Tastebuds - Filipino, San Bruno

582 San Bruno Ave West, San Bruno CA 94066
650-583-0899
Parking: small parking lot and street parking
http://tastebudscuisine.com/

Last Visited: February 11, 2017

Food: 3 stars
Atmosphere: 3 stars
Service: 3 to 4 stars
Price: $$ to $$$

Heidi recommended Tastebuds as a good place to try.  Since she's from the Philippines, I figured she would know what she's talking about, and since I drive by this place regularly, that was enough of an endorsement that I didn't think twice.

Since I came for Sunday lunch, I just missed the brunch buffet located along the wall in nice chafing dishes, but what caught my eye was all of the twinkling ceiling lights when it wasn't even Christmas time which resulted in a bright restaurant.  White tablecloths are covered by a glass tabletop and the inside looks a little nicer than the outside. 

- Pancit Miki-Bihon - Heidi recommended this dish.  Similar to other Cantonese style noodles, this dish had a variety of vegetables like celery, cabbage, and green onion.  It also had shrimp which was quite nicely done - not overcooked at all.  Unique to Filipino cuisine, it's a mix of rice noodles and egg noodles giving an interesting texture difference.  The flavors were comforting and authentic, but there was too much sauce making the rice noodles fall apart as soon as we scooped servings onto our plates.  Good flavor, but too much moisture.   $12.75

- Lechon Kawali - Tastebuds claims that it's the best lechon in the Bay Area, so of course that's a dish I had to try.  The roasted pork is cut and then deep fried resulting in a crunchy texture.  Fat has rendered from the multi-step process so each bite was very moist and tender. It can get dry if there's no fat in the cut, but overall, it was good. In case you need to purchase lechon by itself, Tastebuds also offers it in bulk up to 70 pounds.  $13.25

- Pinakbet - I had never tried this dish, but it's essentially mixed vegetables cooked with a sauce.  The vegetables included green beans, tomatoes, eggplant, okra, and bitter melon.  Good.  What I liked most aside from the variety was that the temperature is right - piping hot.  $13

- Steamed Rice - $1.95

Service was friendly, but it was hard to get their attention at times.  We had to ask for them to take our order as well as request more water mid-meal, but the actual interactions were always friendly and they also checked on us after the dishes were served.  Serving sizes are ok - not large, but not small.  While it was a good tasting meal, I still see room for improvement with the noodles.  Good flavors overall.

Ongpin - Filipino, South San Francisco

73 Camaritas Ave, South San Francisco CA 94080
(650) 615-9788, (650)615-0622
Parking: small parking lot
Hours: Mon-Thurs 11am-9:30pm, Fri 11am - 10pm, Sat 9am-10pm, Sun 9am-9:30pm
http://www.ongpin.com

Last Visited: January 2013

Food: 3 to 4 stars (if no contaminant)
Atmosphere: 3 stars
Service: 3 stars
Price: $ to $$

After reading San Francisco Magazine's article, The Great Noodle Quest, I was surprised to see a dish featured at Ongpin because I drive by this place at least a couple of times a week.  I am always looking for a local neighborhood restaurant that could become a regular go-to place.

I arrived at the restaurant and noticed that it was pretty simple in its decor.  Despite it being only 5pm on a weeknight, there were already a number of tables eating their dinner and from the blank waitlist at the doorway, I expect that as the evening wore on, it would get even busier. 

- In the article, Jonathan Kauffman describes the restaurant and their pancit miki-bihon as follows: "This restaurant has one of the largest selections of Filipino noodles in the Bay Area, among them siomai noodle soup and pancit palabok with shrimp sauce and crumbled pork rinds. But the stir-fried pancit miki-bihon is the one to order. A mound of skinny, wriggly rice noodles (bihon) twines around fat golden egg noodles (miki), with vegetables, chicken, and shrimp. The umami-bump of shrimp paste is discernible but not overpowering, and a squeeze of lemon gives the flavor a jolt."

- Pancit Miki-Bihon - I had never tried a mixture of egg noodles and rice noodles.  Reading the description above, I was a bit concerned - it sounded like those concoctions from college dorm days when the cafeteria would mix leftover dishes together to get a messy looking combination of things that didn't belong together.  Even though it was early, I had to wait about 15 minutes for my takeout order to be completed.  When I opened the box of this dish which I had ordered to go, I was happily surprised to see udon sized egg noodles (as opposed to thin egg noodles) mixed with small rice noodles.  Two wedges of fresh lemon added great acidity and balance to the rich flavors.  The egg noodles added good texture that contrasted with the sliced carrots, celery, cabbage, scallions, and rice noodles. The shrimp was succulent, not mushy, and the chicken (dark meat) was tender.  Unfortunately, after I had dished out two servings, I noticed a hair in my food.   I called Ongpin to let them know and they offered to make me a new one if I brought it back, but by then, my appetite was suppressed and I didn't want to drive all the way over just to get a replacement.  $8.95

The flavor is good and had it not been the hair, I would visit Ongpin again, but this experience was just too disappointing for a first impression and alas, not a go-to place for me.

Sinugba - Filipino, Daly City

2055 Gellert  Blvd, Suite 5, Daly City CA 94015
(650) 878-3591
Parking: in shopping center parking lot
http://sinugba.webs.com/

Last Visited: March 24, 2012

Food: 3 to 4 stars
Atmosphere: 3 stars
Service: 3 stars
Price: $$ to $$$
Audrey recommended Sinugba to me and said that I had to try to sisig, so of course, I had to check it out.  Located in the back of a strip mall, it's easy to pass by Sinugba and not know that it's there.  Look for a sign on the main street in the island, then turn into the shopping center and drive around to the rear.

Singuba means grilled.  The small restaurant has dark red walls with brightly colored paintings on one side of the restaurant.  Yellow tablecloths are covered with plexiglass.  The windows bring in a lot of natural light.  From the dining area, you can see into the kitchen where you can see the chefs preparing the delicious homestyle food. 

The menu has a lot of choices, but I always enjoy a good pancit, so it wasn't too hard to decide what to try.  We were promptly seated by the friendly owner.  After ordering, he brought us water and warm plates.  Food came in a reasonable amount of time and super hot in temperature.

- Sizzling Augusto's Sisig - Chopped crunchy pork belly, brunoise onions, lemon juice, soy sauce, garlic and spices are served on a sizzling plate.  Two lemon slices were served on top.  I squeezed the lemon over the dish and the smell of the citrus added to the already wonderful scents coming from the plate.  The mixture of textures were delightful and this was great served over the rice that I had ordered.  The onions were not quite cooked through which gave the dish and extra bite to it.  Yummy - this is one of their signature dishes and worth ordering.  $12.95

- Crispy Fried Chicken - Four pieces of chicken, all dark meat, is fried until golden brown.  I really enjoyed the crispy skin and wish I could just eat a plateful of crispy skin.  Unfortunately, I thought the meat was a little on the dry side.  $5.95

- Pancit Bihon - Chicken is cooked with slices of celery, cabbage, carrots, and rice noodles.  A wedge of lemon is also included.  The portion is generous and the noodle dish is flavorful.  I thought it was good, but maybe priced a little higher than it needed to be.  This is good home cooking.   $8.95

- Steam Rice - Pretty standard.  Cup $2, Bowl $5
While the service was friendly, I would have liked to received water earlier.  It was nice to receive warm plates, but by the time the food arrived, the plates were cold - if that were timed better, it would make the gesture of warming plates worthwhile.  The food at Singuba definitely falls in the category of comfort food.  Prices for the sisig and pancit could be reduced slightly for it to be a better value, but I enjoyed the flavors.  Portions are large and taste good the next day too.

Max of the Philippines - Vallejo

3555 Sonoma Blvd, Vallejo CA 94590
(707) 643-9600
Parking: in shopping center parking lot
http://www.maxssf.com/locations.shtml

Last Visited: September 20, 2007

Food: 2 stars
Atmosphere: 2 stars
Service: 2 to 3 stars
Price: $ to $$$

I had watched a Bay Area news program that had introduced Max’s in the South Bay for good food. I vaguely remember the emphasis being on dessert, but they did mention that other items were worthy of trying as well. When I saw Max’s in Vallejo, I was pretty excited to check out some new dishes.

Service was fair for the most part. When we walked in, we stood waiting at the front counter for a while even though there was a server available. Although she was occupied, there was no “I’ll be with you in a second” and not even a smile. Upon arriving at our seats, it took a long time before anyone came to take our order. I think it was at least 20 minutes from sitting down before our water arrived, and the restaurant wasn’t particularly busy. The delay for service seemed to be present for all patrons.

- Max’s Teaser - The teaser includes fried calamari and fried lumpia. It’s accompanied with a sweet and sour sauce as well as white vinegar served in plastic cups. The calamari was fine with both tentacles and rings. The lumpia was crispy. This dish would receive 3 stars. $7.95

- Pancit Palabok – After having homemade palabok, it’s hard to compare homestyle against anybody’s, but this palabok was extremely disappointing. By the time it reached our table, it was lukewarm. There were few ingredients on it – a few slices of egg, very little pork, and worst of all, since the temperature was so cold, the lard used to make the sauce had begun to coagulate. Very disappointing. 1 star. $7.95

I found my experience to be extremely disappointing. The only reason I would go back would be for their rather large looking desserts or drinks, but I wouldn’t order food here again. Sadly, Max of the Philippines left a poor in poor impression on my mind, from food to service, leaving my cravings for good Filipino food unsatisfied.