Eating off the Hill: April is Filipino Restaurant Month across Canada

I'll get back to my Halifax culinary adventures soon (think seafood) but I wanted to jump ahead because April is Filipino Restaurant Month in Canada and, last week, a friend at the Filipino Embassy in Ottawa invited me for the luncheon launch event.

The launch was held at Sanduk, which I'm told is Ottawa's newest Filipino restaurant and is located on Holland Avenue, a short walk from the Tunney's Pasture O-Train station. The other participating Ottawa restaurant is Tamis Cafe & Restaurant, at 374 Bank Street in Centretown. They mentioned another Ottawa restaurant with a Filipino chef that is preparing a dish, but I don't recall the name and the web site isn't updated for 2024 yet.

Filipino Restaurant Month is a national event, with participating restaurants across the country that offer a Prix Fixe menu designed to introduce Canadians to Filipino cuisine. And diners also get a contest entry to win prizes from the event sponsors, including a trip to the Philippines.

I'm not a stranger to Filipino cuisine -- besides Jollibee I've gone a few times with friends -- including for a traditional boodle fight, which was a lot of fun.

My friend Nestor and I enjoying a Filipino boodle fight in Toronto.

However, for our lunch at Sanduk, we didn't practice kamayan but instead used cutlery. And we started off with a selection of what I was told were traditional Filipino street foods.

I tried to have (at least) one of each, with selections including delicious grilled pork, fish balls, chicken balls and, interestingly, deep fried battered quail eggs -- known as Kwek Kwek. As I've mentioned in past dispatches I'm not a big egg guy (though I am broadening my egg horizons in my old age) but these weren't bad at all. My favorite, though, was definitely the grilled pork which had a very tasty sauce.

A selection of street food appies.

Interior quail egg.

The mains were served buffet-style so we could each make ourselves a plate (or two), and there were a number of dishes familiar to me from past Filipino dining experiences as well as some I haven't tried before.

The most familiar to me of course was pancit, which is basically a stir fried noodle dish with vegetables -- think a Filipino version of chow mein. There were more tasty BBQ pork skewers which I couldn't get enough of. There was also BBQ chicken, but I didn't want to commit to eating an entire leg when there were so many tasty dishes available. My favourite was a dish that was new to me was the kare kare, which was pork belly served in a delicious peanut sauce.

I remarked to my hostess that I always associated peanut sauce with Thai cuisine and I learned that, while they popularized it in the West, it's a staple of cuisine in the Malay region, which includes both Thailand and the Philippines.

I didn't get any photos but passed around were two versions of sisig, served on sizzling plates. The pork version was made from liver which I wasn't a fan of, but I did enjoy the milk fish version and it paired well with the garlic rice.

Finally, we were served a traditional halo halo for desert. It wasn't the fanciest version of this Filipino desert staple I have ever had. It was shaved ice, condensed milk and some fruit, but it was tasty and rich and am enjoyable end to an excellent lunch.

Salamat to the Ambassador and the Embassy of the Philippines for inviting me, and I hope it's a great month. Be sure to get out and enjoy a meal at a Filipino Restaurant this month -- a peach and mango pie at Jollibee doesn't count. Mabuhay!

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Eating OFF the Hill: Jollibee comes to Scarborough

The easy shorthand for explaining Jollibee to Canadians is that it's the Filipino McDonald's. But it seems to hold a deeper cultural resonance for those from the Philippines than McDonald's, so perhaps Tim Horton's would be a better comparative.

After opening its first two Canadian locations in Winnipeg -- Prime Minister Trudeau visited the first location, as well as one in Manila -- the hunger only built in the Greater Toronto area. It was great to see the borough win one for once, with the first location in Ontario opening this past weekend at Kennedy Commons in Scarborough.

I had the opportunity to attend the pre-opening event Saturday, and a tent was already set up in the parking lot for those expected to camp out overnight to be among the first in line for the next day's official opening. The first 40 through the door would win a "year's supply" (one bucket per month) of Jollibee's flagship Chicken Joy.

A Jollibee executive told me they were excited to finally be in Toronto, and many more locations are being planned in the region. The challenge has been finding suitable locations for lease -- many are reserved for other restaurant chains. They had hoped to be here much sooner, and should be in Mississauga soon. I was told they also recently bought American burger chain Smashburger, though there's no word on when they may bring that brand to Canada.

But let's focus on the food. We got to try three of their flagship mains once the formal program was completed -- the aforementioned Chicken Joy, their Jolly Spaghetti, and the Palabok Fiesta. Other menu anchors we didn't get to try included Hamburger Steak, the Yum Burger and the spicy version of the Chicken Joy.

Taking a plate to the buffet line (for the pre-opening only, it's regular fast food ordering usually) I  passed on the salad and added some of each offering to my plate. Staff also came to tables to offer gravy, sides such as corn, rice and potatoes, drinks including delicious pineapple juice, and peach mango pies for desert.

I'll start with the Chicken Joy. They only serve dark meat as they believe it's juicer (which I suppose it is), which puts me at a disadvantage since I greatly prefer white meat. On its own it was fairly typical fried chicken, heavily breaded and cooked through. I didn't find the breading particularly flavourful (no secret blend of herbs and spices) and it may have been a touch too crispy. I'd have liked to have tried the spicy version. I'm told what makes the difference though is dipping it in the gravy. It's a brown gravy, but with an extra ingredient I cannot put my finger on which gives it a little something more. It did indeed enhance my Chicken Joy joy, so consider it a mandatory accompaniment.

Moving on to the Jolly Spaghetti, I was warned ahead of time it's not really like our usual spaghetti. It's described as a sweet spaghetti and I'd heard the sauce compared, I would guess not favourably, to ketchup. Now, it's hard to get a true sense of it because of the way it was uniquely served this time -- buffet, sauce on top -- made for a lower than usual sauce to pasta ratio, I found it only slightly sweeter than usual spaghetti. It also include diced ham and sausage, which blended well with the sauce.

The other noodle-based offering, Palabok Fiesta, was noodles with a garlic sauce topped with pork rinds, shrimp, sauteed pork and sliced egg. I moved the egg to the side and dug in, although I am generally wary of fast food shrimp. With the recommended packet of lemon juice adding more flavour, it was OK but wouldn't be a regular order for me.

In addition to the accompanying pineapple juice, which was a nice change over pop, the standout for me was the Peach Mango Pie. With the same form as a McDonald's Apple Pie, the flaky sweet crust revealed a delicious mixture of peach and mango chunks in a sugary sauce. Sugar does seem to be a recurring theme.

Expect long lines at Jollibee for some time to come -- I hear the first customer on Sunday camped out for some 17 hours, and Filipinos and foodies from across the region will be making the pilgrimage steadily for some time to come.

I'll be back for the Chicken Joy with gravy and to try the hamburger steak, and a Peach Mango Pie for desert, on some jolly day in the near future.

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