Jesse Jr Restaurant

Bought combo 2 and drank it down with coconut water. Ordered the sisig– fried porkrind and different pieces of the pig deep fried and smothered in mayo and green and white onions; pinakbet– bitter melon, pieces of pork, string beans, okra, sweet potatoes; and rice!
The sisig was cold today. I thought it was fresh because Tita (auntie) said to bring it out so I assumed it was fresh. Twas not! I usually come here to get the sisig. The frustrating thing about this place is that it’s On and off with their food. When they’re on point the food is fresh and warm and delicious and feels like home cooking! But when they’re not, like today, the food taste mediocre and meh!
If you want the best of this place come first thing in the morning for breaky when everything is hot and fresh! Otherwise, be warned! You have been advised! Aha

Among the hardest working chefs/​cooks in Toronto, I suspect! Always a full, homestyle spread — meat/​fish/​lumpia/​stews — ready for you at their long counter (twice as much as nearby Remely’s). Take-​out or dine-​in; very casual atmosphere with some quirky Filipino touches. Whenever I crave Filipino food, my go-​to is Jesse Jr! A large seating area — The Filipino Channel plays on TV; Pinoy newspapers, magazines, money-​wiring service available. Desserts, taho, halo-​halo. Down-​to-​earth, easy, satisfying eats for Filipino food lovers!

This is a typical casual Filipino «look and pick» restaurant. So don’t expect service or top notch environment/​ambiance. This is a place to get a quick bite to eat or to grab take out. You get exactly what you pay for. The combos here are always a good deal. You can get two options with rice and a soda for $ 8 + tax which is great to get your fix. My favorite dishes here are probably the dinoguan and the adobo pork.

For fast food filipino food its great. Had a combo rice wit sigsig and pork Adobe. Sigsig is GOOD!!! Great place for Scarborough eats other place I’d go is Bario Fiesta in Scarbs.

How this place is still open is beyond me. Has the health dept. never visited? It was in between the lunch and dinner rush so pretty quiet, a good time to empty the garbage cans and clean the bathrooms because they needed it badly. I could barely push the garbage door open to empty my tray, it was so full of crap. As for the toilets, the toilet seat was too small for the bow and the bathroom itself was pretty nasty. Out back in the parking lot, the area around the back of the store seemed alternately sticky and slimy.
But hey, what about the food? I had the fried chicken and pork skewer w/​rice. I got a couple pieces of fried chicken, one skewer and around 3 cups of white rice. That’s a lotta damn rice. I’d have been full if I actually ate all the rice, but I was more interested in the chicken and pork. The chicken was fine, but the pork was covered in a way too sweet for me sticky sauce. Since I didn’t eat all that rice, I had room for halo halo which was good, but had some disconcertingly stringy bits that reminded me of hair. Maybe the general skiviness of the place made me think it was hair even though it wasn’t.
Service was meh. The counter people weren’t all that interested in us and we had to wave them over to order from the steam trays. All-​in-​all, avoid this place and go somewhere else for Filipino food.

Jesse Jr is the second Filipino restaurants that I’ve ever been to. To me, Filipino food is just an overly salty version of Chinese food — not that it’s a bad thing! My boyfriend and I got noodles, beef skewers, some pancake thing and my first halo halo. The noodles was much needed to tone down the super salty beef skewers. The pancake wasn’t made fresh and have been sitting there so it wasn’t as crispy as it looks. I’ve never been a fan of having things in my drinks aside from tapioca. Halo halo had a mixture of things in their drink and my favourite part was the ice cream on top. I enjoyed the actual drink itself but not so much the tofu, jelly, etc in the drink. I don’t think I’ll get halo halo at this restaurant again but I would definitely get the taro ice cream because it was delicious!

I had no idea what to order when I got here. Good thing everything is displayed right in front of you in trays. But even after order and eating the food I’m still not 100% what I ate. I pointed to the items I wanted. I got some kind of noodle with chicken on the side. The food is pretty good but very greasy. After finishing the meal I could see all the oil left over on the bottom. I also got a nice drink/​dessert. It was tofu with sweet syrup served in a cup. You can usually get this at Chinese restaurants for dessert but I have never had it served in a cup. Pretty good overall.

I don’t understand why this place is still in business, their food is gross. Been sitting in those dishes for hours, reheated in the microwave. Doesn’t even taste good. I’ve tasted great Filipino food all my life growing up with aunts that ran catering businesses but to serve food like that is an EMBARASSMENT. How dare you charge for food that you know was adobo from last night and turn it into like binagoongan the next day? Fuckin embarassment. Just close down and save your time. And the servers, I love it when they skimp. They scoop the food to your plate and look like they have Parkinson’s disease, shaking because they don’t wanna put too much in your plate and keep it mini portions as possible. TYPICAL, DESPERATE, DEPRIVED ACTING ways, you’re not in the Philippines anymore where it is expected to SKIMP and in tagalog, MAGTIPID. Can’t believe they would even do such a thing especially with how gross the food is. Can I stress enough how gross it is? Fucking embarassing. It doesn’t even deserve a star at all. You bitches need to close down. Fucking embarrassing. If you’re gonna sell food, make sure it’s good.

**1.5 stars– 0.5 star for food and atmosphere. The other full star for the chips (CLOVER CHIPS! YUMM!!), instant noodle, bread, and some Filipino grocery items sold on the side.
I’ve been here a few times by force maybe two years ago, because my bf was Filipino (I’m Chinese, by the way), and his friends loved coming here for quick cheap bites. Even he thinks this place sucks (I’ve taught him well!) haha. This is my general review since my experiences here have pretty much been the same– BAD.
I was not a fan of Filipino cuisine, but I love to give everything and every place a try. As soon as I stepped up to the steam table, I was already wishing the venue was still Harvey’s and not taken over by this. However, they kept all the fast-​food set-​up ie: chairs, tables, the counter which changed to a steam table, and added TVs on the wall displaying shows in Tagalog. All the food was NOT visually-​appealing at all! Some looked dry, the others gross! I was starving, so I HAD to eat SOMETHING:
Bleh… BBQ Pork on a skewer *boring face*: $Dunno, bf paid blah (¹⁄₅ stars)
I don’t understand why they like to over cook things! The marinade was fine, though nothing spectacular. But, it was so over cooked EVERY SINGLE TIME so I basically ate pork jerky. Oh, and it was COLD! I kindly asked the lady to microwave it. She looked at me like I’m an alien and said, «what? you want microwave?». I was taken back thinking to myself, ‘well yea I like my food hot’. But, I didn’t want to be mean and just said, «yes, I would like my food to be warmed up simply in a microwave please», and she did. (Of course, I would have preferred her to just make me a fresh hot one!)
Steamed rice: (⁵⁄₅)
If it’s one thing they can cook, it’s steamed rice. Hot too! But sad that my hi-​bite was just hot steamed rice.
Service: (³⁄₅)
I don’t think they mean any harm. The one lady just got annoyed at me for wanting my PORKSICLE to be warmed up like hot food should be. Otherwise, everyone else was polite.
I do need to mention that I have had bites of some of the other foods, which in general lacks any amazing flavour and heat! Don’t waste your time, unless you want luke warm food without quality while you watch Filipino drama in a fast-​food atmosphere.

This is a party tray experience review.
Ordered their beef caldereta SMALL for $ 30. Sauce is very tasty and not at all too salty with tender slices of beef.
Fried veggie rolls for 25 pcs, $ 25.
Again, this takes alot of time and effort to make so the price is reasonable. And plus, it‘s a great appetizer for guests as they sipped reisling along with their cobb salad. Good combo, it was a hit among my guests. It is served with a spicy vinegar dipping sauce and preference for eating it solo is just as delicious. It was a bit on the oily side, that‘s why it‘s best eaten with a light salad or with the vinegar alone.

Jesse Jr.‘s was once a burger joint called Harvey’s turned cafeteria-​style restaurant (turo-​turo) where you line up and choose the dishes you want to order. They offer quite an array of items (about 20) which is a large selection compared to most; however, most items taste average at best.
My family and I ordered:
— dinuguan
— binagoongan
— barbeque
— kare-​kare
— bopis
— spaghetti
— bucci bucci (dessert)
All dishes can be ordered in small, medium, and large sizes meant to be shared and served family-​style. There weren’t really any outstanding dishes, but I did like the kare-​kare. They ran out of halo-​halo that day so I didn’t get to try it, and I heard that once they run out of certain items for the day, they don’t bother to replenish them but that’s understandable considering they offer such a variety.
Like with other Filipino cafes or restaurants, they offer baked goods and other items for sale. They have one big TV that you can watch TFC from while you are dining in.
Price: Under $ 10. A decent bargain for the amount of food you get.
This is a good go-​to for Filipino food in this neighborhood.

I go to Jesse Jr. frequently and it’s one of my first options when I am craving for some home cooking.
I find a lot of Filipino eateries get negative reviews because customers expect them to be either: a) a Chinese restaurant; or b) a Vietnamese restaurant. Everyone expects the food to be similar to these or other more mainstream Asian cuisines. Those who are unfamiliar (or ignorant) end up deeming the food too unhealthy or strange. It also doesn’t help that most Filipino restaurants cater mainly to Filipinos and don’t do much to educate foreigners to the cuisine. As a Filipino-​Canadian, I am sometimes confused myself as to which dishes are on display.
Jesse Jr. is a cafeteria-​style restaurant where you line up and pick and choose which dishes you want to order. You can get small, medium or large orders. The prices range from $ 4 to $ 8 depending on the dish and the portion size. I have no complaints about the quality of their food. It tastes just as good as any other restaurant I’ve tried. One thing you should be aware of is that different restaurants have different ways of cooking the same dish. I like the kare-​kare at Jesse Jr. more than at Remely’s for example.
The restaurant itself is adapted from an old fast-​food place. The seating area can be a little cramped, but it’s clean and usually empty.
I ordered party trays once and was happy with the amount of food they provided, and the prices were very competitive.
The one complaint I have is that they run out of certain foods often, namely pancit palabok and lumpia shanghai. They don’t replenish when they run out for the day.
The staff are all very friendly and someone is always there to answer the phone. Their operating hours are also much more convenient than other Filipino restaurants.
If you are willing to try some dishes, my favourites are:
— pancit palabok (a noodle dish)
— beef mechado
— beef caldereta
— kare-​kare (a meat dish with peanut butter sauce)
— lumpia shanghai (deep fried rolls with a meat filling, served with sweet & sour sauce)
— halo-​halo (a popular dessert drink)
Filipino cuisine is meant to be shared. The option to order small portions makes it easier to sample new dishes you haven’t had in the past and share it with friends.

weird place. Its setup like a fast food joint but serves karinderya precooked displayed food which is common in the Philippines.
Had the beef caldereta, binagoongan, paksiw, goto. Verdict is… average.
The barbecue was good but everything else was not particularly good, but not particularly bad either.
taho, halo-​halo, sisig, and a lot lot more. it really is quite impressive the menu they are trying to offer. Having no real specialty, just «filipino food», it’s not surprising nothing is great.
whole meal less than $ 10 as it should be.

I HAVEN’T experienced better, actually I haven’t even experienced worst but in this case I’m giving 2 stars anyways as I started researching into Filipino Cuisine for the upcoming UYE.
It took over the old Harvey’s location and made it into 1 part Dry Goods Shop, 1 part Restaurant, and 1 part Movie Theatre. I went up to the counter where all the food were being displayed which should have been a SIGN for me but I soldiered on.
I didn’t have a clue what the menu board said even though it was mostly using English Alphabets so I asked the server which are not spicy and she pointed out items so I started pointing back 2 items for the Combo Special ($ 7.49 includes POP), side of Steam Rice, Kare Kare (I think), Pork in Tomato Sauce (Kaldereta?), and Shrimp Paste.
The Pork in Tomato Sauce has an okay sauce however the Pork was HARD and DRY maybe sat on the tray too long. This item did have a bit of saltiness and oiliness to it like Jason N. stated so if it wasn’t for the Steam Rice I probably wouldn’t survive this experience. Reminds me of typical Chinese food court meals.
The Kare Kare had a peanut sauce that resembles a Chinese dish which has that similar sauce but it’s served on noodles instead. It had some veges however the meat almost consisted of PURELY Beef tendons. I know my tendons anywhere as I always have it on my Phở. I LIKE the Shrimp Paste although salty it has good flavour that goes well with Steam Rice.
Theatre? It’s because the TV is placed in the middle of the wall on one end and everyone else eating in is facing that end, ALMOST. I see half the patrons go directly to the small-​ish dry goods section to get pastry or bag chips and then maybe an item from the counter to take-​out.

Not sure if Philipino food is supposed to taste this way, but I just did not like it. Food was too salty and cold.