Let's see what's for dinner...
It's nice to have choices in eastern Chula Vista, but now that Lutong Bahay (formerly in the Bonita Ralph's shopping center) is closed, my go-to Filipino point point joint is solely JNC Pinoy Foodmart. I thought I would give Lisa's another chance...
Instead of opting for a combo since the coupon didn't specifically say "combo", but rather "menu item", I asked the girl for a 12 oz of pinakbet and a 12 oz of squid adobo. She had a hard time figuring out what I wanted. I also asked for rice on the side. I believe she also rang me up wrong because I was expecting to pay more than $6 for the food including the rice. She charged me $5.12 but hey I'm not complaining. Below are the usual steam table suspects - pinakbet, adobo, menudo, tinola, and dinuguan (I missed a few)...
Fried stuff galore as well as various cakes/desserts on the counter...
Here is the Adobong Pusit (squid adobo) which was a bit spicier than JNC's version since they included the chilis in the dish. It also had more of a vinegar taste to it. I still prefer JNC's better.
The pinakbet which included the following vegetables - Chinese Long beans, kabocha squash, okra, yam, eggplant, bittermelon, and tomatoes. There was a tiny bit of pork in here as well and the biggest difference I noticed between this pinakbet and my mom's is the extreme saltiness. This was due to the traditional inclusion of bagoong, the salted and fermented shrimp fry which gives the dish it's "umami" if you want to use a trendy food term.
Well, they really used a lot of it or I'm just ultra-sensitive to overly salty food since I'm not used to having bagoon in my pinakbet anymore. My mom has steered away from using it altogether in an attempt to make her pinakbet more "heart healthy". I personally like it much better without the bagoong because you can really taste the freshness of the vegetables that way. I'd make this more often myself but since Bert and TC don't like bittermelon or eggplant too much so I don't bother. Sad panda.
Remember my Winning Pancit Bihon from a week or so ago? Well, here was my second batch of it along with a few slices of calamansi to sqeeze...
Read about my first post here from back in '09. I wasn't too happy with their service. I've been there many times since but to buy snacks (hopia, pastillas, tarts, etc).
Dinner was all right except for the salty pinakbet. I think my mom's is much better. The squid adobo was all right despite having smaller body pieces than JNC's version. TC enjoyed pulling out the "quill". I still like Lisa's for their desserts because they have such a wide variety.
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