Casa Manila

In February, I bought three-day passes to Ottawa Bluesfest for July 15-17th. I was so proud of myself - Scott's birthday is July 15th AND the Red Hot Chili Peppers were playing that day. I told pretty much anyone that would listen (except Scott), and tried really hard not to spoil the surprise. Somewhere along the way, I let it slip we were headed to Ottawa, no big deal, he still didn't know what we would be doing! Then the new album dropped, and as a fan, Scott asked his friend what he thought of the new songs. Unfortunately for me, said friend also loves the Chili Peppers, and said he wanted to go see them in Ottawa on the 15th of July. Entirely excited, Scott had a pretty solid guess what I had planned for his birthday. At least I didn't let it slip myself this time!

In our cute little Accent hatchback rental car, we set out for Ottawa on July 14th, but first - Summerlicious in Toronto! If you haven't done it, Summerlicious (and Winterlicious) are special times of the year when lots of Toronto restaurants serve three-course prix fixe menus. Places book up pretty fast, but you still have time - it ends July 24th this summer. On our way through Toronto, I chose a couple cheap ($18 each) lunch options that were near the highway, then Scott and I settled on Casa Manila. We had never had Filipino food, so we were both pretty excited. The highlight: Crispy Pork Belly Adobo. The pork belly was crispy on the outside, but melted in your mouth on the inside. The sauce was delicious, and mixed well with the perfectly cooked garlic rice. I am not entirely sure what veggies were involved in the fritter, but it was really tasty. Our server recommended vinegar, and it was a nice addition.

Crispy Pork Belly Adobo - tangy garlic, laurel & soy sauce with crispy pork belly, served with garlic rice & okoy vegetable fritter

We also ordered Kare Kare, an Oxtail stew. The peanut sauce on this dish was unbelievably rich and creamy. The oxtail was the most tender meat I have had in a while, it was falling apart when I tried to pick it up. The secret highlight of this dish is lurking in the back under the vegetable fritter - the fermented shrimp paste. It reminded me of anchovies mixed with a strong olive tapenade. It wasn't something I imagined I would like, but it mixed well with the rice and the peanut sauce.

Kare Kare - ground peanuts, delicate spices, combination of oxtail, beef and tropical vegetables, served with our fermented shrimp paste, jasmine steamed rice & okoy vegetable fritter

I started with the mains, because they were amazing. The starters were a little underwhelming. I picked the Chicken Chicharon Medley. The chicken skin was very crispy, but not very flavourful. The pickled papaya slaw that was on both mains was pretty tasty and not too heavy in vinegar.

Chicken Chicharon Medley - Chicken skin crackling harmonized with adobo seasoning, pickled papaya slaw, garlic aioli & seasoned vinegar

Scott chose the Embutido Terrine. It was two slices of a sausage meatloaf that reminded me so much of a pate. While it looks pretty similar to the other appetizer, they tasted completely different. Scott seemed to really prefer this one, but I was more into the chicken skin. Both were a little boring.

Embutido Terrine - A Filipino festive meatloaf with boiled egg, sausage, pickles, raisins & carrots, topped with garlic aioli, served with pickled papaya slaw & olives stuffed with garlic

Finally, the desserts! We both barely had any room after the mains, both were really filling. We ordered the Leche Flan Creme Caramel (left) and the Cassava Cake (Right). They looked and tasted so similar. There was only really a difference in texture. The Creme Caramel was a perfectly creamy custard that was the winner here. The Cassava Cake was a great soaked cake, I just love custard.

Leche Flan Creme Caramel (left) & Cassava Cake with custard topping (right)

This place seemed really authentic, from the servers to the patrons, we were some of the only white, non-Filipino looking people in the restaurant. Of course, I could be completely wrong, as this was my first experience with Filipino food, and we are usually the minority in a lot of great restaurants in Toronto. It felt like we were being let in on the secret of amazing Filipino cuisine. The service was pretty good, although it kind of seemed like we were forgotten about as we neared the end of our meal and the server took to busing tables around us while we just sat and looked at each other. We weren't in a rush, and it wasn't that long before she checked in on us again.

Likes: The pork belly. The oxtail. The peanut sauce. The custard. Overall, the food here was a hit!

Dislikes: The appetizers were not impressively presented or orchestrated and didn't make us too excited for the rest of the meal, a shame since it was all uphill from there.

Food: 4.5/5

Service: 4/5

Would I go again?: Hopefully. There are so many places to try, but this was a great experience and I would love to try out their regular menu beyond Summerlicious.