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| - They say you can't beat home-cooked Filipino food. And it's true. My mother would kill me if I said otherwise.
But Casa Manila is now my go-to Filipino Restaurant in Toronto. Feels. Like. Home.
I came here alone. And typically... you wouldn't want to go to a fine Filipino restaurant to eat alone. The portions are just too large, and a meal wouldn't be complete if I didn't have a little bit of everything... so I ordered a little bit of everything. I am not ashamed to sit alone in a booth with 5 plates in front of me. I believe in the power of tupperware. Best believe that my hotel fridge is now stocked.
To me: The mark of an excellent Filipino restaurant is in one dish. And one dish alone.
SISIG. (Pronounced: SEE-sig)
That chopped up pork is the first thing I look for on any Filipino menu. And it earns high marks. The sisig came out on a sizzling platter. Spicy. Savory. Salty. Seasoned. Superb. 4 stars. (WHAT?! not 5?) I know folks... it was unfortunately a little dry and a little overcooked... maybe next time...
I also ordered the pancit palabok (pronounced pahn-sit pah-lah-bowk) which came with shrimp & squid. I've never had squid in my palabok... but it was goooooood. And it even had chicharon (krispy pork rind) sprinkled on top. So many flavors and textures. Delicious.
The lumpia shanghai was aight. Nothing spectacular there. Just glad that it wasn't over-cooked or burned. I could almost swear that these are the same prepackaged ones I used to buy from the store... but... who knows.
I ended the evening with my favorite dessert: Halo-Halo. (pronounced Hah-loh, not Hay-low and it means Mix-Mix) A mixture of delectable tropical goodies: fruits, jellies, jams, & flan, with shaved ice, condensed milk, and your choice of ice cream. I'm rather partial to ube (pronounced oo-beh, meaning purple yam) ice cream. If you've never had it, it's usually served in a tall sundae glass and in layers like a parfait. At Casa Manila, it was served in a bowl and each ingredient was separated. Now you get to have some fun and mix all the ingredients together... hence mix-mix. It's not a complete meal without some kind of Filipino dessert. Halo-halo is it for me.
To drink, I ordered the Gulaman Sago which is the Filipino version of bubble tea... but better. Hehe. The website says it's a "grass jelly drink" but idk wtf that means. If you read "grass jelly", are you really gonna order it? Probably not. So disregard "grass" and just read "jelly". To put it plain: It's a caramelized-sugar drink with jello and tapioca pearls. And it's so refreshing.
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I now realize how long my review is getting, and I suppose the reason for this is because of the severe LACK of Filipino restaurants in Toronto. Didn't mean for it to turn into a lesson in filipino foods and tagalog pronounciations, but it did. I would love to organize a UYE or something to share my culture with Toronto's Yelp Community.
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Needless to say, I had a great time at Casa. The owners were attentive & we even had a conversation about Filipino restaurants back home. It wasn't a very busy night, which probably afforded me that opportunity.
Ah... home away from home. I like Casa.
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