Restaurant: Josephine’s on Charlotte Street, W1T 2LP
The Philippines are a group of 7,107 islands, which only about 2,000 of are inhabited, off east Asia. The capital city is Manila.
In the Philippines, the food they eat is largely influenced by some of the nearby countries like Malaysia and China, but they also follow some more western styles like Spanish and American cuisine. For as long as we know, the Philippines have always been very keen on fresh meat and fish. However, some of the side dishes like rice, were only introduced when the Chinese came to settle in the Philippines in 3200 BC. They brought a lot of the Chinese cooking styles to the Philippines, hence some elements of their cuisine being similar.
We found a traditional Philippine restaurant called Josephine's where there were a lot, and I mean a lot of dishes on the menu to choose from! So the waiter was very helpful and gave us a selection of what he thought the most authentic dishes from the Philippines were.
Our Orders:
Starter: Oriental Hor D’oeuvres - A platter of prawn rebosado, chicken sate, vegetable spring roll and calamares prito barbecue ribs. x1
Mains: Lechon Kawali - Filipino style crispy pork belly served with zesty sauce on the side. x1
Adobong Manok - A chunk of chicken in an exotic South sea sauce, a traditional Filipino favourite. x1
Guinataan Isda - A fillet of St. Peter fish in coconut sauce with lemongrass.
Dessert: Halo-Halo - Shaved ice and milk with boiled sweet beans, jelly and candied fruits mixed in. Topped with cream and sweet potato ice cream, this is said to be the Philippine version of an ice cream sundae.
Rating: ☆ ☆ ☆
The food was very nice; the best dish being the crispy pork belly. The restaurant was a little bit scruffy but the waiter was kind and helped pick all the most traditional Philippine dishes on the menu, he even gave us brochures on the Philippines while we were waiting for the food to arrive!
Best dishes: Oriental Hor D’oeuvres, Lechon Kawali
Could have been better: Halo-Halo - I can't say that this was a bad dish, especially not the sweet potato ice cream, but the beens mixed in milk isn't for everyone.
The service and all our waiter's help really added to the experience, so if you want to go Filipino, try Josephine's!
