Spanish-style Ambiance at Patio Filipino - a restaurant review

It's Valentine's Day and with another family reason to go out and celebrate, the family was at Patio Filipino in San Bruno for lunch. I remember when the place was just half its size not too long ago. It was cramped! The restaurant has expanded a year ago and the place remains clean, now well-decorated with artificial (not cheap-looking) plants and even spruced up with updated wall decor of a Spanish flamenco dancer. They also have outside seating, but in foggy Northern California, I have barely seen anyone out there for their meals!

While their menu boasts of some Spanish-inspired Filipino dishes, we always go for the more traditional, hard-to-make-at-home dishes like the lechon kawali pictured below. Yes, it's not at all good for the cholesterol, but an indulgence once in a while won't hurt (I think, hope). To get pork belly fat like this, the restaurant must have a butcher who can send them these "choice" cuts. This lechon was crispy, almost grease-less, and dipped in the sauce...delish!

My sister really wanted the kangkong with crispy tofu as it was on the menu, but alas, kangkong was once again "out of season," so this version is made from spinach. What impressed us all is that the tofu was nice, light, and crisp--a nice contrast to the sauteed spinach in soy sauce. The tiny pork bits are sliced up chorizos, so the dish was sweet and tangy at the same time.

This tilapia fish is actually tilapia filets and you can't see it well from this picture, because the fish has been pieced together. Clever presentation! The fish was just seasoned with salt and pepper--lots of pepper and deep fried until crispy, then pieced together like a puzzle before garnishing with tomatoes and green onions. It's a simple dish, really, but the piecing together of it makes it unique.

Of course, we also ordered crispy calamari for starters and the sauce was unique to locals here, but not-so-unique if you've had "sandwich spread" from back home, because that's just what it was! I believe the dipping sauce is Kraft Sandwich Spread--you know, the one that's slightly pink mayonnaise-looking spread with pickle relish? I didn't have the opportunity for a picture because it was eaten up so quickly! The calamari was great--again, light, crispy, and well, maybe not enough... LOL! Did you notice we ordered a lot of "crispy" items? :)

For dessert, we ordered one (yes, one, for six of us) leche flan and it was your usual leche flan. Nothing fancy about it. It was a bit thick in its consistency, but this is usually the case when we order flan from restaurants anyway, so no surprises there. There are other dessert items like ice cream served in a buko shell and banana/langka turon with ice cream, but we were all full to our throats that we found no space to shove any more food!

In summary, we love Patio Filipino, the prices are reasonable, the place is clean, food is good--what else can you ask for?