Wednesday in the Park with Squid (3R's Filipino)

LTH,

I'm at the gym chatting with the fellow on the next treadmill about, what else, food, restaurants, cooking...ok, maybe a little bit about the buff young lady in red working with free weights. Anyway, he mentions his family often gets takeout from this place on Montrose, East of California, across from the park, blue awning........., nope, no luck on the name. Curiosity piqued I head off in hunt of the elusive Blue Awning.

Success!


Fairly unprepossessing from the outside, though once inside I'm greeted by a compact well stocked grocery or, as 3R's bills themselves, Oriental Food, Grocery & Money Exchange. I wander around, check out the fish and meat counter, read a sauce label or two and, frankly, begin to wonder if I misunderstood as there does not seem to be any prepared food.



Just as I'm about to leave I spot an archway, walk through and simultaneously break out in a wide smile and start to hum, Chicago, Chicago, it's my kind of town.

3R's


Unable to help myself, I inquire if I might take a picture of two strangers lunch, and a nice looking lunch it was.


Everything looked delicious, fresh, well made, wide selection and very inexpensive. I bought, for take-away, one vegetable egg roll, one turon (sweet banana spring roll), deliciously moist pork skewer, a beautiful chunk of charred squid and a 20-oz diet coke for $3.44 total, inc tax. Though, from looking at the receipt it seems they did not charge me for the squid.



Beautiful day, I decide on auto al fresco, in other words, I set up on the roof of my car. Sunlight shining, trees rustling in the wind, joyful cries from the kids in the park across the street, not to mention juicy pork, lovely charred squid, luscious sweet banana encased in crisp airy light wrapper topped off by a swig o soda, I couldn't help but start another verse of Chicago, Chicago, my kind of town.

3R's Squid Legs


Henry Horner Park is directly across the street, perfect for a picnic.

Enjoy,
Gary

3R Oriental Food, Grocery & Money Exchange
2712 W Montrose Ave
Chicago, IL 60618
773-478-2599

this is good filipino eats, as my family will come by every now and then to eat here when visiting chicago from the north burbs.

gary!!!! this isn't fair... i haven't had filipino food since my parents left for the philippines a month ago and i haven't been able to cook anything because my kitchen is gone! my hubby decided to remodel 2 weeks before we move and we're running around like crazy getting the closing stuff and what not together and don't have time to get to a place like 3R's. now im gonna have to suffer loooking at your pictures.... hehe

on a side note - hi foodie1! tell your brother hello for me! his bday is coming up soon right?

That charred squid looks fantastic. I will have to grab some. Hey maybe folks can help me on something. I've tried to like philipino food, really I have, but nothing has really wowed me. Can folks who know more about this suggest specific dishes and where they get them?

oh, and yeah, philipino or filipino?

mby385 wrote:gary!!!! this isn't fair... i haven't had filipino food since my parents left for the philippines a month ago and i haven't been able to cook anything because my kitchen is gone! my hubby decided to remodel 2 weeks before we move and we're running around like crazy getting the closing stuff and what not together and don't have time to get to a place like 3R's. now im gonna have to suffer loooking at your pictures.... hehe

on a side note - hi foodie1! tell your brother hello for me! his bday is coming up soon right?

Hey, there is at least one option closer to Oak Park/River Forest. That is, at the corner of Diversy and Central is another Filipino grocery store (I cannot even remember the name but you'll know it when you see it) with take-out. I have not been there in a few years, so I cannot speak much to the food, but as to close to Oak Park, well that I can say.

Rob

gmonkey also posted about 3R:

http://lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?p=33977#33977

Vital Information wrote:Hey, there is at least one option closer to Oak Park/River Forest. That is, at the corner of Diversy and Central is another Filipino grocery store (I cannot even remember the name but you'll know it when you see it) with take-out. I have not been there in a few years, so I cannot speak much to the food, but as to close to Oak Park, well that I can say.

Rob

I believe it's called Tay Tay's (maybe Taytay's? TayTay's?). I went in once about two years ago and they had a good selection of Filipino and Asian products and a small steam table of prepared foods. I don't remember if we even bought anything, so I can't add anything to the food knowledge either.

Gary,

Thanks-you seem to have sniffed out another winner. Did
you happen to notice if they had the elusive crispy and
cigarette-thin Filipino egg roll aka Lumpia? I have not had
these in ages- used to work with many Filipinos who so kindly
shared their lunches with me and schooled me on these
delicious gems. They blow away the typical larger Chinese-type egg
rolls IMHO. I'll assume they also had Pancit, so needless to say
I will be checking this place out. Have been meaning to try
and find some good Filipino food, it seems you may have done
the work for me.

zim wrote:Hey maybe folks can help me on something. I've tried to like philipino food, really I have, but nothing has really wowed me. Can folks who know more about this suggest specific dishes and where they get them?

oh, and yeah, philipino or filipino?

the best i've had has been homemade. as far as recs - it depends on what you like. there are lots of stews, grilling, frying, and baking. my brazilian born chinese dh doesn't like much of the stews but of course likes the more popular dishes like lumpia, lechon, adobo(not mine in particular!), tocino and some of the deserts. of course if you didn't know already - filipino food is a vast influence from chinese, spanish, etc.

http://www.filipinoheritage.com/food/re ... ecipes.htm

as far as the reference philipino or filipino it would be - Filipino in English and Pilipino in the Philippines.

kl5 wrote:

Vital Information wrote:Hey, there is at least one option closer to Oak Park/River Forest. That is, at the corner of Diversy and Central is another Filipino grocery store (I cannot even remember the name but you'll know it when you see it) with take-out. I have not been there in a few years, so I cannot speak much to the food, but as to close to Oak Park, well that I can say.

Rob

I believe it's called Tay Tay's (maybe Taytay's? TayTay's?).

Tatay's, which means "Dad's" in Tagalog (filipino language)

mby385 wrote:

zim wrote:Hey maybe folks can help me on something. I've tried to like philipino food, really I have, but nothing has really wowed me. Can folks who know more about this suggest specific dishes and where they get them?

oh, and yeah, philipino or filipino?

the best i've had has been homemade.

I have to agree with mby385, in that the BEST filipino food is homemade. So if you know any filipinos that can cook traditional filipino dishes, you're in for a treat!

Unfortunately, Chicago doesn't have any stellar places I can recommend for filipino cuisine. But if you happen to stumble across one, you are sure to find some common dishes such as;

Pancit - rice noodles
Adobo - pork, beef or chicken marinated in soy sauce and vinegar
Lumpia - thin eggrolls filled with ground beef or pork
Lechon - roasted pork (skin on)
Sinigang - a tamarind soup of beef or pork with veggies
Apritada - tomato and soy sauce based stew of beef, pork or chicken
Menudo - stew of a various mix of meats in either a tomato or vinegar base

I only WISH there was a JolliBee restaurant here - a very popular Philippines fast food chain. They are in California and hopefully they will make their way out to the midwest someday. They don't particularly have anything above on their menu, but its definitely a filipino thing.
http://www.jollibee.com.ph/default.htm

zim wrote:I've tried to like philipino food, really I have, but nothing has really wowed me.

LTH,

Sorry to say I have not been much help with Zim enjoying Filipino food. I met him at Isla Pilipina, one of my long time favorite Filipino places, and they had new owners, different menu and had done away with the buffet style Turo Turo, which I've learned translates to point-point.

Let's just say I will be giving the newest iteration of Isla Pilipina a wide berth until they settle in. Our lunch was not delectable, and the kari-kari, a stew of oxtail thickened with peanut sauce, could easily go in the Worst thing you've eaten [Lately] thread.

Enjoy,
Gary

Isla Pilipina
2501 W Lawrence Ave
Unit D
Chicago, IL.
773-271-2988

ur lunch was not delectable, and the kari-kari, a stew of oxtail thickened with peanut sauce, could easily go in the Worst thing you've eaten [Lately] thread.

the kare-kare that i grew up consisted of pork and not oxtail. i suppose either they cooked it for us kids this way or it was coz oxtail wasn't readily available. i suppose others have tried beef as well. i really don't know. but i do like the pork version and my mom will cook it for me everytime i request it. well im just glad you didn't start on dinaguan... i'm too traumatized to eat it. ill leave you to look it up.

foodie id give anything right now to have a "decent" filipino restaurant in the city!

G Wiv wrote:
I met him at Isla Pilipina, one of my long time favorite Filipino places, and they had new owners, different menu and had done away with the buffet style Turo Turo, which I've learned translates to point-point.

Let's just say I will be giving the newest iteration of Isla Pilipina a wide berth until they settle in. Our lunch was not delectable, and the kari-kari, a stew of oxtail thickened with peanut sauce, could easily go in the Worst thing you've eaten [Lately] thread.

Enjoy,
Gary

Isla Pilipina
2501 W Lawrence Ave
Unit D
Chicago, IL.
773-271-2988

I wondered if Gary was going to post on this, he's actually being pretty diplomatic. Neither of us finished our meal - which is for me, an almost religious obligation in visiting some of these places, as a sign of common courtesy.

I won't go back, unless i've heard it changes ownership again.

foodie1 and mby385, thanks for the further info on filipino food. I have tried often enough to kinda know what are the most commonly available dishes, and i understand that both of you seem to be saying that there really isn't a great filipino restaurant around, but one thing that i'd appreciate is maybe if its not too general a question - what are your favorite filipino dishes?

Zim,

Maybe you missed this post on Cebu, which I still want to return to someday.

I was at 3R's last week with my friend Helen, who is Filipino, which we found to be pretty good.

There are two Filipino restaurants across the street from each other:
- Little Quiapo - 4423 N. Clark St. and Montrose just north of the cemetery
- The Fishpond - opposite Little Quiapo near Clark and Montrose.
Of the two, Fishpond is consider the better option.

Regards,

So, is there a place to get decent Kare-Kare in Chicago? I have been intrigued with this dish since reading a thread on Banana Blossoms. I would like to try Kare-Kare, but I want to know I am eating a good example of the dish. I know there are many ways to make it. I read that Pinoys living in Italy use artichokes instead of Banana blossoms. I thought of trying to make Kare-Kare myself, but I was told it is a difficult dish to make from a recipe (especially having never even eaten it before). Apparently it takes an experienced cook to get the balance of flavors just right, and to prepare the banana blossoms so they are not bitter.

Here is a link to an interesting 2 part article on the history of Kare-Kare.

Origin of Kare-Kare Pt.1
Origin of Kare-Kare Pt.2

Gary's post makes me want to try Filipino again. I tried Mom's on Peterson, left with the feeling that the food was well-prepared but I just didn't like the cuisine. Looks like I'm wrong.

What I didn't particularly like was that everything seemed to be sweetened with sugar - they offered a baked empanada (surprisingly similar to Argentine style in the filling), except the dough was very sweet, which didn't work for me. (this was a very long time ago, so I don't remember exactly what we had) I do remember some kind of stew with sweet potatoes in it,which was OK, and some kind of bean-thread dish which, again, was sticky-sweet - but without the balancing flavors you find in Thai food. My tastes tend towards the sour, anyway, so I chalked it up to a bad fit.

That charred squid looks nothing like anything I ate there. Can't wait to try.

Mom's Bake Shoppe & Restaurant
2415 W Peterson Ave
Chicago, IL 60659

Mhays wrote: My tastes tend towards the sour, anyway, so I chalked it up to a bad fit.

That charred squid looks nothing like anything I ate there. Can't wait to try.

If you're into the sour, try the sinigang, a tamarind-flavored soup with either pork, fish, or shrimp. It's a staple at most toro-toro places.

Personally I prefer my squid as adobong pusit, a saucy preparation of tender squid, I believe cooked like regular adobo: a combination of soy sauce and vinegar cooked to death.

zim wrote:foodie1 and mby385, thanks for the further info on filipino food. I have tried often enough to kinda know what are the most commonly available dishes, and i understand that both of you seem to be saying that there really isn't a great filipino restaurant around, but one thing that i'd appreciate is maybe if its not too general a question - what are your favorite filipino dishes?

Well, my favorite dishes include so many... but here's a list for you:

Pancit Palabok - thick rice noodles (aka pancit luglug) covered in a shrimpy sauce and topped with sliced green onions, chopped hard boiled egg, ground pork rinds, shrimp, squid, lemon juice

Pork Sinigang - chunks of pork simmered in a tamarind broth with shanghai bokchoy, spinach, or any mild flavored greens over rice

Pork or Chicken adobo - chunks of pork or chicken simmered in a marinade of soy sauce, vinegar, onions and garlic over rice

Filipino BBQ sticks - grilled skewered beef, pork or chicken that have marinating in soy sauce, vinegar, onions and garlic (similar to adobo)

Tinola - chunks of chicken simmered in a broth of ginger, mild greens, onions and garlic

These favorites are what I cook most often at home.

thanks foodie 1 for that list, I will look for these - are there any places around town that you think do good versions of these dishes?

Speaking of all this filipino food, I have recently been inspired to try my hand at preparing more Asian dishes, particularly Filipino dishes.

Is there any recommendation for filipino grocery stores in chicago? Any website or list of asian groceries with a good selection of filipino foods? I'm specifically looking for bangus currently, but would like a good place to go regularly. If you know of a good list on a website, please reply, or if anyone is interested in helping me make a website on this, let me know.

Steven

pizzicato wrote:Is there any recommendation for filipino grocery stores in chicago? Any website or list of asian groceries with a good selection of filipino foods?

Uni-Mart is a chain of filipino markets which will be a great start. Check out their website for locations/directions: http://www.unimartonestop.com/.

Happy cooking!

LTH,

Been a year or two since my last 3R's visit so when Jazzfood suggested it for lunch I was on it like satay on a stick. Eight or so steam table choices ranging from bitter melon with shrimp, my favorite, to murky beef blood/bile.

3R's



We opted for the $5 combo, mound of rice and two steam table choices and added an egg roll and satay. Veg filled egg roll was fine, not earth shaking, chunks of pumpkin a nice touch.

2 $5 lunch specials with added egg roll.



Satay, tough combined with a salty edge, was either a miscue or a style I am not appreciative of.

Top clockwise Satay, Squid, Veg in coconut milk w/shrimp, mixed offal, shrimp w/bitter melon



I found the shrimp, both fresh and dried, with bitter melon appealing, a bit funky with bitter melon providing counterpoint. Squid was lightly stuffed, I think shrimp or fish paste, and quite tender, veg in coconut milk bland, but coconut milk played well with the pumpkin. Mixed offal was, well, mixed, liver tough and bitter, tripe/tendon tender with a surprisingly mild taste.

Overall I enjoyed lunch, a bit more than Alan I'd guess, though I am in no hurry to return, and for $5 bucks the lunch special is quite the deal.

FYI, grocery stocks a few flavors of Village Creamery ice cream.

Enjoy,
Gary

Time to de-lurk,

Mmm, I do love my filipino food. Gotta say, if you are in the area of 3R's again, you should head west on Montrose a mile or so, and hit up Ruby's Fast Food, a filipino hole in the wall that has a lunch buffet, and more importantly Filipino breakfast - ilogs. 'ilogs' usually have 3 components, garlic fried rice, a fried egg (with yolk to mix) and a meat. The meat dictates what kind of 'ilog' you are getting. For example:

tapsilog - cured shredded beef
tocilog - tocino (marinated pork) Has a sweetness to it.
bangsilog-fried bangus (milkfish)
shangsilog - shanghai lumpia (eggrolls)
longsilog - longanisa (filipino pork sausages - vinegary and sweet w/ a note of garlic and dpice. some versions have more spice to it.)

And i'm sure more variations... It's very small though, so avoid the lunch rush or else you might not get served.

Ruby's Fast Food
3740 W Montrose Ave
Chicago, IL 60618
(773) 539-2669

As far as other places my girlfriend takes me (i'm american born filipino, she was born in the Philippines, and schools me in the art of Filipino dining) Filipinana, 3R's, Unimart, Lisa & Rose, Little Quiapo, Cid's Ma Man Luk. Each place has it's owns strengths and weaknesses. And Filipinana even has sisig on the menu. Although i'm told that it's nothing like the 'real' sisg, at least I have tried a variation and can't wait to go back home to try everything with 'fresh' stomach. My last trip home was when I was 13, and my Americanized tastes refused anything foreign.

Gotta thank this board for helping me find so many interesting places to eat and visit and expand my food horizons. ok, back to lurking.

DrkDragon wrote:you should head west on Montrose a mile or so, and hit up Rudy's Fast Food, a filipino hole in the wall that has a lunch buffet, and more importantly Filipino breakfast -

Three plump, juicy longanisa, two eggs, mound of garilc rice topped with scallions/garlic chips made for a terrific lunch. Add lumpia for an additional 75 cents and $5.50 yields one of the tastier deals in Chicagoland.

Cell phone picture


Ruby's was busy as a laundromat after a flood, one quick moving good natured fellow dishing out mounds of rice and containers of steam table stews for both eat in and take away. Quick turnover, very fresh looking.

I peg my Ruby's lunch as the best Filipino meal, with the exception of the LTH dinner Happy_Stomach put together, I've had. Looking forward to a near future return visit.

Thanks for the recommendation DrkDragon, you should delurk more often.

Enjoy,
Gary

Ruby's Fast Food
3740 W Montrose Ave
Chicago, IL 60618
773-539-2669
Mon - Sat 10am - 6:30pm
Sunday 10am - 5pm

Gary,

You are welcome, and yes Ruby's is very good food, if you can beat the rush. Also to mention to everyone, it is cash only, and on the weekends they have catering orders to fill so sometimes they might shut down till they cook the ordered food. Calling ahead would be a good idea so you don't waste a trip out there for nothing.

And Gotta thank you Gary, for not only the WSM 5 steps, but also for your original post giving me the idea to suprise my girlfriend with Ruby's, and a quick lunch at Horner Park. I was there the same day you went, but we must have missed one another. I was in before the lunch rush.

So thank you very much again! I hope I can continue contributing even if I have to de-lurk every so often.

According to 3R's facebook page:

Three R's Filipino Cafe offers a genuine taste of the Philippine Islands. Serving authentic & contemporary twists of favorite Filipino dishes, there's something for everyone. Dine with us, grab dishes to go, have us deliver, let us cater your party or shop our adjacent grocery store for all your Filipino pantry staples & more. Let the new Chefs of Three R's give you a fresh taste of the Islands! We're here to serve you with our warm Filipino hospitality.

Chef Joan Elenita "Joelen" Tan
Chef Ray Delosreyes

Chef Joan Elenita "Joelen" Tan posts on LTH as Foodie1.

It will be interesting to see their take on Filippino cuisine.

3RFilipinoCafe@gmail.com
Phone:(773) 478-2599
Mon - Thurs: 5:00 pm - 9:00 pm
Fri - Sat: 5:00 pm - 11:00 pm
Sun: 5:00 pm - 9:00 pm

Regards,

Cathy2 wrote:According to 3R's facebook page:

Three R's Filipino Cafe offers a genuine taste of the Philippine Islands. Serving authentic & contemporary twists of favorite Filipino dishes, there's something for everyone. Dine with us, grab dishes to go, have us deliver, let us cater your party or shop our adjacent grocery store for all your Filipino pantry staples & more. Let the new Chefs of Three R's give you a fresh taste of the Islands! We're here to serve you with our warm Filipino hospitality.

Chef Joan Elenita "Joelen" Tan
Chef Ray Delosreyes

Chef Joan Elenita "Joelen" Tan posts on LTH as Foodie1.

It will be interesting to see their take on Filippino cuisine.

3RFilipinoCafe@gmail.com
Phone:(773) 478-2599
Mon - Thurs: 5:00 pm - 9:00 pm
Fri - Sat: 5:00 pm - 11:00 pm
Sun: 5:00 pm - 9:00 pm

Regards,

Thanks, Cathy. This is great news. We couldn't live much closer to the 3R's and were disappointed by our lunch over the summer. We'll have to try it again soon. When we do, we'll report back.

Ronna

REB wrote:

Cathy2 wrote:According to 3R's facebook page:

Three R's Filipino Cafe offers a genuine taste of the Philippine Islands. Serving authentic & contemporary twists of favorite Filipino dishes, there's something for everyone. Dine with us, grab dishes to go, have us deliver, let us cater your party or shop our adjacent grocery store for all your Filipino pantry staples & more. Let the new Chefs of Three R's give you a fresh taste of the Islands! We're here to serve you with our warm Filipino hospitality.

Chef Joan Elenita "Joelen" Tan
Chef Ray Delosreyes

Chef Joan Elenita "Joelen" Tan posts on LTH as Foodie1.

It will be interesting to see their take on Filippino cuisine.

3RFilipinoCafe@gmail.com
Phone:(773) 478-2599
Mon - Thurs: 5:00 pm - 9:00 pm
Fri - Sat: 5:00 pm - 11:00 pm
Sun: 5:00 pm - 9:00 pm

Regards,

Thanks, Cathy. This is great news. We couldn't live much closer to the 3R's and were disappointed by our lunch over the summer. We'll have to try it again soon. When we do, we'll report back.

Ronna

Thanks for posting Cathy! Just to clarify, the eatery currently focuses on a Filipino cafeteria style breakfast and lunch off a steam table. However, my partners and I are extending the business hours and transforming the current eatery into a Filipino Cafe in the evenings with BYOB. We'll be offering a new and fresh evening menu to better represent Filipino cuisine in Chicago. Our soft opening is in January to tweak things out. I'd love to have you check it out once we're up and running!

UPDATE as of May 2011:
The restaurant suffered a major fire in January and as a result, the soft opening for the dinner service was pushed back while the kitchen is having a whole renovation. It's been taken down to the studs and rebuilt. Since then, the past 3/4 months have been focused on getting the restaurant back up for business. Currently the dining room is open for lunch service. The kitchen is not yet completed so food for lunches are being prepared elsewhere. I'm not sure when it will be officially back up. I also made the professional decision to leave them recently so I'm no longer affiliated with this restaurant.