kung ang hanap mo ay lasa
130 N. Maryland Ave. (in Glendale)
Phone: 818-241-0880 | map

I do not claim expertise in Filipino cuisine, but so far I've immensely enjoyed the food over at Salo-Salo. I've seen reviews complaining of dry food and bad service, but perhaps that's from an earlier time, or during dinner hours. My time for Filipino is lunch.

Usually I'll get the Sizzling sisig, which is spicy pork seasoned with chili peppers and calamansi and served with onions (it's probably not authentic, considering that it's meant to be pig's head and liver, but the menu admits it's an "interpretation" of pulutan). That, with a cool glass of calamansi juice (a sour citrus fruit drink that looks like orange and tastes sort of lime-ish), will make me slow and agreeable for the remainder of the day.

Or, I can recommend the Kuya's Fried Chicken lunch special, which comes falling off the bone with garlic fried rice, their slender egg rolls and a single fried plantain-in-the-skin that is more robust than sweet, and a little hard to dig into. There is also a small tub of what they tell me is ketchup but is almost like a sweet jelly.

Or, I can tell you that the miki guisado (stir-fried egg noodles with fish balls and Chinese sausage, and, bless us all, lechon bits), is satisfyingly day-slowing as well.

Want breakfast? Longanisa pampanga: a sweet pork sausage grilled, with garlic rice and two eggs. Is that breakfast? Yes, Virginia, yes. It is.

I have a sneaking suspicion that perhaps all this fried food is not ideal for my cholesterol, sodium or fat intake, but perhaps if I whistle merrily and don't think about it everything will be fine (tongue firmly planted in cheek).

Their slogan is Kung Hanap Ay Lasa, which I can helplessly assume is Tagalog, but if you know what it means, please leave a comment... although I see that my friend Ade has done so already.