TORC was MIA but will hopefully join D, KD and I in our future excursion...
Yesterday morning was spent enjoying coffee at Marleez and then heading back south to try a new Filipino Mexican fusion place called, aptly, Mexipino. My sister had gone earlier last month for their soft opening and I was curious...
Thankfully, both owners are Mexipino and hail from down south. It would have sucked for the owners to be non Filipino/Mexican and trying to exploit or capitalize on the foods. They were "legit".
We met co-owner Richard Corpus who used to own the previous establishment housed here, Fruit Barr Cafe (a Mexican fruiteria/juice bar). He recently changed the concept and partnered with his friend, Roger Buhain (whom we also met, both nice guys).
The interior is clean, modern with a pony wall covered with images of Filipinos and Mexicans working the fields. Around the corner, there was an older map showing south San Diego, an area I in which I grew up and it made me happy to see my 'hood represented.
No ketchup, but Jufran (banana ketchup)!
Aguas frescas - D, KD and I ordered all three flavors - Calamansi lime, strawberry and cucumber spinach.
Very refreshing and delicious.
Our dishes yesterday morning which we shared:
KD's Mexipino salad - spring mix with strawberries, jackfruit (nice!), walnuts, queso fresco, added chicken, and membrillo calamansi dressing, served with pan de sal (purple too, but not really ube flavored). Great presentation. The dressing was quite unique and not too tart. Membrillo by the way, is also known as quince.
D's Traditional Filipino breakfast - although they didn't call it this, "Longsilog" (longanisa, fried garlic rice and egg), that's basically what it was. The longanisa seemed to be the sweet kind and were two pieces split lenghthwise. The tomatoes were dipped in a finadene sauce (a Guamanian condiment which is basically a soy sauce with added lemon and peppers); there wasn't enough of the sauce on it to make a difference and I wished there were more than just two wedges.
Her eggs were over easy and the rice wasn't really fried but did have a nice garlic touch to it.
As for me, I ordered the Mexipino hash which was served in an oval cast iron skiller. The hash included three meats - achiote chicken, longanisa, and ham, served with smoked black beans, eggs (over hard for me), purple yam and avocado.
Here's that map; the only place missing is Otay Mesa
What we liked was the diverse offerings here - traditional Mexican, Filipino and even American breakfast (but why bother for that last one if you go to a place called Mexipino, right?). They also have their own riff on eggs Benedict, which they call Bensons.
So...the very next day, Bert and I stopped by. He had to try that chicken tocino Benson while I had the bangus with garlic rice, eggs, and tomato.
Underneath those poached eggs was the chicken tocino, roasted beets (not really seen in the photo below, I know) and potato hash. The Hollandaise sauce was unique since they used calamansi, which Bert really liked. I am not a fan of Hollandaise sauce in general, so I didn't try the sauce myself. The dish was a pretty big portion so we took the other half home.
Back to my breakfast...right when it was brought out, a young lady from another table came over and asked me if she could take a photo of my food. I had no problem with it. I've actually asked other people the same thing. I did take a photo of a teen's Mexipino breakfast sandwich yesterday but didn't include the photo because it didn't look that great from the angle I took it and I didn't want to touch her plate and violate her personal space. Her sandwich had three meats and was served in a concha sliced in half. It was quite the sight.
The bangus (milkfish) is notorious for its tiny bones. I normally don't eat bangus unless I know its deboned. While my fishwas not entirely boneless, the bones that were there were pretty fine (super thin and soft) and could be eaten. The fish was marinated in vinegar, just like how my parents do it. It's split in half and fried 'til crisp with the SKINZ on! Yesss!
Other than his dish being more salty than he would have preferred, he liked his dish. I really enjoyed my bangus, especially that crispy skin.
Mexipino Craft
1660 Broadway, Suite 14
Chula Vista, CA 91911
(619) 422-2044
Website is not yet ready and erroneously spells "Filipino" as "Philipino" (I asked them about this and they are going to get it fixed, hopefully soon!) + reviews on you know where
We are curious about that fried chicken adobo waffle plate and I would love to take my co-workers and dad to this place. Vibes are chill here. The food is good and the folks there are a nice diverse mix of both Filipino and Mexican, just like the community and friends I grew up with. So nice to support local folks who are putting a unique twist on both cultures' food and giving it the respect it deserves.
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