Jayvee and I love homecooked meals. We share the same love for food (the main reason why this blog was created) and we're glad that we were invited for the Supreme business solutions product launch (
review on my blog here) and also for the food tasting at Pinac Kapampangan Cuisine.
Situated at the UP Town Center, Pinac offers a wide array of heirloom kapampangan dishes that surely hits the spot on our hearts and bellies. Added to that is the homey feel of the restaurant itself.
Light blue wallpapers helps light up the place and made it cozy, while tables and chairs used, and also the wooden doors gave it a modern rustic feel. I also liked the paintings displayed for it gives color and liveliness to the whole place.
I've heard great reviews about Pinac and their reputation of creating heirloom dishes. Indeed, everything is mouthwatering and delicious, and here are my reviews on some of their dishes:
Pinac's Appetizer platter that is composed of pork sisig, calamares, hito balls, lumpiang ubod, wanton paper, lettuce, and its additional condiments is a perfect sample of what they had to offer for us: We were all in awe on the hito balls, where it was best eaten when being wrapped in lettuce and added buro to taste. The hito balls alone were amazing, and adding buro to the dish gives it a unique texture and flavor without any hint of a musky smell that is common to the burong hipon.
I also liked the lumpiang ubod, the mix of veggies that is already mixed with their signature peanut sauce is something that I would eat, especially in times where I needed to lose more weight. I'd rather eat it alone than being mixed with the lumpia wrapper that is separated from the dish.
I could only wish that they had more sisig in their appetizer platter. Jayvee and I loved sisig, and we want more. And in a way, their calamares is somewhat common for all of us. But I had to admit that thy gave huge servings (and slices) for us, so yay pa rin!
I like the fact that their soup dish, the Sinigang na ulo ng mayamaya can be customized according to taste by adding miso to the dish. This is nice if you like your sinigang to have a mild or sour taste.
Their Crispy Pata is made to perfection! The dish alone is made for sharing. The crispy skin and meat just falls of the bone, dip it with the soy sauce/vinegar combo and the generous serving of rice and you're good to go.
Pinac's Kare kare is one for the books. It has this distinct nutty taste because of the roasted rice used in making the peanut sauce, served with generous servings of meat and fresh veggies. It is indeed a standout of them all.
This unusual combo of suman, tsokolate and mangga is something that I am not accustomed of, but Jayvee told me that it's the usual dessert staple from the provinces. One thing I noticed is that the suman is coated with sugar (which I really liked), the tsokolate is a bit bland for my taste and good thing that the mangoes and really fresh! I only ate the fresh mangoes and suman, while Jayvee and our fellow foodies like the trio combo.
We had a great experience here at Pinac! Indeed a great place to dine in and have a taste of Kapampangan cuisine. Definitely worth the visit!
Pinac Heirloom Capampangan Cuisine
2/F UP Town Center, Katipunan Ave.,
Loyola Heights, Quezon City