I get really homesick sometimes even though my homehome is less than an hour away and I have awesome friends down here that are like family. This homesickness is not just a yearning for the physical house that I grew up in, the familiar streets of Los Angeles, or the company of my mother, father & sister. I miss the times of back in the day. Being cooked for all the time, depending on my parents for everything that requires money, eating dinner with the family around the dining table which is begun by saying grace.
A major symptom of this homesickness is my ever frequent cravings for Filipino food. Eating Filipino food can connect me to my childhood, family life, and home, instantly warming my heart & tummy. My favorites are halo-halo, beef caldaretta, palabok, sinigang, kare-kare, and pinakbet.
Well, at first I was pretty discouraged when I realized there was no Filipino restaurant within the official boundaries of Irvine. However, there is one only 2 exits north of me off of the 5 freeway.
It's called Manila Groove, in Tustin. The neatest thing about this place is that is has an online menu that is updated daily. I find this very helpful because with a point-point-joint that has a small selection, you can't rely on a fixed menu. I've been going there regularly lately. They don't make their palabok the way I like it - sauce is baked on and dry, not puddly. The caldaretta is bomb (not as bomb as my mom's) but $3.49 for a scoop which contains about 5 pieces of beef. 50 cents per scoop of rice, but it is to-die-for mushy & melty-in-your-mouthy. OH GEEZ, and they serve breakfast all day! I had longsilog the other day for the first time in my life! :) Okay, the end.
WWW.MANILAGROOVE.COM
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