This is it, my last meal in the USA. After spending a month going from San Francisco to Virginia, Washington DC and New York my last meal in Los Angeles was supposed to end with my best meal right? I was dreaming of Lawry’s Prime Rib or some famous TV chef’s restaurant. Where did I end up eating? In a Filipino restaurant!!!
This was our long table half filled with kids of all ages. The other half was filled with adults of all ages too. 😀
It was my cousin’s bff, Andrew’s birthday and his only request was to eat in a Filipino restaurant.
I really didn’t mind eating in a Filipino restaurant since I got to meet new friends who were super nice and funny.
I’ve eaten in a Filipino restaurant in New Jersey years ago and it wasn’t very good. I heard this restaurant was run by a guy who used to be the chef in Barrio Fiesta in L.A. thus the play on the restaurant’s name.
I almost fainted when the chicken skin chicharon came out. It’s my biggest weakness. I can skip any other kind of chicharon but never chicken skin. These babies were soooooo good and it tasted almost like Jollibee’s Chicken Joy.
To Americans and other nationalities reading my blog. Please do try chicken skin chicharon in your nearest Filipino restaurant. I just hope they can cook it as crisp as these. They didn’t even taste oily.
chicken skin chicharon $5.95
The calamari was so good and it had an intense flavor like dried squid but it very crisp. I’ve never eaten fried squid that tasted like this.
calamari $7.95
The sisig was just ok for me. It wasn’t crispy like the way they do it in Manila.
sisig $8.95
Although the picture doesn’t show evidence of any shrimp this was gambas and it was spicy-licious!!
gambas
For Americans it’s chicken soup for the soul. For Filipinos it’s bulalo soup. Clear broth simmered for hours with beef and bone marrow is what hits our soul. True Filipino comfort food.
nilagang bulalo $10.95
The last time I’ve eaten in Barrio Fiesta in Manila was decades ago and the dish I remember most is their bouillabaisse so I requested Sidney to order it. This bouillabaisse taste just like the way I remember. It was nothing like the ones I had here and here which were the more traditional style.
bouillabaisse $13.50
I’ve never seen bouillabaisse with a white, creamy soup base anywhere else but this was good and it brought back childhood memories.
In the US rice is free and eat all you can.
kaldero of rice
The sauce of the Kare Kare was not peanutty at all instead it was very beefy. It did have big and meaty pieces of ox tail. The bagoong was extremely salty.
kare kare $11.95
I found the crispy pata too oily but the flavor was good enough.
crispy pata $13.95
I loved the kenchi steak with gravy that tasted like it’s main ingredient was Knorr liquid seasoning. Kenchi is a part of the beef shank and that’s how they call it in the markets in Manila. It sounds like a Chinese name that has become part of the vernacular.
kenchi steak $11.95
I was impressed that they also had boneless bangus or milkfish which is a popular fish in Manila.
daing na bangus $11.95
I didn’t eat any pinakbet since I got scared of the very red color of the dish.
pinakbet $9.95
The tomato still had a sticker on it. 😀
ube ice cream $2 & buko pandan salad $2.50
The ube ice cream was even more purple than my shirt!
That night I found out my nephew Ryan was a budding masseuse of cured tita Karen of the knot on her shoulders.
In spite of some hits and misses I really enjoyed dinner in the company of such gregarious people. It turned out to be a great last dinner after all.
Fiesta sa Barrio’s menu
appetizer & soup, house specialties & from the sea
old time favorite, vegetables & noodles, rice dessert & beverages
Fiesta sa Barrio
4326 Eagle Rock Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90041
telephone: (323) 256-4380
Shoot First Eat Later 
Leslie, the chicharon is not easy to find in San Francisco Filipino restaurants but in Honolulu there a place that make it for take out. I have ask the store butcher to order some for me to make this dish.
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