Inasal

Love this FILO restaurant! Authentic and friendly service. Value for money and if you’re dying for your Filipino comfort food this is your place. Best in Lucky Plaza and I’ll always come back.

I love the food here, Every time I come to Singapore this is my first stop. The price is also very good.

The staff was super friendly and the prices are very much reasonable. Unfortunately there is no area to sit down as the locale is set up as a to go restaurant for delicacies. Presentation of the delicacies was good and I left there with a sense that the hygiene is above standards. If you go there you MUST try the flan! Delish!!!

Humble little Filipino place on the 4^th floor. Good selection and prices.
There is a supervisor at the dessert stand who is overweight and unfriendly. The pricing policy for desserts is inflexible (cannot purchase some items individually, cannot mix and match). The pricing should be more flexible; it would increase business.

I + nasal =? What does the equation measure? Clueless? Well, not even the greatest Mathematicians of all-​time! But we managed to crack the formulae — the other significant facet embedded — far from linear but rather a myriad of flavors in compounding form. From knowing nothing to gaining insights to the newly uncovered cuisine that has been in existence for as long as we start to import the helpful lot and invite them to be part of our domestic members. It’s a shame not having the slightest knowledge of the food, when it tastes robust and so mystique and only the food connoisseur knows where to dig up gems. Each was well tuck in corners along the bustling street of Orchard Road which I only realized as I jumped onto the wagon with Ninja powering up the engine.
Never been to Philippines, nor have I eaten a single Filipino meal in my life. Incredible?! I tasted Vietnamese, Thai, Malaysian, Indonesian but none from the Filipinos. I can’t figure why. If I am asked to give a description on the cuisine, I am quite certain that many will sneer at my ignorance — Malaysian cooking alike — loads of coconut, spices, mutton, beef and all that come close to Malay-​styled. I strongly associate both cuisine to become identical and so, I probably passé the chance of getting acquainted with the authentic preparation found in any Filipino food stall, until today.
We didn’t mind the self-​service approach though I heard my feet whining as we horde the counter gazing at the menu chalkboard hanging on the wall. The variety wasn’t extensive but serving a good number of classical Filipino dishes. Didn’t take long to decide, cutting short the interrogation from a rubbernecker like me. We found a seat effortlessly, it was +/​-​6pm.
No.18! Yes, she’s calling out to us. Grabbing the number tag, we exchanged for the food. One by one, they occupied my 4-​pax table space. My eyeballs start to parade from the hissing Sisig to the Chicken Inasal that perfumed the surrounding and then the sourish milky Sinigang.
After sampling the wonderful street foods by these Filipinos, I know I have to get my facts right on its origins. Not entirely the Malays, the dishes have a good mix of foreign elements by the Hispanic, American, Chinese and other Asian ethnics left behind by the archipelago’s earliest dwellers. They are a cluster of discerning lot, not the sharp spiciness you could get in the Thai food and never the mild ones like the Vietnamese.
Take Sisig for example, you get a full flavor of the chicken liver bits melded within the coarsely chopped pig ears, cheeks coupled with finely diced onions and seasoned in lemony calamansi juice. It has an explosive texture as I bite into the ear cartilage that raved in heavenly note when mingled with the yolk. I wish the egg yolk could be more runny but it was all cooked on the hotplate when it was handed to us. Be sure to squeeze the lime wedges for a more permeating taste. Ninjas failed to spot the pig’s brain on the sizzling plate, its a pity to find them missing.
Then we chow down the Chicken Inasal, the famed grilled chicken. The charred skin looked utmost tantalizing, in the same fashion, the meat was not any disappointing. Tender and moist without dry fragments. The flames has torched the skin to yield a powerful scent that brings out the unique aroma of annatto oil that taste umami and gives color. I wouldn’t have pick this up without Ninja’s prompt. The rice was served warm and fluffy in each grains. The carrot-​ginger-​cabbage pickles came alongside were joyful, so zesty that it wakes me up instantly.
The Pork Sinigang came in 3^rd. The tamarind based broth was slightly tangy not overly acidic with a sweet after-​taste though was faint. If you wonder if it comes with any awful taste. No, the soup was free of nasty porky stench but savory. The only complain I had was the meat texture. They could stew the pork a bit longer, the meat was still tough with layers of fats in the belly intact and the ribs weren’t cooked through like our favorite Bak-​Kut-​Teh version. Never! I don’t know if that was supposed to be, keeping the meat in its almost original form. Then the green chili in whole and some chopped string beans were spotted in the soup but the beans still retained its crunchiness though far from raw. The soup has a very clear distinctive sourness instead of something complicated. It will fare better if not for the pork.
It was a splendid experience though I lamented not having the halo-​halo dessert to wrap up the delightful meal. This probably gives me another reason to return, to be more specific, my willingness to become an explorer of the greater Austronesian group.

While the rest of Singaporean society moves on with their iPhones and Samsung awesomeness, I am entrenched in a prehistoric era with my lil’ol’Nokia…a phone that serves two purposes: to make phone calls AND to hold a hit-​list of Filipino spots to explore and take-​down in Singapore.
Yep, walking around Lucky Plaza hunting for restaurants — checking if a place is THERE or NAY — and eventually deciding which one to cross out from the list. (Yes, you actually cross out stuff on a phone from the Jurassic Era unlike you oh-​so-​spoiled-​with-​voice-​commands-​lil-​nitchets.)
What used to be Gp Asian Restaurant (some would have said was an overpriced sisig spot) has now been consumed by and become part of almighty «Inasal»…a new contender in an ever changing environment of «I’m Filipino… and I rock the best dishes for the best price». (Okay, I’m exaggerating a bit… but like all the good Filipinos that I identify myself with… we all want the BEST FREAKING BANG FOR THE BUCK.) And when the whole area is permeated with Filipino cuisine awesomeness, we just tend to gravitate towards the best tasting place with the most «decent» prices.
So here with a great friend who wanted to explore the cuisine, I ordered for us… sat down… waited during good conversation… while they prep’d, kill’d, made’d, creat’d, charm’d, blah’d, and then called out our number to pick the FOOD upppp…
1. Chicken Inasal — I do not want to start by mentioning all the bad experiences in Singapore that associated with this dish. Do not ever mention BACOLOD and cause failure because you’re LYING… unless you seriously tried. Well, they didn’t mention it here… but TRIED… and came quite close to bringing a REALLY big smile on my face. Woah, childhood memories brought forth with a bite. No mention… but I know what you’re up to… THUMBS UP. So far, the closest to Bacolod Chicken Inasal that I’ve had in Singapore.
2. Pork Sisig — I’m just going to give you a thumbs up for having liver in it while the rest of the ones I’ve had so far have been created for the squeamish (the…OMG…what part of the pig is this… OMG, OMG, OMG… I «can’t» eat that… OMG, OMG, OMG). Only one mistake… please boil it longer. If you know the recipe, you’ll know what I’m talking about. That said, I’d FREAKING RECOMMEND.
3. Sinigang na Baboy — okay… don’t hate. Cooking is sometimes a long process and when you have 3 kinds of it… you’ll have to cut corners to make a profit. I’ll be straight forward: (a) they use ginger to sweeten the broth… not common; and (b) the stock is made before hand and then added to your choice of milkfish, pork, and shrimp — they didn’t tell me this… I figured it out from the taste. So all in all… it’s different… not *Filipino* sour… and not *freaking amazing*.
I’ll be back again and I definitely recommend the chicken and sisig…
Oh, you’ll probably find me there at lunch… if you figure out… what my lunchtime… actually…is…
Unilocal 100: ¹⁵⁄₁₀₀