the sauce tasted great on rice....of which we had ordered the bagoong rice and garlic rice along with the steamed version (Are you reading this AZ?).

For me, I thought the fried chicken wasn't particularly good.

 

It was pretty dry and though nicely seasoned, there was no crispness to it. It seemed severely over-cooked.

For me, the meal (the world and my heart literally) stopped at the Crispy Pata.

 

Man, I love the crisp skin, a couple of bites of the fat and gelatin kind of makes me light-headed. But hey, a pata every couple of years.......that's not bad at all! I was pretty much wiped out after this. I'm not used to eating so much rice anymore either......

Peter and John kept on trucking with the Daing Bangus - fried (yet again)whole boneless milkfish.

 

And Angela also ordered the eggplant salad............

The prices at Villa Manila are not cheap, but we ended up payingabout $24 a head, which I don't think was too bad. After all, it was fun ordering a huge spread of food (tons of leaftovers), eating and "talking story"...good friends, good food......good times, always.

Villa Manila
500 East 8th Street
National City, CA 91950

Comments

[The Food Detective]

Crispy pata! So cholesterol-laden yet so good! Hmm...Was it a good thing that I missed this dinner? Did regular rice come with it? Where is the halo-halo???

$24 bucks with all that food is not bad at all. At Conchings, it's about 8 bucks a to-go box.

[kat]

sounds like a nice get together and lots of good food.

[caninecologne]

Very nice Kirk! A great selection of food you had, altho' $17.75 is a bit steep for nilaga (in my opinion). I remember when that place was Max's Fried Chicken. :)

On a side note -'bulaklak' means "flower" which the fried intestines resemble. i'll have to try that one day.

What, no "chocolate meat"?

[Jack]

I think it's been about three years since I've been there too. I'm thinking that I may have to make another visit...

[jeff]

I'm surprised that Filipino has not made greater inroads in the US, considering its got such an earthy character and "soul" food sentiments attached to it. Such hearty flavors and richness should play well here.

[The Food Detective]

One more thing-where is the sisig?

[Kirk]

Hi TFD - All that food for four and you think we're ordering more? ;o) Actually sisig is on the menu...but it's not the turo-turo type sisig, it's the Sisig Pampanga, the original type that uses pig head, ears, and liver....just in case you were thinking of checking it out.

Hi Kat - Lot's of fried food....what could be better!

Hi CC - Yes, that's the place....the chicken seems to have fallen on hard times tho'.

Hey Jack - How're doing? I think it's probably time.

Hi Jeff - I'm not quite sure too.....

[RQ]

So glad I came across your blog! I am from Oahu and married to a Marine. We just moved to SD after being stationed back home in Hawaii for 4 years. Iʻve been craving Filipino food lately (Iʻm filipino and miss my momʻs home cooking) but donʻt know where to go. Will have to check this place out.

[nhbilly]

Ever since my Filipino neighbors introduce me to vinegar dip. I dip almost everything fried with vinegar. Yum
Some reason it cuts the greasiness taste out and better yet aids in digestion ;-)

[AZ]

Steamed Rice :O} :O} :O} :O}
Garlic Rice :O/ :O/ :O/ :O/
Bagoong Rice? Off I go to "Google."

[Kirk]

Hi RQ - Thanks so much for reading, I hope you find the info here useful.

Hi Bill - Yes, it is good stuff, and does help cut richness.

LOL AZ! I couldn't help but think of you!

[Ange]

Great dinner! We ordered more than the group of 10. I love crispy pata!
Now we know why they don't serve beer...the distance to the Church across the street.

[Kirk]

Hi Ange - Yes, too bad.....that's perfect beer food!