filipino meat recap
oh, just a quick rundown, I love this place and will big it up no matter what. So: to Woodside's Ihawan, big up yourself! You provide the finest in filipino bbq, and you provide to me (and also Ron Artest) with the finest. My out-of-town friend, with whom we decimated downtown elmhurst's indonesian and thai restaurants (not really) earlier, figured she needed that one last pork fix before she headed back to the land of the morning calm, so last sunday was filipino bbq day. Or, more specifically, delicious day.
we ordered a few sticks of pork bbq, a filet of chicken bbq, paksiw na lechon (pork belly cooked in liver sauce), a few inihaw na talong (grilled eggplant) with bagoong(fermented shrimp paste), laing (taro leaves cooked in coconut milk) and a few avocado shakes. I totally forgot to order the longanisa (stupid stupid stupid!) but I think we did well. the pork and chicken bbq is always out of control; perfectly seasoned and grilled, sweet, delicious, everything right. The pork belly turned out to be roasted or fried, and then cooked down in the sweet perfection that is filipino liver sauce (get mang tomas if you're shopping at the phil-am grocery across the street). The eggplant was grilled perfection and incomplete without the fermented shrimp paste. The greens were soft but deep with flavor, perfect counterpart to the grilled meats. And the avocado shake, as always, out of control. Served unmixed, its sweet avocado on the bottom of a parfait glass, topped with shaved ice and then condensed milk. Its up to you to stir it up, and its delicious.
anyway, this block is hot (and known as Queen's Little Manila) since you've got Krystal's on the other end of the block, Perlas Na Silangan across the street (apparently named for a 1969 action movie of the same name, and in between, Renee's Kitchenette & Grille (with a newly renovated second floor and a buffet that I've yet to try, and Sally's Place (new on the block, 718-205-1155, looks pretty good), but out of all these, I always go back to Ihawan. Other times, I'll order the kare-kare (oxtail and tripe cooked with string beans and eggplant in a thick peanut sauce), the crispy pata (whole fried pig knuckle) or the dinuguan (pork parts and entrails cooked in pig's blood and liver), sometimes known as "chocolate meat". Whatever you get, it'll be guaranteed tasty. Only problem is, the place tends to close early, so be sure to call ahead if you are headed out there, just to make sure they'll be open.
we ordered a few sticks of pork bbq, a filet of chicken bbq, paksiw na lechon (pork belly cooked in liver sauce), a few inihaw na talong (grilled eggplant) with bagoong(fermented shrimp paste), laing (taro leaves cooked in coconut milk) and a few avocado shakes. I totally forgot to order the longanisa (stupid stupid stupid!) but I think we did well. the pork and chicken bbq is always out of control; perfectly seasoned and grilled, sweet, delicious, everything right. The pork belly turned out to be roasted or fried, and then cooked down in the sweet perfection that is filipino liver sauce (get mang tomas if you're shopping at the phil-am grocery across the street). The eggplant was grilled perfection and incomplete without the fermented shrimp paste. The greens were soft but deep with flavor, perfect counterpart to the grilled meats. And the avocado shake, as always, out of control. Served unmixed, its sweet avocado on the bottom of a parfait glass, topped with shaved ice and then condensed milk. Its up to you to stir it up, and its delicious.
anyway, this block is hot (and known as Queen's Little Manila) since you've got Krystal's on the other end of the block, Perlas Na Silangan across the street (apparently named for a 1969 action movie of the same name, and in between, Renee's Kitchenette & Grille (with a newly renovated second floor and a buffet that I've yet to try, and Sally's Place (new on the block, 718-205-1155, looks pretty good), but out of all these, I always go back to Ihawan. Other times, I'll order the kare-kare (oxtail and tripe cooked with string beans and eggplant in a thick peanut sauce), the crispy pata (whole fried pig knuckle) or the dinuguan (pork parts and entrails cooked in pig's blood and liver), sometimes known as "chocolate meat". Whatever you get, it'll be guaranteed tasty. Only problem is, the place tends to close early, so be sure to call ahead if you are headed out there, just to make sure they'll be open.
posted at 9:18 PM
