My Filipino Friend's Fave Filipino Food

So, during a hike with one of my closest girl friends, we started talking about food. Of course, the 'where are we gonna eat after we just burned off all these calories?' conversation began before the hike even ended. I wanted something flavorful, like kim chee fried rice or adobo. Then the discussion about Filipino food came up. Biancha is pretty much 100% Filipina, I think she may have a tiny bit of Chinese, but we all identify the Ewa resident as being Pinay. For me, I haven't really eaten a lot of Filipino food in my lifetime. With the exception of Elena's famous fried rice omelette, and a few bites here and there, I wasn't all that experienced when it came to this type of cuisine. So the decision was made. We raced to the top of the mountain, jumped in our cars and I followed her to Waipahu. Thelma's Restaurant is where Biancha loves to score her favorite Filipino dishes and delicacies! 

Here's a look at what the two of us ordered, that's right it was just us two. 

Palabok - if you love Pancit, you will likely love this too. The rice noodles are covered in a light chicken stock sauce with ground meat, tiny shrimp, green onion and topped with hard boiled egg. I couldn't stop eating this. So simple, yet so flavorful. Adding a squeeze of calamansi really enhances the flavor too!

Pork Gisantes - I have never been a big fan of this dish and I don't know why, cause this was delicious! The pork was tender and moist the peas and bell peppers were perfectly cooked and the sauce was a nice blend of tomato, spices and peppers. Very flavorful, exactly what I wanted!

Dinuguan - yup, I did it, I ate pig's blood. This savory stewed pork wasn't that bad. I didn't taste any of that iron blood flavor at all and the pork, again was nice and moist, not dry and tough.

Kare-Kare: love peanuts and peanut butter? This is for you. Oxtail, cabbage and tripe stew with a rich, thick and savory peanut sauce. Not gonna lie I avoid the tripe, but did eat everything else. Yum.

Halo Halo with Ube ice cream - hey after all that exercise and all that rich eating, you gotta have dessert, right? Well don't fret this is really light. It's like a chunkier version of shaved ice. I thought this may be more sweet but it was more icy and milky than anything. No regrets tho.

Happy Eating! 

Thelma's Restaurant
94-366 Pupupani St # 116, Waipahu, HI 96797
Phone:(808) 677-0443

http://thelmasrestaurant.com/www.thelmasrestaurant.com/Home.html