Ongpin

A couple of the main aspects that are emphasized in the Filipino culture are family, community and religion. In the article, “Filipinos sing, share festive foods, teach old ways to young,” it talks about how the older generation does not want the Filipino customs to die, so they try to teach the youth about them. As a Filipino American, my parents have brought me up learning Filipino culture and traditions by teaching me about our faith as Catholics, Filipino customs as well as the importance of family. My mom, who is a devout Catholic, always taught me to always pray to God before every meal in order to give thanks. Even in big family parties, everyone says grace together to bless the food that is there. Not only are my parents teaching me about our religion but also some Filipino customs too. As the main cook in my family, my mom cooks many Filipino dishes she has learned from her dad. Some of those dishes such as pancit (thin noodles mixed with vegetables and meat), adobo (meat in a vinegar sauce), ginataan (pudding with different vegetables, fruits and tapioca pearls), and longanisa (small, flavored sausages), lechon (full roasted pig) are served at different times of the day or specific occasions. For instance, pancit is typically served on birthdays in order to give the birthday celebrant long life. Many Filipino foods are based on other different cultures as well, such as the Spanish and Chinese. But even though, different plates may look and taste differently you should always be open to try new things.

One of the things Daly City, California is known for is its large population of Filipinos. By recognizing that there is such a huge Filipino community, one can expect there to be many Filipino restaurants around that area. The Filipino restaurant I will be reviewing and talking about in this blog is Ongpin. Not only is it a restaurant but a catering business as well. The restaurant is located on 73 Camaritas Ave right by El Camino Real and I280. It is open 7 days a week, opening in the morning, except for Tuesdays, when it opens at 5pm, and closing around 9:30-10pm. Ongpin is a sit-down restaurant but you could order takeout from them as well.

The first time I went to Ongpin I was with my family and we had no idea what to expect. We had only decided to eat there because we kept passing by it on the way to another Filipino restaurant close by, called Max’s Restaurant. But, ever since then, we have been coming back for their food. Compared to all the other restaurants and food places I’ve talked about in this blog already, Ongpin is not as decorated or as fancy. The inside of the restaurant is very simple, containing a big room with chairs, tables, the kitchen and registers. Despite the lack of decorations and such, Ongpin makes up for with its food. The items on their menu are priced between $2-$15 and come in big portions. The types of Filipino food Ongpin serves are an array of noodle soup, breakfast, rice plates, beef, pork, seafood, vegetable plates and many others. Some of my favorite dishes from Ongpin are their pork sisig (diced grilled pork that is seasoned with spices), pork adobo (pork chunks in a garlic-vinegar mix), pancit canton (Cantonese noodles), and Sinigang na Bangus Belly (a sour soup containing boneless milkfish with vegetables). Most of Ongpin’s dishes are cooked very similar if not the same as the traditional method of cooking the food, such as the lechon (fried pork with crunchy skin). All the dishes I had eaten were very delicious and were worth the price because of the amount of food we were given. Ongpin is a good, reasonably priced Filipino restaurant that I would recommend to a big group of people and anybody that likes Filipino food or hasn’t tried it. Ongpin will give the people who eat Filipino food for the first time a good first impression with their appetizing dishes. All in all, I would give Ongpin a rating of 4 out of 5 compared to Yelp’s review of 3.5 out of 5.