Christy’s Oriental Store

I am so thrilled with my lunch from Christy’s. Although my Grandmother is Filipino, her family left everything behind when they came to America. So, she doesn’t even know to cook traditional Filipino food — this was my first time trying it.
And it won’t be my last!
A co-​worker and I shared two different meals:
Chicken Pancit (noodles and vegetables). Although the menu says the order is enough for 2, I would say it’s more like 4. The chicken was a bit dry, but the seasoning and flavor were amazing.
Chicken Adobo was just… I can’t even describe how amazing this dish was. There’s not as much food as the Pancit, but it still was enough for sharing and also leftovers. The chicken drummers were tender and the flavor was perfect.
I’m so curious about the Beef dish and the Kara Kara as well as the Chicken Curry and some other dishes. In all honesty, there is no real reason to order Chinese take-​out if you are even remotely in the area of Christy’s. This is so much better.
My co-​worker, who made Filipino friends when serving out in California said: «This is like home-​made, Filipino Grandmother’s cooking.» Why would you ever choose Chinese take-​out over a Filipino Grandmother!!!

Durian anyone? Don’t everyone say yes at the same time!
Yes, you can find that smelly gooey fruit right here. Albeit frozen, it’s the next best thing.
Christy’s specializes in groceries from the Philapines but they have foods from other Asian countries also. So many things to choose from that I will have to return again sometime soon. I walked out w/​a number of different kinds of noodles and plan to cook them up many different ways. They also have refrigerated and frozen goods so you have a good variety.
They also serve up home cooked Philipine recipes right there in there store. The fish head stew looked fantastic.
Pricing is very affordable and the owner is very helpful. They’re open until 7:00 6 days a week which is a big plus for a dinner meal or picking up groceries after work.

There are so many little jewels hidden inside a grocery! Thanks to a previous review, we drove cross town to find andadventurous lunch at a reasonable price-​another hidden jewel in Ocala!
This is a micro-​grocery with a single table-​your food comes in foam clamshells anyway so don’t worry about asking for take-​out. The quality is superb and the taste of the Pancit and Lumpia are gourmet quality in any other setting. Filipino grocery items line the shelves, if you’re adventurous, try making your own, but you can’t beat the price and flavor here. Very friendly couple-​she runs the register and he is the master of the grill. Lumpia is 6 for $ 3.75, I’m not sure about the Pancit-​we took home a huge portion after both eating a hearty portion.
Please check this out-it’s really authentic, friendly and reasonable. Yes, we will be back.

Pulling up to this place you can’t help but notice that it’s sandwiched between a laundry mat and a Muncheez end-​cap in a non-​spectacular strip mall. Christy’s is an Asian market with a small kitchen consisting of a four burner gas stove (with oven), a charcoal/​gas grill and a two-​basket fryolater all behind a Formica-​lined counter complete with sneeze guard. All-​in-​all the kitchen takes up less than ¼ of the floor space.
When I called before hand to find out whit kind of food they served I was informed that it was Filipino cuisine. For what I knew about Filipino cuisine (next to nothing) I wasn’t sure how good an introduction this would be. I walked into the Spartan space, kitchen to the left, store on the right long with three 4-​tops. Before I could take a seat at the counter the lady behind «the bar» lifted the lids off the steam trays and spoke the proteins in each one. «Chicken, Pork, Eggplant» she said. All with obviously very different preparations but again, given my limited knowledge I gave a mouth shrug and raised eye-​browed «Hmm.» I asked if the spring rolls were wrapped in rice paper but alas the weren’t. Damn! Ah well, so as I took my seat I looked over the menu. I ordered 6 Pork Spring Rolls, Barbecue Pork Skewers, and a side of White Rice. My buddy ordered the Eggplant Lunch Special which came with white rice.
As I sat there looking around I noticed two sheet pans covered with tea towels. It seemed like proofing dough. «What’s that?» I asked. «Pandesal.» She replied. «Pan de sal? Like ‘Salt Bread’?» I asked again for clarification. «Yes.» She said while taking pork skewers out of the marinade and placing them on the grill. In front of us sitting on the counter was a brand of Sriracha I hadn’t heard of, a «Rice Seasoning» consisting of Dried salmon, wakame and sesame seeds which when put on rice tasted JUST LIKE a sushi roll (and that my fried said was a Salmon Roll in a jar). She then placed an apricot based (I think) sweet and sour sauce in front of me for the spring rolls. As I sat there waiting for my food, my buddy got his eggplant dish and I asked for a sample of the pork lunch special in the steam tray.
Since the dishes do not really have names I shall assign one to them.
Here’t goes:
— Egg and Caramelized Scallion Encrusted Japanese Eggplant
This dish was served cold but despite that had excellent flavor. I think they may actually marinade the eggplant. Over rice with some sauce this was a winner.
— Braised Pork with Hericot Vert in Coconut Milk Broth
This was the pork special and the first thing it reminded me of was a Thai curry only with a much more subtle fragrance and absolutely no heat. The coconut taste was flavorful yet never overwhelming. The balance of spices, protein and vegetable was in perfect equilibrium. Upon sampling I kicked myself for not ordering that dish at the time. I needn’t have worried.
— Pork Spring Rolls (also choice of Chicken or Veggie)
The beauts are hand-​rolled on premises and are fried to a wonderous light crisp. The crispy exterior belies the meaty punch of flavor. By far the finest spring rolls I’ve had in the 352.
— Barbecue Pork Skewers
The combination of marinated pork that’s basted, while cooking, with a kick-​ass Asian-​barbecue-​like sauce that is not cloyingly sweet with only the faintest whisper of smoke is brilliant! Nice char in some places but never dry!
It is worth mentioning that all the food (except the eggplant) was still sizzling when it was served! You kinda’ have to wait a little bit before indulging in that first bite.
Overall there is a mature restraint with spices and aromatics that make it all too easy to want to keep eating. It truly was a first-​rate experience. Upon the drive back I realized that Ocala, without this place, would be severely diminished.