Papaya Grill? Who Knew!

So I stumbled into a cute little Restaurant in the San Ramon marketplace today… It’s called “The Papaya grill”.  I had no idea what type cuisine was waiting for me in there, but to my extremely pleasant surprise, they serve ‘Authentic Filipino Cuisine’! Now that enlightenment may not rock or shock your world, but for me, having been born and raised on the island of Mindanao in the southern Philippines, well I have to tell you I felt like I had stepped back into my youth. The aroma of the Chicken Adobo alone brought memories from the fiestas of so many yesterdays. If you aren’t familiar with Filipino food, they use a lot of garlic, among other wonderful local spices, lots of lime, vinegar, obviously Soy, but not as much as you might think. Filipino food is almost a cuisine unto itself. There is an Asian influence of course, Spanish as well, but real honest to goodness Filipino cuisine is my favorite food on Earth.

Edwin, the owner of “The Papaya Grill was kind enough to let me sample some of HIS food and I have to say BIG thumbs up from ‘Foodnearu’. There is an art to making chicken or pork so tender that it literally falls off the bone and not everyone has either the knowledge or patience to do so, but Edwin does.

I’m pretty sure most everyone has either heard of or tried ‘Lumpia’. Most of us here in America think of ‘Lumpia’ as sort of a Filipino version of an Egg Roll. Until you’ve tried authentic homemade rolled and fried ‘Lumpia’ with a homemade sauce, then I can’t disagree. Try Edwin’s Lumpia… you WILL understand and appreciate the difference. The taste is going to become a memory you cannot forget, the texture, and once again the aroma(s).

I am probably waxing on a bit more poetically than I should but the Philippines is my homeland after all, and you know what they say, “Home is where the heart is.”

Happy dining San Ramon!

Thanks to all of you from us at ‘Foodnearu’!