Trudy
My Friday night of everything Filipino started with meeting up at Union Square Park with Veziah of Jamasia Eats. Since she was treating, she suggested that I try Filipino food tonight because it’s part of her heritage and like I’ve
mentioned before I’m always up for trying something new. Especially, living in New York where the trend is everything Thai, Vietnamese or micro-fermented at the moment. And since I had Veziah with me, I could be sure that she would take me somewhere authentic.
So we headed to the 1st Avenue where Jeepney is located. It is a self-described Filipino Gastropub, and going on a Friday night means you will have a while to wait. The restaurant was crowded and we ended up sitting in the window because we were too starved to wait an hour for a table. The 90’s R&B was pumping and everyone was singing in between bites of food, the atmosphere was relaxed and by the number of couples there. It is a perfect place to have a laid back date.
Our waiter was adorable and only too happy to help us choose what is best on the menu. We took most of his suggestions. First, we shared an order of the fresh Manilla clams (lemongrass, garlic, shallots, chili, San Miguel beer and served with toast points), next was the crispy shrimp pancake served with a garlic dressing and for our shared entree was the Dampa Fry, which is a whole deep-fried red snapper, blistered chilies and scallions with escabeche sauce and tomato salad. It also comes with coconut rice.
The food was perfectly matched with the San Miguel beer and everything was seasoned so well, I enjoyed every bite. We were even excited about salad, that’s how good it was. By the time we finished our plates we were good and stuffed and opted out of dessert. It was an awesome first experience with Filipino food and a great place for me to revisit.
BTW, Jeepney is the word for the numerous multicolored buses that are used in the Philippines, beautiful and happy, they are usually painted with a name and a theme.
Have you ever had Filipino food? What is your favorite dish? Tell me about it in the comments below.
Until our next rendezvous…
XOXO
Trudy
