G, I don't think it's a fine dining vs street food deal. In general, I think filipino food gets a bad rap for the following reasons:

1) Unfairly compared to other asian cuisines instead of being judged solely on its own. Thai food, for example, is my favorite (vietnamese, close second). Filipino food simply ranks low by comparison.

2) Under represented. For whatever reason, you don't many filipino restaurants and most people do not know the full range of filipino cuisine. They may try to dish or two at some point and come to a hasty opinion based on limited exposure.

3) Highly pork oriented. Now, I know many people enjoy pork. But, there are more people than you think that don't dig on swine (as was once said in Pulp Fiction). Me and my boys don't touch it. If you're Italian and like a good pig roast, then filipino may be your thing. Enjoy away if it's your preference.

@Moma I agree with you it depends on which cities you go to in the U.S. But the nice thing about the U.S. is that you can find all different types of girls. I'm in San Diego right now and you can find good looking white women, asians, blacks, surprisingly not that many latin girls though. But then again a lot of American women don't know how to act right and aren't that feminine. If you have game you can pull quality in the U.S. but you will still get annoyed by how a lot of them act. As for me I'm all about variety so that is one positive thing about the U.S. and that is why I enjoyed living in Sao Paulo where you could find all different types of brazilian girls.

Luckystar -

I think you are correct.

I just had to question it when so many people dismissed an entire cuisine as "horrible".

I even doubt the anti-health claims on here to a large degree.

Fillipino cuisine seems to work pretty well for Manny Pacquiao, right?

Tony Snow25 -

"surprisingly not that many latin girls though"

I have written on here before that San Diego is not as "latin" as most people believe. Most Mexicans in San Diego have been there for generations and new immigrants usually go up to LA or points further.

"blacks"

In San Diego?

The African American population in San Diego is almost non-existent.

Break this down where you are finding them.

-@G I'm not sure about that. I've seen a lot of cute black women out at clubs in downtown. I think there is a large population that lives in Southeast San Diego.

"I think there is a large population that lives in Southeast San Diego."

Its not "large", but yeah, that is the only one. It is where Lincoln High is, home of Marcus Allen and the only real talented basketball school.

San Diego is "6.7% Black or African American" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Diego#Demographics

I wouldn't call that "large" by any stretch.

Not trying to call you out or argue with you, but if someone reads your post and thinks San Diego is a good place to swoop fly Black girls, they would be in for a disappointment.

San Diego is one of the most undiversified major cities in America.

Especially when almost every tourist goes to the north and west sides of the county. Where it is probably 90% white.

-I get your point. I was just saying you can find attractive black women in San Diego in the downtown area. There are a lot more in LA and in the bay area and other U.S. cities.

So yes, if one speaks of attitude, then indeed the American attitude can suck, although if you are able to find an immigrant you might be shielded from the North American b.s until she assimilates into the culture.

But in terms of looks, American women are smoking to me.
Why?
Because there is no such thing as an American look (unless you factor in a slightly heavier build than other country counterparts)

It is the land of immigrants. It enhances every look. The Asian women in California were looking voluptous and bold (I was stared down several times by confident asian women that I don't think would bat an eye if I told them I'd like to run them by the back for a quick stuffing).

Example: A Japanese woman (immigrated but assimilated into American ways) pinched my arse (years ago) while I was bent over at the water fountain (drinking water).

I stood up in surprise and I looked at her. She winked.

Later on that month, she and another Japanese guy gave me a lift home and she looked me in my eye and asked me "How many metres are you?"

Translation: How big is your schlong?

In Toronto, I can't even get eye contact (let alone get my arse pinched).

Go figure.

Quote:Quote:

It seems that the people that say Fillipino food is "awful", "terrible" and "horrible" are eating at the super bargain basement street food joints.

I always think that's how it should be judged, anywhere in the world you can go to expensive restaurants and find nice food but the food on the street is what defines wether the food is good or bad, IMO.

Philippino food is not bad. They have very good seafood. In Manila, I had Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, Mexican, Italian, American and Middle Eastern. Thai and Indian food are also available. The local food was a bit strange...I had seaweed, black squid, and some fatty pork. But still not bad. I skipped on the street food.

You guys are giving Philippines a bad wrap for food, but I dont see the justification. Manila gets points for having tremendous variety at a good price, and the quality isn't bad either.

Quote: (04-20-2011 02:42 PM)Gringo Wrote:  

Quote:Quote:

It seems that the people that say Fillipino food is "awful", "terrible" and "horrible" are eating at the super bargain basement street food joints.

I always think that's how it should be judged, anywhere in the world you can go to expensive restaurants and find nice food but the food on the street is what defines wether the food is good or bad, IMO.

By that gauge then America would have terrible food outside of NYC.

Right?

"anywhere in the world you can go to expensive restaurants and find nice food"

What I would call a place with "terrible" food is a place where even the expensive restaurants suck.

Interestingly enough, the only places that come to mind that fit this bill are certain American cities.

The Duke -

Thanks for your input. Good breakdown.

I am kind of getting the feeling that discussing food on here is kind of a ridiculous venture. We are all over the map on here.

We got people suggesting TGI fridays as a strong move to the hoop, we got people hating pork, we got people thinking seaweed and black squid are "weird". And we got people blaming Thais for not speaking English well and then turning around and dismissing an entire cultures food.

I am lost.

For instance:

"The local food was a bit strange...I had seaweed, black squid, and some fatty pork. But still not bad."

From my perspective, "black squid, and some fatty pork" are not strange at all, and are super good.

This board is almost a "reverse barometer" on food.

G, you are going to have to go to Phils yourself to settle the score.

You know the place gets the thumbs up from me.

Make sure you bang a local cutie who loves to cook for you though. I have several of those and, until you have done that I say your barometer on local food is gonna be a bit out of whack.

I don't see how you can hate on a good home cooked chicken adobo, kaldereta or crispy pata.

If your every meal is street food or eating at Jolibee's then you would have a different impression.

Seafood I don't eat so I can't comment on it but as its a country of more than 7,100 islands I assume it's decent.

And you are right, the whole roasted pig (Lechon) is great.

Quote: (04-20-2011 12:39 PM)Moma Wrote:  

I can't believe what you guys are saying about the U.S. I have seen some very attractive women in the U.S. It really depends on where in the U.S you go.

No, it depends on how you define "attractive".

Quote: (04-20-2011 10:46 AM)Lumiere Wrote:  

Never ate in a TGIs in my life in any country and if I want a pizza in Phils I will go to Yellow Cab pizza (a filipino pizza chain) because it tastes better to me than pizza hut.

I don't even know what "TGIs" is, and I don't really care as I mostly don't eat American food (and gravy is my personal top-hated item).

The question was please describe what the local food is like. It was not just about whether the food at street vendors or dirty local joints is good. And it was definitely not whether someone liked it. A response "it is all pork and I hate pork" carries little value to me as I not only eat pork, but actually enjoy it.

Quote: (04-21-2011 06:15 PM)oldnemesis Wrote:  

The question was please describe what the local food is like

Well I mentioned 4 local dishes in my last post. Google them.

For desert, google halo-halo.

Quote: (04-20-2011 11:36 AM)thegmanifesto Wrote:  

I am finally getting it.

It seems that the people that say Fillipino food is "awful", "terrible" and "horrible" are eating at the super bargain basement street food joints. Which I understand are not nearly as good as the Thai street food joints. Fair enough.

Also, it seems that they are not really exploring things that the culture is famous for ie pig roasts.

Or eating at the finer restaurants or in people's houses.

So basically, they are just scratching the surface.

I knew I would get to the bottom of this one.

Either way, I am going to find out for myself soon enough.

I can add some clarification here-- there are some great dishes in the Philippines, mentioned in this thread and beyond-- sisig, kinilaw, lechon, adobo anything, crispy pata, bicol express-- all fantastic... that said they are difficult to find consistently at a good price.... it's common to say the best food in the Philippines is served on the private tables of middle to upper class families (I've found this to be basically true) and Flips don't want to go out for Filipino food (meh, sorta true...) and as you picked up, great street food places are relatively non-existent compared to the rest of Asia.

I can think of BLOCKS in Thailand, Bali, China, and Vietnam that have more intriguing restaurants/places to eat than most ISLANDS in the Philippines.

Decent western food-- and by decent we might be taking a TGI Friday's here-- is about as expensive as back in wherever you hail from.

So although you can get some awesome food in the Fils (perhaps the best value in the Fils is Korean food...) overall, it's the worst culinary culture I've ever been exposed to.. and yeah, I've lived in the US for a while

Great spots in Manila are the popular tourist bar "Erras" in Malate.
If you are in Dumaguete, Hayahay is one of the best spots in the country.

All that said-- you can dig around and find some good spots and ultimately it doesn't need to take away from all the fun that's to be had there.

I've been there twice and i can say that i will come back. Manila really sucks due to pollution but if you've been to Boracay, Puerto Princesa (Palawan) and Caramoan, you'll probably enjoy. Even though the girls doesn't look as elegant as other women in Asia, they will offer you a friendly and welcoming aura.

Yeah I would not go back. I didnt like the idea of sticking my cock in something that had been serviced by 100 other cocks before mine. THhose girls are all skanks. I spent 2 weeks in Borocay. After watching the same girls sleep with new tourists everyday it put me right off. I had no desire whatsoever to sleep with any of locals. Luckily there were enough europeans to keep me occupied.

Quote: (08-05-2011 04:05 AM)Richie Wrote:  

Yeah I would not go back. I didnt like the idea of sticking my cock in something that had been serviced by 100 other cocks before mine. THhose girls are all skanks. I spent 2 weeks in Borocay. After watching the same girls sleep with new tourists everyday it put me right off. I had no desire whatsoever to sleep with any of locals. Luckily there were enough europeans to keep me occupied.

Thats a real intelligent comment ; all girls are skanks !!

Have you considered looking in other cities/islands ?? I,ve been in the phils for 6 months and visited/lived in many places. i fricking love that country and want to live there one day.

ofcourse boracay has many golddiggers, its a touristy place for the rich asian or european/american

quote = Yeah I would not go back. I didnt like the idea of sticking my cock in something that had been serviced by 100 other cocks before mine. =

Like there no sluts in your country.

ok that was a little heavy handed. I was on the island long enough to see what actually went on. I hung out with some cool guys form the US for 5 days. THey were all banging these girls who they hooked up with on their first night. THey were all very sexy and I looked forward to getting a piece of the action. After they left I befriended some guys from Germany who wanted me to show them the places to go out.
Within a week I noticed the same girls in the same places picking up new tourists. THe germans couldn't believe their luck when when they each had one of these girls flocking around them like loved up teenagers. I didn't have the heart to tell them. Im not out to spoil anyones fun… and sure enough they all got their fill. For sure there are cute girls to be had and I was making a harsh generalisation based on my experiences. It just wasn't for me. I guess I just like the chase.
I had been to a remote town in Thailand a few years before. I hooked up with a beautiful Thai girl. It was so easy I couldn't believe my luck. She took me back to hers. After we did the business I probed a little into her life story. She had many tales to tell about foreigners she'd been with i felt kinda deflated.
But my friend you are absolutely right!! there is no difference between the locals doing the rounds as much as the girls in my own country. I guess I just didn't like admitting it to myself. THere is nothing more exhilarating than being the first!

I would go back to the philipines, but I have no burning desire to go back. But I wouldn't pass up a deal on airfare or as part of a bigger trip.

Food was fine to me.

My main memory of the Philippines are the warnings against US service people getting kidnapped by the golf courses. My visit there happened right around the time a sailor went missing there

Quote: (08-05-2011 01:10 PM)Neil Skywalker Wrote:  

Quote: (08-05-2011 04:05 AM)Richie Wrote:  

Yeah I would not go back. I didnt like the idea of sticking my cock in something that had been serviced by 100 other cocks before mine. THhose girls are all skanks. I spent 2 weeks in Borocay. After watching the same girls sleep with new tourists everyday it put me right off. I had no desire whatsoever to sleep with any of locals. Luckily there were enough europeans to keep me occupied.

Thats a real intelligent comment ; all girls are skanks !!

Have you considered looking in other cities/islands ?? I,ve been in the phils for 6 months and visited/lived in many places. i fricking love that country and want to live there one day.

ofcourse boracay has many golddiggers, its a touristy place for the rich asian or european/american

quote = Yeah I would not go back. I didnt like the idea of sticking my cock in something that had been serviced by 100 other cocks before mine. =

Like there no sluts in your country.

so which spots did you like the most? I like the PI but have barely scratched the surfaced.

For food in Manila Adriantico's is good, in Ermita if memory serves. I heard the food in PI was crap but I found good food. Lots of excellent Korean places if you dig that food.

Quote: (08-05-2011 08:02 PM)redneckpunk Wrote:  

I heard the food in PI was crap but I found good food.

You found it, but you saw some real nasty stuff, right?

I love Filipino food. Most food in PI makes me sick.

As I type this I'm microwaving my fish kare kare/pinakbet (Tagalog style with the little pumpkins) mixed plate I got for lunch today. I got it at Golden Coin in Wahiawa, Hawaii.

I would never eat either of those when I go PI, unless a blood relative cooked it in a kitchen I saw. Now the Wahiawa place I got my lunch at is by no means up to mainland cleanliness standards, but if I get a tapeworm tomorrow that can be traced back to this food, I can call a health department. In PI you can also do that, but when the inspector goes to the restaurant, the owner gives him ten dollars and a napkin to wipe the rat shit off his shoes, and nobody saw anything.

You really have to watch fish over there. I've fished up and own the whole county. There are so many ways they mishandle the commercial stuff, I won't even go into. Plus, the water is dirty as hell in so many places. Any of you guys in Boracay during algae season? Why do you think they don't ship those giant buckets of giant lobsters they sell on the street to the US?

There are all kinds of fruits and vegetables you can only get in PI, or at Filipino type food places. Have you ever really looked at them. The pinakbet, for example, got parda beans and calabaza. Then they put a calamansi slice in the plate. I don't think they sell those things any where else? The problem is that the land and the farming techniques used to raise those vegetables is so bad and it's all extremely chemically treated. Again, an inspector goes out to the farms to see if they're spraying ddt all over the cardaba. When they see that the nine year old are, they get paid 20 dollars and they leave.

My last trip there was for a family wedding outside MM. Because I dislike the girl swooping scenario there as much as the food, I brought a chick with me. She's pretty hot so we stayed at the Mandarin Oriental. We ate at it's top shelf restaurant the first night. I forget what she had, but my meal was one of those off the menu things where it's a full menu, called a prixe fu or some shit. It was turkey and dressing but ground up and served in a little round blob nuevo style. This is at the highest end restaurant in an international hotel so you'd think it would be perfect. There was a little corner of a piece of the turkey that was just dry as hell. That's just how it is.

After dinner we went to Greenbelt and cruised around. Since this girl is hot, she makes some type of facial potion to keep her that way. She needed a cucumber. At the fancy grocery store in Greenbelt (the fancy mall with the Louis Vuitton store) she bought one. Back at the hotel she cut it up. The green dye they'd shot into that thing was bleeding almost into the middle of the cucumber.

I've read other parts of the forum talking about Filipino food, but that's my general take on it.

Quote: (08-05-2011 08:02 PM)Richie Wrote:  

I spent 2 weeks in Borocay.

Did you get stuck in the bat cave??

What the hell do you do in Boracay for two weeks? That's probably why you didn't like it. You can only ride a jet ski in so many circles before you go crazy. If you'd stayed 3 weeks you'd have seen those same girls moving on to more strange dudes. It's how they survive.

Aloha!

Quote: (08-06-2011 06:09 AM)Kona Wrote:  

Quote: (08-05-2011 08:02 PM)Richie Wrote:  

I spent 2 weeks in Borocay.

Did you get stuck in the bat cave??

What the hell do you do in Boracay for two weeks? That's probably why you didn't like it. You can only ride a jet ski in so many circles before you go crazy. If you'd stayed 3 weeks you'd have seen those same girls moving on to more strange dudes. It's how they survive.

Aloha!

Your right. 2 weeks in boracay is definitely overkill. Its a small island, I think I was there for 4 days and saw it all.

Haha. No one mentioned lumpia, pancit, or menudo. I like, and have learned to cook a number of filipino dishes. I'll take burnt lumpia any day of the week over a stank ass egg roll. Filipino cuisine takes a little getting used to, but adding a touch of western flare makes it awesome. My pork or beef liver menudo is requested at every get together, and is the first thing off the table, about 2 gallons worth.

Now this is coming from a Carolina boy, where we pride ourselves on pork bbq. Lechon baboy is a step up. Man, if I could master it and take that show on the bbq circuit. Shit. I'd clean house.

Fried chicken. Filipinas got this to a science. Just ask one to grilll up some livers and gizzards too. Real food. Man food.

As for filipino food, i've eaten street food, cheap places, food made for me by a family, places that locals eat at, and a few nice places: I dislike it all. It's just weird food. That's all there is to say. They really enjoy eating intestines, organs, penises, hearts....fucking anything.

There are very few vegetables in the food, and it basically looks like gruel. Trust me, the food sucks a nutsack.


As for fili generally: I may come back. Yes, it is a third world shithole with beautiful beaches and natural scenery. The women, though being sub par on average, love white men. Especially when you get outside of the hooker areas and girlie bars....some women are easier to screw than whores. I mean, it's pretty ridiculous. Some of the experiences I've had are crazy.

I could stay here and get my lay count up, but I don't really like the country. Even though I've had sex with 4 girls in the last two weeks (all from online dating), I want to leave soon.