Overall, I really enjoy the food here in the Philippines.  For the first 5 or 6 days, every person I met here asked if I’ve had Balut.  I included the link to the wiki page explaining exactly what it is and it includes pictures.  It looks terribly disgusting and everyone over here definitely knows it.  However, I guess if you see it all the time the “gross” factor probably starts wearing off over time.  My co-workers thought it would be a fun idea to take me out for lunch and order me Balut.  Peer pressure is real.  You can watch the video of me eating it. I first watched Lem next to me eat it first.  Truth be told the taste of it wasn’t the worst thing in the world.  It was just OK.  I feel if it wasn’t so gross looking and if the idea of it wasn’t so nasty, I’d be inclined to eat it on rare occasions.  I’m sure you noticed in the video I placed a “censor” strip of Calamansi Tang over my mouth because I said some adult words because I was not necessarily looking forward to eating it.

Calamansi fruit is very popular here and it’s super delicious.  It’s cultivated here in the Philippines which is why it’s practically non-existent in the US.  The fruit itself is really small compared to other fruits.  I feel like it’s a mix of a lime, lemon, and a mandarin orange.  It’s used as an add on to all sorts of drinks, foods, etc.

A Filipino comfort food restaurant that I went to was called Manam. They had a ton of delicious eats.

House crispy sisig as described by the restaurant: “Pork jowls, cheek & ears, finely chopped, grilled & served on a sizzling plate.”
It was definitely crispy and amazing.  I was told it pairs well with beer. (Notice the calamansi fruit:  It was poured over the sizzling plate and mixed/cooked into the meal)

Garlicky Chicken & Pork Belly Adobo:  Super tender and flavorful and I was told by everyone to try some Adobo.  I can understand why and I’ve had it a few more times.  That marinade that it is cooked in is the secret behind the success of that dish.

Sinigang na Beef Short Rib & Watermelon:  The way they presented the dish was with the food in the bowl and then poured the broth fresh before placing on the table.  The watermelon is what the broth is made from.  It was sweet and sour and OMG SOOOO GOOOD.

I mentioned white rice not pictured because I want to be clear I had it with my meal.  Filipino’s are big on rice.  Like all the time apparently.

Next place was Kabisera: which means capital (like city) or can be used as “head of table”.  It’s more commonly understood that the person at kabisera pays for the meal .  Kabisera’s cuisine was elevated Filipino street food.

Needless to say it was a lot of food.  I liked most of the dishes.  The chicken balls were out-of-this-world delicious.  The peanut sauce vegetables came with some sort of shrimp sauce that apparently can be banned in a lot of places because it has a very strong odor.  Doesn’t really matter because it was tasty.  I was not a huge fan of the fried pork belly.  It was chewy and it lacked any sort of flavor.  They made me eat the chicken intestine (More peer pressure).  The sauce was fantastic, but the intestine was weirdly chewy despite being grilled to an almost burnt state.  And you can’t go wrong with the soup or BBQ chicken kebabs.

Afterwards, they ordered me halo halo for dessert.

It is hard to describe because it is just a mixture of a bunch of different items (It was tricky trying to mix it all together without making a mess).  This had some sort of sweet cake chunks, tapioca pearls, shaved ice, the shot was a sweet milk, and other various fruits.  It sounds weird mixed together, but you better believe with that much sugar involved it was naturally devoured.

I think I’m talked out for now and I’m sure I forgot to mention some stuff, but feel free to comment and ask questions.  I’ll do my best to answer.