East Coast Food Tour: New York City, NY

By Amanda L. Andrei

Fact: New York City is a gastronomic paradise. Whatever your palate or budget, you can find something to eat. Even when narrowing it to only Asian cuisines, the choices are staggering to the point of bewilderment. But if I’m going to spend a weekend in the city, I’m visiting my roots and checking out Filipino food.
For the past few years, bloggers and food critics have proclaimed that Filipino cuisine is “the next big thing” – poised on the edge for a major breakthrough, the next “Thai” or “Vietnamese” food in the restaurant scene. I have yet to see this occur in metropolitan Washington D.C. (although Sweet City Desserts in Vienna and Bistro 7107 in Crystal City are slowly making this possible), so New York is the prime East Coast city for witnessing the Filipino food transition from homey cafeteria-style buffet lines (turo-turo) to trendy, late-nite establishments.
During my last visit to New York, I was drawn to Jeepney, a “Filipino gastropub” in Manhattan. In the Philippines, the jeepney is a reconstructed WWII jeep and the most popular form of public transportation—crowded with passengers on the inside, decorated with wildly popping colors and cartoonish images on the front, with the driver deftly collecting fare and careening down city streets with inherent nonchalance. It’s easy to see why they named the place just so.

I hadn’t made reservations, and the place took cash only, so my friends stopped at a bank while I held our places in the noisy and dimly lit joint. I passed on drinks, but was amused to see them named after places in the Philippines (Cubao, Roxas Boulevard, Bohol). When my friends returned and a table cleared, a waitress led us to the back, where pictures of cockfighting, scantily clad women and yes, a Jesus complete with crown of thorns, adorned the walls. It was then that I realized that we were in an inverse jeepney.
I ordered Bicol Express, a spicy dish of pork and birds eye chilies doused in coconut milk. One friend went for the chori burger, and another friend eagerly went for the dinuguan, knowing full well he was getting pork blood soup. And of course we ordered that infamous Filipino street food—balut.

I had not had fertilized duck eggs since I had been in the Philippines four years ago, even though in D.C. you can find some in the refrigerated section of Filipino grocery stores. (Although reheated balut? Yuck.) The egg was bigger than I expected, and when I cracked it open, there was no sabao (broth) – my favorite part. But the duck yolk/meat itself was tasty enough, almost as good as its native counterpart.

The Bicol Express was also surprising—instead of a stew, it was a slow-roasted pork shoulder with a side of tenderly roasted baby bok choy. The presentation was trendy, but the flavors were traditional. Likewise with the dinuguan—its rich iron taste was made all the more delicious by chewy chunks of pork fat. (I admit that comfort food at its tastiest is not always the healthiest.) Meanwhile, the chori burger (made of beef and longganisa, sweet Filipino sausage) and kamote (sweet potato) fries were so filling, my friend couldn’t finish all of them.

For more homestyle Filipino fare, more reminiscent of mom’s kitchen and probably a bit cheaper, I’d go to the other boroughs. But that is precisely why I went to Jeepney and what makes it so exciting—it’s not your mom’s dishes. It’s bold and it’s experimental—it has a sassy presentation while maintaining native flavors—and compared to the other restaurants in Manhattan, it is more than affordable. So hop on board and get your fill of this gastropub—because friends, kababayan—this ain’t no turo-turo.
For the next couple of months, Amanda is giving AF readers a gastronomic tour of the East Coast. Last month she covered Boston eats, which you can read at www.asianfortune.com If you’ve been to any of the places that Amanda writes about or if you have any suggestions of your own, let us know on Facebook or on Twitter @AsianFortune_DC

 

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