Last Friday night, we ventured to far west Wichita to visit the Philippine Grille--a restaurant that my friend Teresa, who works at the Ulrich Museum of Art at WSU, recommended. Located in a little strip mall, the space was decorated with a odd mix of tchotchkes and Philippine-inspired objet d'art--kitschy and fun! The woman working told us that the owners were busy with a family anniversary and that the on Saturday there was going to be a giant, fancy gathering of all of the Filipinos in Wichita.
She was very disappointed that Lorena hadn't come in the day before, because now it was just too late to get a ticket. That didn't stop her from asking Lorena one million and one questions, beginning with "Are you married?" As soon as Lorena said, "No," (I told her later the correct response would have been to put her hand on mine and say "We've been talking about it." But, she missed her chance.) you could begin to see the woman's mind work as she lined up the list of eligible Filipino bachelors needing a woman to iron his clothes, clean his house and fix his food. Not our girl! But our new friend was very chatty and set us up with a wonderful meal. We'd brought our own wine which flowed along with the conversation. Lorena ordered an appetizer of Filipino eggrolls--a meaty, tightly-rolled version that was sliced into little bites which looked very good.
For dinner, I had the fresh lumpia, which is basically a very thin omelet (crepe like) wrapped around an array of vegetable and topped with a brown sauce and nuts. Lorena had described Filipino food as a cross between Chinese and Spanish, and this dish seemed to illustrate the fact beautifully. It was delicious and I was hesitant to share, but I did pass tastes to my tablemates so that I could try what Katie and Mitchell ordered: a tofu and vegetable dish and a noodle dish respectively. Both were excellent and there was lots of rice to go around. Lorena had a huge bowl of soup that she said was flavored with tamarind--it looked very good and I would have been tempted if it wasn't for the giant pieces of pork floating in it! The flavor sounded very interesting and I'd like to find a recipe (L. said there is a packaged one available) and try it at home.
For dessert...oh for dessert! We ordered flan, friend banana rolls with ice cream, and halo halo (which means mix mix in Tagalog). Everything was delicious, but the halo halo was new and exotic, a mixture of fruit and sweet beans, topped with condensed milk and shaved ice. I could see how it would be very refreshing in the hot and humid climes of the Philippines.
The service was delightful, if not a little slow, but everyone was very accommodating and friendly. We were basically the only people there until the very end when the family of the owners began to show up for a pre-party event. We snuck out with a bill that was only $36 for four entrees and three desserts--very reasonable. I would recommend the Philippine Grille to anyone.
Philippine Grille, Restaurant & Catering
9125 W Central Avenue
Wichita, KS 67212-3807
Phone: (316) 773-4838
Fax: (316) 773-4836
Mangez!