So, a couple of my Filipino coworkers and myself headed here after work on Friday. The place only had two other tables occupied since we got there before 5 pm. Upon coming in, the place was bright and open. I like the colourful wall by the bar in the back. My coworker friend was translating some of the messages to me. One of them said not to pee on the wall/here. All I wanted to try here was their adobo and crispy pata. I had adobo before, and I really wanted to know what this crispy pata was all about since my coworkers kept talking about it. So, we decided to each get a different adobo meal and share the crispy pata. The service here was prompt and fast considering crispy pata is suppose to take a while to make. My co-workers ordered in tagalog so I have no idea what they were talking about, but the server seemed very nice.
Crispy Pata $14.99
I've been wanting to try this dish for a while. I know that some Filipino restaurants require you to call in a head of time for your order since it takes a while to cook it but not here. They must do a lot of prep beforehand to get it ready for cooking. Crispy pata is deep-fried pork hock. It is very similar to Chinese roasted pork/pig. The dish is all crispy skin, fat and very little meat. The skin was all crisp and crunchy, and the meat was tender. This is not something you eat everyday because of all the fat. This dish is an indulgence. The sauce was what made the dish. It is a Filipino staple to have soy sauce with vinegar, and this place seasoned their sauce with onions and green onions. I will be buying Filipino vinegar the next time I'm eating roasted pig - no more dipping it in plain soy sauce anymore.
Haven Adobo with Pork and Chicken Meal $7.49
I had the haven adobo meal which is adobo with a coconut sauce finish. You get a choice of pork, chicken, or both. I chose both. The meal also comes with half a boiled egg, salad, and rice. The boiled egg was interesting, and it added more texture to the dish. The egg was lightly deep-fried since it had a crunchy yellow crust on it. The salad was undressed and very little of it. I got a couple pieces of pork and a big piece of chicken. The pork was a little dry and chicken was moist. I got the dark backside piece of chicken. There were different pieces of chicken that was probably scoop up randomly as my co-workers got drumsticks. I could taste the coconut in the sauce, and the sauce was very light.
One of my coworkers got the volcano adobo meal which I was afraid to try, and the other got the tropical adobo. It was a little sweet and it had pineapple chunks in it.
Yema Cake $5.75
After we finish ordering, we saw the dessert menu. It all looked very good and had a variety of desserts to chose from. I only knew what half of them were. When we were done our main meal, we were pretty stuffed but not stuffed enough to share a dessert. My coworker ordered the Yema cake which is good because I didn't know what it was so I was curious. The cake came in a plastic to-go container which led us to believe that they get their dessert from someone else which is okay. The cake was delicious. The cake was very light and moist. It is two layer cake with a thin caramel layer in middle. The cake is then covered with a yema frosting and sprinkled with shredded Eden cheese. Yema frosting is made from egg yolk and condensed milk and is very sweet. The eden cheese gave the cake a little salty taste which was unique and good.
Overall, this is a good place to try Filipino food. It is not a intimidating place, and I'm sure the people here will have plenty of suggestions. I like how they place a banana leaf on the bottom all the dishes, which is how the Filipino usually eat their food on. The banana leaf is not large since it is still hard to find banana leaf in Calgary. I whole-heartedly recommend this place for everyone to try. It is very inexpensive. The three of us paid less than $15 excluding tip for a lot of food. We were very stuffed at the end. One thing to mentioned is that they didn't have any pineapple or calamansi juice when we were there. I'm interested in trying all the dessert and am curious of why the Halo-halo is so expensive, $8!. I guess I will be back to try all the desserts then.
Adobo Experience
Unit 4, 3745 Memorial Drive SE
403-984-8400
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