Kusina Filipina

This ain't no burger and fries!  If you are at all island inclined.. this place is for you!  It's authentic ethnic at it's best.










We visited Kusina Filipina last spring before we began our blog... so it was time to go again, and this time to blog it.

The people here are so friendly and very helpful in helping you make selections of your food if you are trying something new.  Most of the selection are of pork, chicken and beef, but there are shrimp fish and vegetarian selections too.  It's not a big menu and it does contain some unusual items like jicama, yucca root, milkfish, jackfruit and tofu.

We remembered that last time we were here it was rather foreign tasting, the tamarind soup in particular, but we liked it, even though we had never had that before!  Apparently it is a taste that grows on you.. because .remembering the flavor from the last time we enjoyed it even more.

Tonight we ordered the Lumpiang Sariwa which is vegetables, tofu and a sauce in a rice paper wrap with lettuce.  The menu called it a spring roll, but it really was not rolled up.  We also had a coconut drink...

"Happines in a Bottle!"








For dinner we ordered Pansit Bihon and Shrimp Sinigang.

The Bihin is a sort of stirfried thin hair noodle with vegetables and meat. 

 The Sinigang is a soup with shrimp, jalapeno ginger onions and spinach in a tamarind broth.  Very delicious!  You do need to appreciate the entire shrimp being served when you order this dish.

Geo loved it.  He loves sea food, and he loves soup and this was the best of both worlds.  I think he is an islander at heart. 

This is also a very educational restaurant... authentic ethnic, I say.  I learned that the Philippine Island have 7107 Islands of which 4000 are inhabited.

Then, for dessert we had their flan, our hostess told it it wa a Filipino "version." of flan at that!    This was truely amazing... Geo called it FLANtastic, and I agree.

I think this would be a great place just to come and have desserts!  They make something here called a Halo Halo... I would love to come and try that sometime. It is made with red beans, Jackfruit, shaved flavored ice and flan and the flan.. is "flantastic"... so it must be an incredicble dessert!

De Leon's

Hola!

Si! Es muy bien tamales aqui!

Well, actually I do not speak espanol... I do, however, like to eat Mexican food.  Stopped here for lunch.  The Place is De Leon's located on Francis Street just east of Division.

I had a tamale, vegetables a side of guacamole and some other toppings too, mostly cilantro. I also had a horchata... a cinnamony tasting  drink.  Traditionally they are made with rice and almond milk, but mine had dairy in it today.  They ladle it for you out of a really big jar.. It is sweet.


Here you see the topping bar.



It is a very lively place with all kinds of fascinating Mexican things.

Here is the Deli Menu.

Eating at De Leon's... (well actually, shopping there too) is like a mini trip to Mexico.  You should see their crazy-wild donuts!  I have never seen anything like them...

and Pinatas!

They have a fabulous meat department, grocery items, spices, and you can even buy really, really, big cooking pots... or maybe even a sombrero.



They make their own tortillas here as well... and of course the little deli is there too, almost making you feel like you have entered into another world.


Geo and I were in here one day last year and it was like going on vacation south of the border! (Just do it on a really hot day and see what I mean.


I had to visit here again, as I was in the neighborhood.  Here is their spice selection, where I found some saladitos.  (Salted Plums)

It is kinda a blast from my past.  I have not had one for a long time, so I had to taste one.  I do not recommend it though, unless you, like me, have a reason to.  These are very salty... sort of an acquired taste. 

There are a lot of candies one can try there though, or maybe a soda.
Apple, Pineapple and Tamarind are popular.

So if you need to get out of the kitchen.... here is another place to try... DeLeon's  

There are several locations in Spokane where you can eat DeLeon's style...
but this is the hub of it all.!



    

House of Seoul

The first time I had Korean food was at House of Seoul in 1993. The restaurant had been open for three or four years then, so ias you can see, it has been around quite a while. It has been through a couple of ownerships over it's lifetime, but the food has always been good when I have eaten here and tonight was no exception. House of Seoul Korean Restaurant is located at 12713 W 14th Ave, in Airway Heights.

We made our way through the fog tonight, all the way to Airway Heights, and were really happy to find that the restaurant was still here and open.  Just thinking about Korean food all the way there was rather fun.  For several years we had a bit of a Kim Chee addiction going on... and while we no longer have Kim Chee in the house regularly like we used too, we always look forward to what they serve in places like House of Seoul.

The place has been muralized since I have been here.  On the wall is a painted waterfall and a mural of a Korean Bridal scene.  It is very colorful and very beautiful to look at... I kinda liked it.  This is the Picture of the groom.

For an appetizer, we ordered Kim Bop.  We had never ordered that before.   This is rice and vergetables rolled up in a seaweed wrap.  It was served with a seasoned soy sauce.  After eating half of this we decided to wait for the rest of our food.  It was a lovely appetizer.

Our meal came and the first thing brought to us was the appetizers.
This is a delightful array of flavors and I the items change from time to time.  I really do not know what these were called officially... but it was things like kim chee, pickled radish strings, fish cakes, lotus root, some kind of spout salad and candied black beans.  Depending on where you go and what is being served, the items vary.  We have gotten things like anchovies or little shrimpy things...  You just never really know, but they are often fun to try and tasty!  

 Here is what the lotus root looks like.  It tasted crunchy and sweet.  I think that it was candied lotus root.

This is Geo's soup.  It is called Mixed Seafood Soup and it was full of Fish, Mussels, Tofu, Shrimp, Squid and Crab and was served with a bowl of rice. It comes to the table still cooling, boiling and bubbling like crazy.  Geo, loves it.  I think that it is because he loves the ocean. He called it a walk on the beach.... I think of it more like snorkleing.... and bringing up treasures from below.  After dinner we walked out into the fog and he said he felt like we were on the coast.  I think it was because he had eaten all that fish.



 I tried something new tonight.  Mostly because I wanted something cooked in a hot pot.  My order was called, Dol Sot Bi Bim Bop.  (Fun to say.  Tell your kids your are having that for dinner!)
The description on the menu  said, meat, egg and vegetables in a hot stone pot.  You can see the egg there on the top.... underneath it all is rice, cooked to a slight crisp on the bottom.

As I was looking curiously at my dish, wondering what all was in there and how to eat it, our waitress came and offered to mix it up for me, saying that is how it is usually eaten... and we put hot sauce on it too.   She also told me that it is a popular Korean dish but one that not only Koreans like.  I liked it and I ate it... but I would probably not order it again. My all time favorite is bulgoki.