Barangay Union Grill and Food Mart

I really liked this place. It’s been hard trying to find a place that was similar to the Filipino restaurants in California. This one is close enough for me. The food is great very flavourful and they give you plenty. We have made the 40 min drive there twice this week! The workers are also very nice! I also love the small store they have. We stocked up on our favorite Filipino snacks!

They must have changed cooks cause their food is so much better now. But sometimes, how you treat customers matters more. To start, for the lack of a better word: cheap with their utensils. They hide those forks and spoons from customers (trying to save money perhaps or just plain cheap) which is so annoying and time time consuming especially when you’re in haste or just plain hungry! Second, when I accidentally dropped my food, instead of offering to have it replaced for free, the lady actually made fun of the situation. To sum up, they can easily be giving 5 stars but instead, I’m going them 3.

The place has cooked Filipino food to dine in or to go out, they also have a small grocery at the back of the store. There is an ample parking in the back and street parking. Try to come early in the morning or late
morning so you can see the variety of cooked food they have. «Chit» is friendly, ask them questions about the food as long as it’s not busy.

Everything is very oily and salty. Halo Halo was the worst one I have never had!!!

I have been here soooooo many times, but it’s my first check in and review, tsk tsk!
This is your typical «turo-​turo» Filipino restaurant /​grocery store. It has about 4 — 5 bench seats. You can have your food to go, or to stay — either way it’s going to be on styrofoam, they do use really good plastic cutlery. There is a small area in the front with all the different Filipino condiments or sawsawan, also there is a water cooler and cups.
The glass food display usually has 10 different dishes at any given time, with the usual Pinoy staples, on the weekends they have more foods and some different «fancy items» they always have fried fish. The food is always yummy, but sometimes it’s a little too greasy and salty. Come early when the food first comes out! They have some prepared deserts usually ginataan and toron, today they had buko salad, yum! They have a selection of baked goods and specialties from local Filipino bakeries. The halo-​halo here is very good!
Prices are good, they have a combo platter with rice and two sides with a drink for about $ 7. I’ve also have had trays of food from here as well, also prepared well. Staff is always friendly, they will happily explain the foods to you. Street parking is always hit or miss, there is parking in the back and another back entrance. I will definitely return. So come and check out some local Filipino cuisine!

Half restaurant, half Filipino grocery store with freshly baked pastries and other goodies. There’s a solid selection of common Filipino items, from mixes to condiments and snacks.
The food here is much better than what I had at Casa Manila. Also, the combo meals (two items and rice/​pancit/​half and half) are cheaper — about a buck or so cheaper. I’ve eaten here multiple times already and am a fan. The owner and her employees are always friendly.
Binagoongan (Pork Sauteed in Shrimp Paste) (B): This is one of my all-​time favorite Filipino dishes; however, what completely ruined the dish for me was the tomatoes. This is one of those Filipino dishes that should not be sautéed in the typical onion/​tomato/​garlic mixture. The pork was tender and there was not that much oil in my cup. I applaud you for that, Barangay.
Bicol Express (Pork Simmered in Coconut Milk, Chili Peppers, and Shrimp Paste) (A): While I was expecting the Binagoongan to be my favorite dish, Bicol Express takes the gold. The pork was tender, the coconut milk was light and didn’t dominate the dish, and compared to the Binagoongan, it was actually spicy — I ate the actual chili pepper itself as well. It was a well made batch of Bicol Express.
Chicken Adobo (Chicken Simmered in Soy Sauce, Vinegar, and Garlic) (A-​): Solid adobo. It’s much better than Casa Manila’s adobo, for sure. The chicken was tender, and thankfully, there weren’t any large pockets of oil in the sauce. I appreciate the fact that the cook didn’t use too much vinegar; what I’ve noticed about many Filipino restaurants is that the chefs could get a little heavy handed with the vinegar. Some people prefer it that way, but unfortunately, I’m not one of those people.
Higado (B+): Hmm, no liver in their Higado? Interesting/​good! I’m not a fan of liver in Higado or Menudo, so this was a welcoming sight to me. There’s really nothing distinct about its taste — the slices of beef don’t seem to be seasoned or marinated, but I find this to be an overall solid dish. There were plenty of potatoes and bell peppers.
BBQ Pork Ribs (B+): I typically don’t eat my BBQ soaking in a sweet sauce but this wasn’t bad at all. The small ribs may not look tender, but the meat should come off the bone with just a spoon and fork. I found this to be a little bit oily, but a good alternative if the other dishes available don’t appeal to you.
Servings (A-​): Your viands/​entrees are served in small cups (unless you pick larger ones, of course) but the person who scoops the food fills the cup to the top — good servings for the price. Combos are served with two big scoops of rice and a drink.
Extra parking is available behind the restaurant if you can’t find any side street spots. I haven’t ordered take out from Barangay yet, but I hope the servings are on point.

We came at dinner time and almost half of the options were out already. There are still about 6 options but they look like they’ve been sitting at the warmer for the whole day. I think they cater mainly to the lunch crowd. It would be nice to come during lunch time when they have all dozen options available.
They offer the rice combo, with rice and 2 small dishes. You can pick the fish as one of the options. I had the smoked milk fish, very good, smokey and sweet. They also debone the fish. I will come back for that. The (pork) steak is also very good, goes well with rice. They sell Lechon by the pound too.
I wish they also offer ala carte items in smaller portions. I was craving for sisig and they don’t have it.
They also sell Filipino dessert like halo halo and his ube pudding.
The dishes are pretty good though despite the fact that it is almost closing time. It’s cafeteria style, you point and order. There are a few booths for you to dine in and they have condiments at the front of the restaurant. People were in and out ordering food to go. I would do that next time, come during lunch time for the most options and eat them for dinner.

I’m originally from San Diego and San Francisco and if you know about these 2 cities in California, you’ll know that they both have their own «Filipino Town» areas. I’ve been spoiled rotten with great tasting Filipino in SD and SF and also with my mom’s cooking growing up. She’s from an area in the Philippines, Pampanga, that’s known all around the Philippines as «The Food Capitol.» The cooks from Barangay Food Mart are also from the same area and their food is delicious. Oily just like all Filipino food I know, but delicious.
I live in Chatham and there’s no Filipino food in sight so I did a search on Unilocal and found that Barangay was the closest. Since I moved to NJ, this is the first time I bought Filipino food (I usually cook Filipino food myself but being pregnant at 7 ½ months, I found myself too exhausted to cook up what I was craving). I’m so glad I found this place. Before I give birth, I’ll make sure to load up on their food and will freeze it for times where I’m too busy with the baby. Also, the worker told me that others from out of town visit Barangay to buy a weeks worth of food at the time.
I’ve visited the Philippines many summers growing up and this Food Mart reminded me so much of the Philippines, with authentic food, imported snacks/​candies, and freshly baked Filipino breads and desserts.
I ordered (**Things I really Like):
**Pork Sinigang– nice clean flavor with spare ribs and lots of veggies.
**Pork Adobo-​finger licking good.
Chicken Afritada
**Bibingka-​steamed in banana leaf. Like a Filipino cupcake. You can taste evaporated milk.
**Plain Suman (long stick)
Suman with Latik
**Spanish Bread (3 in styrofoam) yummy
Chicken Empanada-​crust was a little too thick and buttery for me.
**pork Steamed Siopao– pork mixture yummy, less saucy filing, hard boiled egg slices included. Dough is like puto, fun to eat by itself or for dipping in dinuguan or adobo.
Other Foods They Have (call to see what’s available daily)
Filipino BBQ — weekends
Lumpia
Fresh Lumpia
Pinakbet
Caldereta
Chicken Curry
Lechon
Tinola
Bangus
Tilapia
Ampalaya
Bistek
regular pandesal
ube
ensymada
cassava cake
steamed puto topped with cheese
different varieties of packaged chicharon
filipino snacks– chips, corn nuts, nagaraya nuts
filipino candies– pocky, yan yan, stick o, flat tops, hanny choc nut
The worker Auntie Elvie was suuuuper nice and welcoming. I will definitely be back for more.

If you’re looking for great filipino food in Union county, this is the place to be. It’s clean and has a nice sitting area. The have a vast selection of filipino food and I haven’t found anything I wasn’t happy with. Try their Bibingka! It’s the best I’ve tried, at least here in NJ! You can never go wrong with this place!

I have been walking passed this place assuming it was a deli. Whenever I wanted a great sandwich, I’d go to Lutz so I never had to go to what I thought was a wannabe sandwich and potato chips place.
One rainy day, I walked in and it morphed to a Filipino fast food/“You tell me what you want, I scoop type place!!!
It’s a legit place. All I see are Filipino peeps eating in there. I took my new co-​worker who is as Filipino guy there for lunch. Yes, it was a bro-​date. I was hoping he could tell me what’s what but he is as white as it comes :(
I had the blood stew/​curry thing and a chicken adobe over rice. I also got a almost 1 pound of lechon (roasted suckling pig) to share. All for around 12 buck. Very awesome deal. It was so good. They even sell the egg thingy. I will come back to try. It’s the Joe Rogan in me
I’m not sure if the other Filipino place on Morris ave. in Union sells lechon. But, it doesn’t really matter. The other place smells like @ss. Whenever I want great Filipino food and I can’t make it to Jersey city I will come here.
PS. I learned that Filipino women on their variety shows bleach their skin and look like MJ. Their show beat the Peruvian shows I’ve seen from the chicarron restaurants I eat at.

Best authentic Filipino Food in Union, hands down! The place is packed on weekends by Pinoys who know good food when they taste one!

I was expecting more out of this place. I like the cafeteria style way of doing things. However, the food wasn’t all that great when compared with other Filipino places I’ve been to. I had a combo plate with chicken, pork, and thin noodles. Nothing really stood out for me. The best thing I tried was the fried pork that my friend got. The prices were reasonable though. I’d like to go back to try some of their Halo-​halo.