Chicken is marinated in vinegar, soysauce and garlic and boiled for hours. The boiling method tenderizes the meat and speeds up the marination process. Served with rice.

 

Good:New Filipinas Restaurant 

Better: Tito Rey

Best: Sinugba Restaurant 

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New Filipinas Restaurant 

“Cafeteria style in times of energy crisis.”

On the menu: “Chicken and Pork Adobo”
Price: $4.35

There aren’t really any menus around, but you can see what to order through the glass partition.

This not-so-“new” eatery helps out the current energy crisis by turning off its neon sign during the day. Enjoy clean tables and minimalist meals cafeteria-style in a slow-paced community atmosphere. The friendly staff of two women and one young boy chat in Tagalog with a few of the local customers who drift in during a weekday lunch hour, while KOIT radio spills out old favorites — the ones you know all the words to.

The no-nonsense items come with plain ol’ rice, and the pork adobo seems tastier than the chicken. A full bowl of greasy lumpia runs $3, and don’t forget the tangy sauce that really makes all the difference. Grab a tray, pile on the styrofoam plates and bowls, and fill yer tummy quickly and sufficiently.

953 Mission Street
San Francisco CA 94103-2936
415-896-2475
Open: Mon - Sat: 8 a.m. to 7 or 8 p.m.

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Tito Rey

“Where is everyone?” 

On the Menu: “Karne at Baboy – The Famous Filipino Dish – Adobo”
Price: $8.00

 The spacious restaurant with white butcher paper tablecloths and fresh flowers can be deserted depending on when you go (Sundays are very slow). The large restaurant with banquet rooms, a fully stocked bar and evening entertainment makes it ideal for a large party bash. The tables were unusually tall and oldies (96.5 station) blares from the karaoke room. It has an air of sophistication — white plates, framed prints and attentive service.

A Filipino friend told me he gives this restaurant high marks for the authentic fixtures — sliding wooden doors, rattan fans.

The adobo is normally cooked with both chicken and pork but you can ask for just the chicken and the service won’t make a fuss.

The food arrives in ten minutes and the adobo is a smaller serving than the other restaurants but equally competitive taste-wise. The abobo sauce is more gravy than watery. It dresses the rice nicely. The rice itself is appealing for the purists. No garlic, no seasons, just rice. Tito Rey has the potential to be a really happening, but only if you bring your friends — lots of them.

 3 St. Francis Square
Daly City, CA 94015|
650-758-5815

Open: Everyday 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.

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Sinugba Restaurant 

“Food with all your favorite soaps”

On the Menu: “Adobong Manok – classic Filipino cuisine with chicken”
Price: $6.95 

Hidden away in a strip mall in Daly City, Sinugba is pretty hard to find — so hard, one might wonder how mail and telephone lines reach its destination. Walk in and you’ll see round tables with vinyl, turquoise tablecloths, pictures of fisherman boats and crustaceans and two televisions on opposite corners that play Filipino soaps.

The restaurant is quiet — people speak softly amongst themselves and attentively watch the television screens.

The Chicken adobong is tender and the meat practically falls off the bones. It has a salty bite. The serving is large and garlic rice is served separately. The presentation is appetizing. The rice is my favorite. Bits of dried, fried garlic are mixed in to the generous portion of moist, delicious rice. It is garnished with green onions and flakes of garlic.

Breakfast is served all day and it’s only $5.75 a plate with 24 selections ranging from marinated beef to spamsilog — yes, our favorite condensed delicacy SPAM. The dishes are all served with garlic rice and a fried egg. 

2055 Gellert Boulevard, Ste. No. 5
Daly City, California 94015
650-878-3591
Open: Tues - Sun: 8 a.m. to midnight Closed Mondays