I visited Perla, a restaurant serving modern Filipino-inspired cuisine and it was great!
Mabuhay!
Four words. MODERN. FILIPINO. FOOD. SARAP.
Honestly, I never would’ve thought that Filipino food would ever be considered high class or fine dining, but Perla did it and I am definitely with it! This is not your average Filipino food.
Perla is a BYOB restaurant located in East Passyunk serving modern Filipino-inspired cuisine. Perla incorporates local seasonal ingredients so its menu changes with the season. Though it does not serve traditional style Filipino cuisine, eating at Perla will give you a one-of-a-kind experience with Filipino cuisine that you will not regret.
I went there on a Saturday night with my friend. I would recommend making a reservation because the place is small and gets packed easily. They serve pandesal here and it was so good! I was so tempted to ask for more but our appetizer came. For appetizer, we got the Sinigang. And I know you’re probably thinking I’m crazy for saying that but like I said, it’s a one-of-a-kind experience. The soup has that tamarind taste that’s unique to Sinigang and the salmon complemented it very nicely.
For our entrees, my friend and I shared the Nilaga and Sinangag. Both tasted so amazing! The Filipino tastes were definitely there but as I mentioned before, it is not your average Filipino food, so the taste is mixed with the chef’s classical French training. And though it might not seem like a lot of food, we were stuffed and even had some trouble finishing.
Now it’s time for my favorite part of every meal. DESSERT. We ordered the Bibingka and Ube Mousse. Both were delicious! The Bibingka tasted like how it was back in the Philippines, but I wish the ube flavor was more prominent in the mousse. For those of you not familiar, ube is purple sweet potato that originated in the Philippine. In the past few years, ube’s popularity as a dessert flavor has exploded.
Needless to say, I thoroughly enjoyed myself. I cannot wait to try out more Filipino food in Philadelphia. It’s quickly becoming my favorite part of this blog!
Perla is not what most Filipinos would expect. When Filipinos hear ‘Filipino restaurant’ we tend to think of food we eat at home and we sometimes choose to forgo even just trying it. Knowing Filipino mentality, we think why should we spend money on food we can make and eat at home for much cheaper right? Well, because Filipinos should support other Filipinos. There are few Filipino-owned businesses in Philly and we should do what we can to support them!
"It's time for Filipino food to go mainstream. We are just waiting for a chance to shine!"
I briefly spoke with Chef Carlo Arriola, and he believes that our time is coming. And I absolutely agree with him. All the more reason for Filipinos to show our support for each other!
PS: They do Kamayan dinners so I intend to come back for that... Join me! Just leave a message!
Hanggang sa muli,
Nicah
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