A friend of mine called me up for lunch last Saturday, and I always use that as a reason to go eat Filipino food. He and I grew up together, and it's just one of those things that links our friendship. That, and he's also the guy who got me started with this whole love-of-cooking business. After I moved back to Vancouver after 4 years of living off dining hall food in Boston during university, he showed me quick-and-easy pasta, as well as the wonders of the George Foreman grill. Yes, I'm admitting to owning one.
So I went straight for my favourite - lumpia shanghai, a deep fried roll stuffed with minced pork, shrimp and crunchy veg. Who doesn't love deep fried crunchy stuff? I think it's built into human beings' primordial fibre since first-man threw meat into a fire.
The true art is what's inside. It's deceptively simple - chop a few things together, stuff, roll and fry - but what about flavour? As much as we'd like to believe - grease isn't a flavour category. The best lumpia shanghai has a flavourful stuffing bursting with sweet pork juices and spices, just a hint of shrimp, and some additional crunch from the veg (traditionally carrots, with chayote or jicama). Call me biased, but I love my childhood yaya's (nanny) version ;-)
Isaac and Agatha brings out 10 finger-length rolls and some chili sauce for each serving. Unfortunately it was bland and forgettable. There wasn't much flavour going on, and I really needed the chili sauce to get anything going on in my mouth. Don't get wrong, it wasn't bad - but nothing separated it from the stuff I buy from any steam-table Filipino joint.
After trying their fried products, I wanted to try some traditional Pinoy stews. I couldn't decide between the beef caldereta (beef stew) and the adobo (chicken/pork vinegar stew) - the waitress recommended caldereta so I went for it. My friend ordered his customary dinuguan (pork blood stew).
Caldereta is traditional Filipino peasant food - it uses the tougher cuts of meat from the cow as well as offal, and it stews for hours to soften, thereby releasing a lot of flavour into the stew. Classic comfort food. When the dish came out, I immediately noticed an imbalance of stew and meat. Not the most impressive looking dish. The taste and flavour was recognizeable, but once again, nothing special. The stew could've used some extra reduction time to thicken, it was pretty much water at this point. As for the meat, it was tough. It definitely did not receive enough stewing time. I could understand being served this for dinner at someone's home, but at a restaurant? Not impressed.
I'm not the biggest dinuguan fan - I haven't quite gotten the nerve to go for it. Yes yes I know - I hang my head in shame. Nevertheless, this is another classic peasant dish. Bits of pork (all parts of it - snout to tail) going for a long bubbling stew in its own blood to soften everything to tenderness. As with any comfort food, quantity is a factor. There should be a heaping bowl of this stuff for all to have their fill. Looking at that picture - that's just not right. As bad as the caldereta portion was, this... well I have no words. We were fishing for bits of meat in there. My friend had the same reaction as me, it was nothing special and forgettable.
This wasn't how I expected this visit to go - I really wanted to get a new go-to lunch spot in Richmond... alas the search continues. I would still rate Isaac & Agatha higher than Little Ongpin (Cambie and 5 Road), but not by much. I'd recommend driving up to PinPin in Vancouver for a more well-rounded and satisfying Filipino meal.
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