Kusina Filipina

Great food!
My girl friend wanted to come here and I’m glad I agreed to it. The garlic rice is great and the adobo chicken can’t complain one bit. We will b back for seconds

Ill begin with environment. The place looks nice, not too much on the decorating. Looks like they have karaōke nights here, which is pretty cool. The staff is awesome. Although sometimes communication is difficult, they’re still patient with me and do their best.
Now for food. Foods great! Ive tried the pansit and the bbq pork, both good! My girlfriend is very picky and she loves this place; trust me, that says a lot.

I ordered today, Kare kare, ginataan laing, and garlic fried rice. I’m completely disappointed. Foods are grossed! Laing v was cold but the 2 shrimp was hot and good but the laing they served me an old dish and on top of that it was cold!
The Kate Kate was horrible! No flavors and ahhhhhh I completely wasted my money and v time!!!
The Garlic fried rice ok and I can cook better than their own chef!
The service is nice and tge restaurant is clean and nice.
But I would never never come back and I WOULD NOT RECOMMEND THIS PLACE TO ANYONE.
VERY UNSATISFIED CUSTOMER. PAID $ 29.16.))):

Loved the food and the treatment by the owner was just amazing. Asking if we liked the food and making recommendations. The food really feels like it’s home made and I can recommend this to all my friends.

Came here few months ago for lunch with colleagues. I’m a critic when it comes to Filipino food because it has to match up to my Mother’s cooking.
My colleagues and I ordered an order of pork sinagang soup and pinakbet. The soup was full of flavor and piping hot. There was a good amount of vegetables in it, and they did not skimp on the meat. The pinakbet was scrumptious with fresh colorful vegetables. I must say, the dishes were 95% close to my Mother’s cooking and I was impressed. I played it safe when ordering dishes, but excited to try other dishes for the next time.
Parking can be a bit tight in the mini mall, but there’s also street parking. They do accept ATM/​MasterCard which is a plus.
Good eats!

Ok so I was craving Filipino food in the area and I didn’t want to go to the same Filipino places that I’m used to. I wanted to try something new. So of course I pulled out my trusty Unilocal app and started searching and low and behold I came accross this place. It’s weird how I never tried this place before because it is so close to home. Maybe because they are hidden in a small plaza. They need a bigger sign to stand out.
Ambiance is nice. Restaurant is clean. When we walked in, we were literally the second customer. Maybe because we came in on a Friday afternoon but you would think they would have more people. Anyways I didn’t mind it.
We ordered the crispy pata and adobo fried rice. The crispy pata was excellent and fresh. I will definitely order it again. The adobo fried rice on the other hand was alright. It was kind of bland though.
Overall, definitely worth coming back here and trying out other items on their menu.

Definitely coming back… just look at all the pics on the profile. They have a wide variety of filipino dishes from pork fried CRISPY PATA… to authentic hot bowl dishes like nilaga bulalo.
They have a intimate setting for maybe like a small group party with a little stage and bar.
The prices are fair for the Amount you get.

If you’re looking for a place that’s close enough to Max’s, I’d highly recommend this place.
This place is so good and their staff are very polite and kind. Thank you so much for great food and the service :) I will always come here when I’m craving Filipino food and staying a loyal customer to you guys.

We celebrated my dad’s birthday at this Filipino restaurant last Friday and it was great. The DJ was spot on, the Filipino food buffet was great and Kuya Jun was very accommodating. My dad was really happy with his surprise birthday party. This place is great for family gatherings and parties.

If you’re looking for a mouth watering Filipino comfort food, then this is the right place. the staff and the atmosphere inside were very friendly and homey. most of the dish is consist of pork meat. price is reasonable for an ample portion.
Adobo fried rice: very flavorful, but a little bit on an oily side.
Sisig: I’ve tried sisig before when I visited the Philippines. this one taste different. but still, it taste good and a must try.
Halo-​halo: The star. they generously filled it with toppings. has the right amount of sweetnes. definitely one of the best halo-​halo I’ve had.
Service is pretty slow and parking can be a hassle.

Okay.
I’m fairly picky when it comes to Filipino food.
Why? It is because I grew up eating it.
So I’m always going to compare it to the version I am used to, which is the home cooked Filipino food.
Plain & Simple.
Here’s my review of the food we had ordered here in a nutshell:
BEEFSTEAK (Bistek) I like the generous portion of the onions.
The beef is ok, not the usual «tender beef» I am used to at home.
Also, it’s not «salty» enough. Their version is somewhat tame.
PINAKBET Again, their version is okay, albeit tame. Again, not salty enough.
Also, their squash is not tender enough, compared to what I am used to at home.
PANCIT BIHON This one I like. I really did. Most if not all Filipino joints make their pancit over cooked, & soggy & also bland. But their version is quite tasty. I will order it again.
PUSIT (Grilled Calamari) This one is quite tasty as well. The sauce is perfect for it.
Notice: One order is only good for one person. It is small.
LECHON KAWALI (Deep Fried Pork) This one also good, although it quite difficult to get this wrong. I’m not a fan of the sauce they provide for this one though.
DINAKDAK This is actually my favorite of all the dishes I’ve tried here. The beef is very tasty, with the sliced onions, pepper. Perfect for the white rice! I recommend this one for sure!
The ambiance in this place is not bad. It can get quite loud in the evenings.
Otherwise, it can get pretty chill. Depending what time you dine.
The portion they give you also doesn’t reflect their prices.
Note: They will only honor their Unilocal CHECK IN «2 free fountain drinks» if you dine in.
They will not honor it if you’re doing a phone order pick up.
Which I don’t agree with.
It doesn’t say it on their Unilocal Check in.
So they should still honor it, whether I’m dining in or ordering from a phone & doing a pickup IMO.

I come from a family of great cooks specially when it comes to Filipino dish, so I would say I have high standards for Filipino food. And I would say the food here lived up to my standards of what a Filipino dish should taste like.
We ate here a few weeks ago for my mom’s birthday and I got to say my family enjoyed most of the dishes we ordered: crispy binagoongan, Beef Nilaga, Miki bihon, calamaries and binagoongan fried rice lived up to our expectations. The bangus sisig was a little dry and could use some kind of sauce for flavor but everything else did not dissappoint. The servers were prompt and friendly.

I love this place!
I’d give 10 stars if I could!
The first time I went here, I had Kare-​Kare. The beef was perfectly cooked and not soggy. It was just the best!
I also had longsilog and it was delicious! You can tell that it was fresh and not pre cooked. Eggs were perfectly cooked too.
The chef, sous chef, and waiters were all friendly and very attentive to their customers.
Overall, this place is amazing! I definitely recommend this to everyone 100%!

After being with my FIlipino boyfriend for so long, I think I’ve gotten a handle on what I like and what I don’t like when it comes to the cuisine. And I do not really like the food at Kusina Fillipina. Now, my boyfriend says that the food served here is very traditional. So maybe I like a more Americanized version of Filipino food but I’m not sure. Maybe we ordered the wrong dishes this particular day but it just wasn’t cutting it for me. Not to mention, the service was unbelievably small and when you ask them for water, they give you a water bottle which is fine with me but a little unusual for sure.
Originally we came in to eat some Crispy Pata. They did not have it even though it is on the menu. So we had to figure out what else we wanted to eat. We settled on Dinuguan and Pinankbet. I’m not a huge fan of Dinuguan to begin with but I really did not like it here. I mean usually I can eat this dish at other restaurants no problem but this just did not work for me at all. My boyfriend said he did not like the type of meat used in this dish neither. The Pinankbet also did not taste good to me neither and I really like this dish. I generally don’t mind shrimp paste at all but this was just too much. It was like they drowned the dish in shrimp paste. Their only saving grace was the Halo Halo at the end and even that wasn’t all that great. It was way too icy and too hard to eat. They did give us a huge portion of ube ice cream though which was nice.
If this is what super traditional Filipino food tastes like, then I clearly do not like it. I’ll take the more Americanized version of these dishes any day. Doubt I’ll be back unless someone drags me out here! ²⁄₅

Coming back home from a vacation in PI … All I could dream about was fresh buko juice and halo halo.
Well its not really all I was dreaming about.
I came here just for dessert and didn’t eat but the food definitely looked and smelled delicious. I would come back for their all day breakfasts, any of the filipino food favorites and being called sir again.
Makes me feel I was back home in the Philippines. Until then I have this picture to remind me of what I really love.
Desserts.

Sis and I were driving thru Eagle Rock looking for a place to grab lunch when we drove by this place and decided to give it a try.
Parking: tiny lot shared with other businesses.
Ambiance: When we stepped in, there was only one other table occupied with guests. Restaurant is clean and furniture reminds me of ’80’s lacquer. Plus, loved the little stage in the restaurant. Nice!
We were greeted quickly by friendly server. We ordered a soda & ice tea. (NOTE: Unilocal check-​in gets you 2 free sodas. I didn’t notice until after we left.)
Food:
shanghai lumpia: average. I make this better.
chicken adobo: average. but to be fair, I have never tasted chicken adobo better than my mom’s.
fried bangus: this was fried perfect! I really enjoyed this.
Funny story about my next order. I was on the fence about whether I wanted pancit bihon or palabok. I was going back and forth in my head and decided on palabok.
When pancit was brought, I had that moment of «oh, I guess I ordered pancit.» I started eating it and realized that I really had ordered palabok. Then I heard the table next to me get upset because they hadn’t ordered palabok. Sorry! I apologized to the table next to me, but they seemed angry.
However, Pancit was too oily & the Palabok noodles weren’t completely covered with the sauce.
I have a feeling this wasn’t typical of this place. But, I did get my fried fish and it was exactly what I was craving.

(Dined 6÷10÷15 W @ 8:15pm): To all my Pinoy peeps out there, this Filipino cucina was just what we needed after all the cervezas we drank!
After a friend and I caught up with each other over a successful happy hours session at the nearby Verdugo Bar, our need to sober up a bit and our love for Filipino food — especially sisig — led us to power-​walk several blocks to Kusina Filipina. They have been on my bookmark list for a couple years now, so was it worth the wait?!
Two Sodas (Complimentary with Unilocal Check-​In) — Sprite, baby! Neither of us were soda drinkers but when it’s free why deny it?!
Adobo Fried Rice ($ 7.50) — A hefty mountain portion of fried egg, diced green onions (I wished there was more), pork pieces, and rice, this dish was a good sobering agent for us. It arrived steaming hot off the stove and we plowed into it like nobody’s business! A truly simple dish filled with ingredients found in most households, I made this often at home with whatever I had lying around. A meal in itself, it complemented the next dish really well as we polished it off!
Sisig With Egg ($ 11.50) — This traditional dish focused on all the «other parts» of the pig was good but certainy not great. It had all the makings of greatness, but I felt the portion size was a bit diminuative, overly runny from the juices and water, and the pork bits were barely crispy or sizzling. The assortment of diced green and red peppers along with white onions added some lovely color and needed crunch. And, I preferred the egg top center so when pierced its yolk would spill all over the dish. In this case, the bottom had cooked itself to the griddle.
Service — We arrived about 45 minutes before they closed, but the two young men kindly greeted us (unwillingly, I’m sure), directed us to a table, gave each of us a menu, and were ready to take our order. We flashed our Unilocal check-​in offer, gave our order, immediately received our drinks, and barely five minutes later our food came out. Our server, Arjay, was friendly and let us be as we ravenously ate our food. In this case, we honestly didn’t need anyone to check in on us except to deliver the bill. All was good with us!
Parking (Free) — They shared a small lot with several other businesses in a tiny strip mall. Otherwise, there was plenty of metered and non-​metered parking along the main drag of Eagle Rock Blvd. and surrounding streets.
Atmosphere, décor, ambience — A banquet-​esque restaurant with a medium-​large open floorplan layout filled with a plethora of cherry wood-​colored tables and chairs, ruby red thick curtains covered all the windows which didn’t allow for any natural lighting (ceiling fluorescent lighting was king here), a bare-​bones bar
, one wall that displayed a lot of hilarious signs
. The bathroom was notable for its flashback to the 80’s and the stacks of vinyl records of the decade
. There was one TV at the bar and one near the stage
for what I imagined would be for karaōke — one of my peep’s favorite pastime — that covered any music entertainment.
Attire — Totally casual, so I would normally be in a t-​shirt, boardshorts, and flip-​flops.
Overall, I was happy to finally remove the 2-​year bookmark I had for Kusina Filipina and planned to visit it again to try other favorite Filipino dishes. Generally speaking, the prices and portion were good (just add more sisig, please), I never felt shunned because I couldn’t speak Tagalog (it must be an age thing), and the next time I’m here they’d better be some karaōke! I found very good value based on the prices, service, and experience noted above (total paid experience was around $ 21.00 BEFORE discounts and tip). And, they accepted my credit card of choice… AMEX! 4.0 STARS

Drove to Glassel Park to try this out. Umm in a word. Disappointing. Excited they had Pata Tim on the menu. Sadly they said they only did it for catering. Then why do you have it on the menu? Ordered sisig. Didn’t even remotely look or taste like sisig. Ordered palabok. Another miss. It looked like it was swimming in ready mix palabok sauce. And tasted like it needed Patis or tinapa or something. Bagoong rice was acceptable but nothing to rave about. Oh o really wanted this restaurant to be good :-(
Oh and please turn off the inane Filipino TV shows. It doesn’t help. Thumbs down.

Oh yes baby. I am going to threw a UYE here just as soon as they get liquor license. The owner June said it will be soon. I will keep you posted.
I landed here because I had a
voucher. Which they honored with no problem.
Walked in with my children and we were immediately greeted and seated. The owner June was our server. We were the only customers. I was a little worried. But then I thought about the Unilocal 4 star rating. Unilocalers never let me down.
The décor is cozy. I really like that they have real orchids on the tables. A very nice touch. Bathroom had old record covers all over the wall. They have a stage in the restaurant for karaōke. Very cool.
Ok the food. Huge portions and delicious. I got the fried meat combo. My God it was so much. For only 35 bucks you could’ve easily feed 7 people. The garlic fried rice was so flavorful. The barbecue chicken on skewers were fabulous. The Filipino egg rolls were delectable. The coconut water was different, it had a nutty sweet flavor. Oh the sauces that come with the combo are sweet, savory and sour. I especially like the vinegar one with the onions in it. I got so full that I wobbled out the door.
Good times and stay tuned I’m throwing a UYE here. I want to go back and try several items on the menu. This is a great place to celebrate something at.

For the Kusina Deep Fried Meat Special Only:
Bought a rare dicount coupon from
where I paid $ 4 to get $ 10 off from a minimum $ 25 purchase, in this case, at Kusina Filipina since I have a soft spot for Pilipino cuisine since it is so rich with a satisfying fattiness & meaty Umami. In some ways it is the antithesis of the more austere, subtle, nuanced, delicate flavours of Japanese cuisine which may be my all time favorite. Therefore, eating Phillippino food is providing the Yin to the Japanese Yang.
To make ordering easy, I ordered the Kusina Deep Fried Meat Special for $ 35 which was a great deal considering this was later taken home after pigging out at the restaurant, and the left overs became meat for sandwiches, & the bone that provided soup stock for a hearty pork pureed potage lasted for 4 days. I called the restaurant ahead by 45 minutes to let them know I was preordering the deep fried meats so that it would be ready when I arrived hopefully piping hot.
I was about 5 minutes late in arriving. The huge salver of crispy pata, lechon kawali, fried chicken, chicharon bulaklak, lumpiang shanghai & achara/​pickles (missing in my order) was presented to me with some of the other diners looking at me as though I must be an incredible glutton for ordering such a humongus platter. Unfortunately, all the items seemed to have been fried long before I got there since all the items were at room temperature. All they had to do was assemble the food items onto the platter.
The two critical items that I had wished had been just fried were Chicharon Bulaklak (mesentary connective tissues in the gut of the pig) & the Lumpia Shanghai/​egg rolls since just fried means that they remain crisp & fragrant with meaty, spicy aromas. Although cold, it still tasted ok although not crisp. It is customary to dip them in spicy vinegar dressed with chunks of onion which was provided. The vinegar cuts through the fattiness to cleanse the palate as well as awakening more meatiness.
Lechon Kawali is fried pork meat with a layer of fat & pork skin still attached which leads to a very strong porky Umami & chewiness from the fried pig skin. The obligatory Mang Tomas, «liver sauce» w/​its meaty, slightly funky, thickened agrodolce/​sour, sweet flavour to add to the porkiness of the Lechon was especially tasty at KF.
Fried chicken was fried a touch too long so that the meat had dried out & gotten hard & slightly tough. The Crispy Pata is the lower area of the leg containing the tibia & fibula leg bones as well as the lower femur/​thigh bone. It is fried skin & all. The meat is dense, porky, meaty, and the Mang Tomas sauce could be also used for great effect.
Owner, Jun, was most gracious, welcoming, hospitable. Initially hovering over me to let me know how to eat the various comestibles with which appropriate sauce. He was a great instructor in the finer points of Pilipino dining. Kusina is situated in a strip mall like many good eateries around the Los Angeles area. The interior décor & design is, therefore, a secondary consideration which I agree since one can not eat nor taste the décor. The quality & flavour & execution of the food must come first.
No alcohol is offered although I would have died to have a San Miguel beer from Manila. With only one visit to Kusina which seems to have great potential in its foods, I will have to return to sample the foods cooked to order in order to determine a more complete rating. For now, 3+ Unilocal stars for just the Special Fried Meat Platter.
PS When using a discount coupon, tip 15−20% on the original undiscounted amount, & not on the cheaper price after the discount to be fair to the restaurant.