Like The Tomato
Nothing here but my musings about daily life, books, anime, and food.
Since Chris and I found Filcuisine, we knew we would be back! This place was a drive for us. So we only get to think about visiting the place if we would be in the area. Well, it happened last weekend. We needed to get some stuff at HMart and this restaurant was in the same complex. Anyway, this was the third time we went here. The second time, we didn’t get to dine in. They were so busy at that time. But luckily, this weekend, we got there right as they opened.
We got new dishes this time around, except for the laing. Because we just loved that dish.
First Order: Crispy Pata. It was between this dish and Lechon Kawali. But I wanted more in a serving so I went with crispy pata. This was a roasted, then deep-fried pork hock. This was served with white rice. And this dish came with two dipping sauces – a spicy soy/vinegar with crushed garlic and Thai chili, and the lechon sauce. It was so good. And I think, Chris and I eating this dish made it look so good that the table next to us ordered it as well after asking the server what we were having. The skin was so crispy that we heard every crunch as we bite into it. Anything fried was a comfort for me. And this definitely hit the spot. It was what I needed.
Second Order: Ginisang Munggo. This was sauteed mung beans with pork chicharon and spinach. I was not expecting much really. I knew I wanted to try it out because we have not had this in years. And yeah, it was good. Really good. We had this white rice. Oh god. Yeah, I need to learn how to cook this. I really do.
Third Order: Beef Tapa Fried Rice. I wanted to try this because I ordered Tapsilog the second time we went here. And it was good. So I said, I loved the marinate they use for their tapa so I was definitely going to order the fried rice. This was fried rice with minced beef tapa, mixed veggies, and egg, flavored with sweet tapa seasoning. I know I said that the ginisang munggo and the laing matched well with the white rice. But having those dishes with this fried rice, elevated them. This was good. The servicing was huge so we were eating this fried rice the whole weekend.
And yes, we did have leftovers for all these dishes including the laing. So we were just going ham on Filipino food the whole weekend. And I loved it. We also got a dessert to take home called leche flan. OHMYGOD. It was definitely not good for me, but it was really good. It was creamy, it was the right sweetness, right consistency. It was really good. I wished we got two of them. And yes, we would be going back. I want to be a regular at that place. The server recognized us! And we’ve only been there three times!
Since I moved here 5-ish years ago, one of the main complaints I had was that there were no Filipino sit-down restaurants around me. And there was just no way I would be driving South in traffic to get to one. Sure, you would think I would not be craving Filipino food. I mean, you would think that I can just cook the dishes myself. However, there are some dishes that I have no idea how to cook. Or I have looked at the recipes online already and I just have not the courage to try cooking yet.
Imagine my happiness when I saw this restaurant, Filcuisine, during a grocery shopping trip one weekend. I just have to try it out. Because the last time I was at a sit-down Filipino restaurant was when I visited SoCal a few months ago. So I tried this restaurant out with my roommate and we couldn’t be anymore happier.
First Order: Crispy Sizzling Sisig. This was made with morsels of savory roasted pork, with onions, jalapenos, and citrus juice, topped with freshly cracked egg, and served on a sizzling hot plate. This dish was always a staple for me when I go to a Filipino restaurant. Let me tell you, this was so good. I definitely prefer this sisig over the dish served at a popular Filipino chain restaurant. I would come back for this over and over.
Second Order: Crispy Kare Kare. This version of the classic kare kare was made with crispy lechon kawali slices paired with the classic kare kare peanut sauce, and of course, veggies. It definitely looked attractively good. And I was tempted to eat some, but I had to restrain myself. I am allergic to some of the ingredients in this dish, as well as the bagoong (shrimp paste) that you eat this dish with. I would have to take my roommate’s word for this. She said she loved it. I watched her eat this nonstop during our lunch, I’d say it was really good. And yes, I am currently researching how to make this dish Roma-proof. Because I miss eating this one.
Third Order: Pork Adobo Fried Rice. It was fried rice, with chunks of pork adobo, egg, and green onions. This fried rice was flavored with savory adobo seasoning. It was good. I mean, my favorite Filipino dish was adobo. So no surprise that I would like this fried rice. And I also forgot to take a picture of this one. Fail on my part. Let’s just say that I was too hungry and I just wanted to dig in.
Fourth Order: Laing. This dish was made of taro leaves simmered in coconut milk. For me and my roommate, this was the star of that lunch. We could not stop eating this. It was that good. Very rarely that I see this dish served at Filipino restaurants, I do not know why. I do not understand it. Regardless, this was the dish that we had to physically tell ourselves to stop eating because we wanted to take home some leftovers. And yes, I also want to learn how to make this dish at home.
The serving size I got for all the dishes were regular sizes. Pretty decent sharing portions, and we still had leftovers after. So we got to enjoy the dishes for dinner at home. Were we in a food coma after? Yeah, a major one. Would we come back? Hell yeah, we would. It was just about making sure to go there right when they open or after the lunch rush. Because the place could get really crowded. I mean, the food was really good, and the demand was high, so I was not surprised that this place was poppin’!
This was long overdue. I visited SoCal in late February to early March this year. So, this post had been super delayed. No excuse just going through some pictures on my phone and found some snapshots I got from a brunch!
The 411: I have a best friend from the Philippines, we’ve been friends since elementary. Sure we might not be as active in keeping up and talking to each other. But he moved to SoCal right after I moved to the PNW, so we kind of missed our chance to actually hang out. The last time I saw him in person was during my brother’s wedding back in the Philippines back in 2014. So it has been a long while. Anyway, I knew I had to see him during my visit to SoCal. I shot him a message the morning after I arrived, and we set the date for when we would have this catch-up thing.
Don decided on the places that we went to since he was from there and I have not been in the area for almost five years. The first thing that we realized was that we were practically neighbors! Flashback to when we were in elementary and high school. His house back in the Philippines was within walking distance from my house. My parents’ house was less than five minutes drive from his house. So that was nice. Like, back in the day.
Anyway, for brunch, he chose Urban Island. From the get-go, he introduced this place as some kind of fusion Fil-Am restaurant. We went there on a weekday and it was raining. You heard that right, it was raining in SoCal when I visited. And just the timing of our visit to the restaurant, the place was not packed. Thank god, cause the restaurant shares a plaza with this huge Asian market. Imagine if we went there over the weekend, that plaza would be packed.
We ordered warm pandesal with ube butter for starters. Dude, that ube butter was the star of the show. It was so good. I know it was just butter, but damn, that ube flavor elevated this butter to new heights.
Another one we ordered was the FOB Fries. Basically, fries with pork belly sisig, rooster sauce, pico de Gallo, topped with a fried egg. Not going to lie, these fries hit differently. Just look at this as the FIlipino version of loaded fries. It was good, but I would prefer this with alcohol. I mean, the dish was under the category Pulutan on their menu so I would not be surprised if this dish matches well with San Mig.
I ordered the classic Tortang Talong. Classic dish. It was a roasted whole eggplant omelet, with ground longganisa, gouda cheese, served over fried garlic rice. You could also get this with hashbrowns. I had the tortang talong with just regular ground pork/beef but never with longganisa. Having it with ground longganisa slapped. The little surprise though was the gouda cheese. It did kind of elevated the dish a little bit. But I could also do without it. This dish was better with hot sauce. And yes, I am thinking of recreating it since it was so good.
Don ordered a Barkada Bowl. So it has bacon, pork belly, topped with longganisa gravy, cheddar cheese, fried egg and scallions, served over fried rice. You could also substitute fried garlic rice with hashbrowns. He swore by this, I would take his word for it. I was not able to taste it since I had my own food to eat.
Food was good. I would describe it as Filipino food with a twist – well, definitely, a Fil-Am fusion. I appreciated the little things they did to elevate some Filipino food faves. This place was definitely more for people, Filipinos to be exact, who have more of an adventurous palate. My mom didn’t like the place as much, but then again, she liked her Filipino food traditional. I enjoyed my time here because I was with my best friend and we had some good conversations between us. Would I come back again when I visit SoCal? Definitely. I would go back at night though, cause I really would like to try their pulutan with some alcohol.
Friday night, Chris and I found ourselves in a dilemma. We were hungry with no idea where to go for our usual Friday dinner date. I was fine with just going to our usual haunts. But Chris, being the more adventurous with trying new places, suggested for us to have some Korean fried chicken. And me, being a sucker for fried chicken, couldn’t turn down the suggestion.
The restaurant was a ten minute drive from our apartment. Traffic was not bad, the usual Friday night dinnertime rush really. So, it was no surprise that there was no free parking spot right in front of the restaurant. The place however shared a plaza with other establishments so there was an abundance of parking spots. The place was busy. But looking at the almost empty restaurant right next to it, it being packed was a good thing. Chris and I decided to sit at the bar not wanting to wait for a table to free up, like I said, it was dinnertime on a Friday and the restaurant was busy.
We focused on two dishes – a seasoned whole fried chicken in honey butter garlic sauce and duk bokk ee (spicy ricecakes) with ramen noodles.
Chris and I both love duk bokk ee but never had it with ramen noodles before. And they so match, definitely a game changer for me. Being used to eating this with just the ricecakes and the vegetables, the ramen noodles gave it a different texture. Because the sauce was thick, it saturated each ramen noodle and packed it with flavor. This dish, depending on where you go can really get spicy, but this one in particular was not overly so. It almost had a hint of sweetness to it, letting us savor and enjoy the dish a lot more. I kid you not, I hummed on the first bite.
One thing about me, fried chicken is more than just a comfort food for me. Definitely sacred. So I am definitely hard to please when it comes to fried chicken. But SIS’ fried chicken impressed the hell out of me. Definitely special. The restaurant uses unfrozen chicken for these and you can taste the freshness in every bite. The chicken was fried to perfection, no dryness whatsoever especially with the dryness prone pieces like the chicken breasts. The sauce that we picked complimented the spiciness of the ricecakes. We almost finished the whole fried chicken. I couldn’t stop eating them. I had to tell myself to stop. Because this fried chicken was that awesome.
The restaurant was cozy without the feeling of being crowded. Ambiance was very chill. While stuffing our faces with awesome foods, we enjoyed KPop that was blaring on the speakers. We couldn’t help but smile as we occasionally hear the singing coming from the karaoke rooms. Definitely dug the almost divey feel of the restaurant. The place was definitely family friendly but I liked that they offered a twenty one and up seating area. It really was a hole in the wall gem with a red door, karaoke and a full bar. Can’t go wrong with that combo.
Stars in the Sky 23830 Hwy 99 N Ste 121 Edmonds, WA 98026 (425) 582-8802 starsintheskywa.com
I am not picky with food, I mean I won’t say no to any good food. Sure I might not eat some dishes – anything with exotic ingredients is a no go – but generally, I enjoy and love food.
I like eating out, I like cooking. I love food. And I am lucky that I get to enjoy food the way I want to.
Until recently –
This might be a little TMI to share on the net but if this episode didn’t happen, I wouldn’t have met up with an allergist.
For the past year or so – maybe a couple of years or more – my skin had been a real problem. I get super itchy at times and my skin breaks in rashes. I thought it was the weather. Dry skin, stress, blah blah blah. But in a not so distant past or I should just say early last month, my skin got horrible. One day I was fine, the next day I wasn’t.
It started on my face – swollen and red. Then scalp got super dry and very aggravated. Then my skin. I was covered in rashes. I was miserable. I was struggling with itchiness and not scratching it.
I went to see a dermatologist, she said that it might be eczema but the fact that I never had it when I was kid almost ruled out that possibility. She suggested an allergist. She didn’t want to start treating me for any skin condition if the rashes and everything else were triggered by allergy. But she did say to stop using anything that has fragrances. And she prescribed me some strong steroid cream to calm my skin down.
That next week, I saw an allergist. I had some blood work done. We found out that I am vitamin D deficient, which could be a factor why I am itching so much. I am allergic to dust, some trees and pollen, cat and dogs – I have two dogs so that’s a bummer. It was also confirmed that I am in fact allergic to some shellfish – well the crustacean side anyway, so shrimp, lobster, crab. I am also allergic to eggs, milk, wheat, almonds, soy and peanuts.
So my allergist and I agreed that an elimination experiment on my diet is in order. Giving up my dogs was not an option, so eliminating allergens out of my diet was the way to go. Aside from shellfish, which I had stopped eating when I was in my early 20’s, all the other food allergies I have is in my diet pretty much everyday. The past three weeks had been tough. Some of the food that I like to eat and some of my favorite food in fact contains those allergens.
It has been an interesting journey. I have been reading labels ever so diligently, actively avoiding some of my favorite foods, not eating out too much, and accepting the fact that I probably won’t be able to enjoy food as much as I used to. My diet had to change drastically and I understand that I have to choose whole food now and actually have to cook my food at home.
I told Chris that I’m still deciding if knowing my allergens is a good thing or not. But the results have been amazing. Since I had stopped eating food with these allergens, my skin had recovered nicely. No more rashes, no more itchiness. And I’m pretty sure the no fragrance thing helped out a lot too. The only thing that I am having trouble now is breathing since I have environmental allergies as well. But that is another story and I have an inhaler for that.
And now a dilemma rises.
How do I go about writing about food if I can’t eat most of them?