Fish Pond

I had an excellent meal last night at a place that I don’t think has been discussed before on LTH (I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong), but it seems like the kind of place some LTHers might like. I’m sure I’ve driven past Fish Pond hundreds of times without noticing it – and even if I did, I’d never guess from the name or the street appearance the glorious Philippine food contained within.

While I’ve had Philippine food before (most notably at Pampanga, and also at Little Quiapo [across the street from Fish Pond]), I never really knew what I was ordering. Fortunately, last night I was accompanied by a native Philippina, who guided me through the menu. (I wish I’d brought my camera. – forgive me.) I was the only non-Asian in the place – a good sign.

Although, as you might guess from the name, the menu is heavy on seafood, we opted to go in a meatier direction. We started with Lumpia Shanghai – tiny eggrolls (approx. 3/4” in diameter, 4” long) stuffed with a mixture of ground pork, carrot, onion, egg and maybe a few other things, fried, and served with sweet and sour sauce – addictive. My companion told me how, as a young girl, she used to help her mother make lumpia for parties, but her mother would hide them between the time they were made and the start of the party. So she intentionally made a few as “mistakes” so she could munch on them before the party started.

She ordered the Kare-Kare – a traditional Philippine dish of braised (fall-off-the-bone) beef and beef tripe, in a peanut-thickened sauce with eggplant and string beans. The separately-served bagoong (fish paste) as a condiment added a nice salty note. Rice served on the side. A complex dish, reminded me of a curry, with different flavors and textures in each bite.

Mine was another beef dish – Beef Kaldereta. Less soupy than the kare-kare, with chunks of beef in a flavorful tomato sauce with red and green peppers, but what I found most interesting was the inclusion of olives as a flavoring ingredient – undoubtedly reflecting the country’s Spanish influence.

Large portions. Seafood entrees ran up to about $16; other entrees were mostly under $10.

Could this be the original fusion cuisine, influenced as it is by Chinese and Spanish traditions (and also to a lesser extent Indian, Malay, and even American)?

Fish Pond
4416 N. Clark St.

Little Quiapo
4423 N. Clark St.

Pampanga's Cuisine
6407 N. Caldwell Ave.

Fish pond was recommended by the missed RST at the other site....

JeffB wrote:Fish pond was recommended by the missed RST at the other site....

... himself very knowledgeable about the cuisine(s) of the Philippines ...

Regarding the complex background of Philippine cooking, note too that the Spanish influence came via Mexico...

Antonius

Hmmm. I just might have to give Fish Pond another try. Last time I wasn't too impressed... but it could just be my comparison to my mother's cooking - which of course trumps all in my book. lol

My dining companion made the same point - no restaurant makes the cuisine as well as her mother (or her uncle).

nr706 wrote:I had an excellent meal last night at a place that I don’t think has been discussed before on LTH (I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong), but it seems like the kind of place some LTHers might like. I’m sure I’ve driven past Fish Pond hundreds of times without noticing it – and even if I did, I’d never guess from the name or the street appearance the glorious Philippine food contained within.

I was actually looking for Fishpond and drove by it without seeing it. This is one well-disguised place...who would guess they were giving ballroom lessons in back.

We had a lot of good stuff, but what knocked us out was the sinigang, a very simple tamarind soup with daikon, potato, bok choy and pork (though I took a pass on the pork chunks, as meat from this animal was present in most other dishes). I've had this soup several times recently, but this rendition at Fishpond had a mellow sourness that let other flavors slip through, and the broth was nicely rich. The Wife believed she detected lemongrass, and she's probably right: this bowl had a lot of dimension.

nr706 wrote:This is one well-disguised place...who would guess they were giving ballroom lessons in back.

That's my uncle who teaches that ballroom dancing class on Wednesdays, lol!

I'm kind of curious about just what DMF Breakfast House is all about.

stevez wrote:I'm kind of curious about just what DMF Breakfast House is all about.

As the sign indicates, they're running a mini-mall worth of biz from one storefront, and DMF is one of their ventures. Apparently, DMF offers "American Breakfast" (1 egg, 1 bacon, 1 sausage, 1 pancake: $3.95) from 7:00 to 11:00 AM every morning.

It seems Tapsilog at iba pa (that's "etc," dv43 told me) are available all day long.

Hammond

David Hammond wrote:

stevez wrote:I'm kind of curious about just what DMF Breakfast House is all about.

As the sign indicates, they're running a mini-mall worth of biz from one storefront, and DMF is one of their ventures. Apparently, DMF offers "American Breakfast" (1 egg, 1 bacon, 1 sausage, 1 pancake: $3.95) from 7:00 to 11:00 AM every morning.

It seems Tapsilog at ipa pa (that's "etc," dv43 told me) are available all day long.

Hammond

Mmmmmmm tapsilog, the breakfast of champions!

Blown Z wrote:

David Hammond wrote:

stevez wrote:I'm kind of curious about just what DMF Breakfast House is all about.

As the sign indicates, they're running a mini-mall worth of biz from one storefront, and DMF is one of their ventures. Apparently, DMF offers "American Breakfast" (1 egg, 1 bacon, 1 sausage, 1 pancake: $3.95) from 7:00 to 11:00 AM every morning.

It seems Tapsilog at iba pa (that's "etc," dv43 told me) are available all day long.

Hammond

Mmmmmmm tapsilog, the breakfast of champions!

There have been a few Filipino items that I've "discovered" recently that I like a lot. The -silog family of foods is one of them. I almost never eat cereal for breakfast, preferring something more substantial, and tapsilog, tosilog SPAMsilog at iba pa fit that requirement.

Hammond

Blown Z wrote:That's my uncle who teaches that ballroom dancing class on Wednesdays, lol!

Does he teach American style or International Standard? American style is more social and International Standard is more like you see at the competitions on PBS...for those that watch

Funny you mention the SPAMsilog, SPAM is considered a delicacy in the Philippines, lol! Whenever I go back to visit, the relatives make sure we bring plenty of good 'ol SPAM!

pdaane wrote:

Blown Z wrote:That's my uncle who teaches that ballroom dancing class on Wednesdays, lol!

Does he teach American style or International Standard? American style is more social and International Standard is more like you see at the competitions on PBS...for those that watch

He teaches it more for people wanting to learn how to dance for social functions. His name is Romeo Avendano for anyone that's interested.

Blown Z wrote:

pdaane wrote:

Blown Z wrote:That's my uncle who teaches that ballroom dancing class on Wednesdays, lol!

Does he teach American style or International Standard? American style is more social and International Standard is more like you see at the competitions on PBS...for those that watch

He teaches it more for people wanting to learn how to dance for social functions. His name is Romeo Avendano for anyone that's interested.

I may actually have chatted with this guy. As I was getting food, a friendly guy in his fifties, dark but thinning hair, was encouraging The Wife and me to come in and dance. He also started giving me a tour of the buffet, and seemed a little surprised when I quizzed him about, for instance, the presence of tripe in the kare-kare, the differences between bangus and butterfish, etc.

Fishpond was a friendly place last night, and quite full (at least half the tables in main dining room occupied and the dance room had about 18-20 folks in there).

Hammond