These Filipinos Knows How to Party!

Hello everyone!
Last week, I talked about South Indian cuisine and I learned a lot from that experience. This week is another great learning experience. I recently when to a Filipino birthday party at a Filipino restaurant here in Ibaraki. I learned two things from my experience. One, Filipinos know how to party. Two, they make amazing food. All the great fried foods, meat dishes, and desserts were fantastic. That being said, let me introduce you to a fantastic Filipino restaurant in Ushiku called Lola Grill and Restaurant.

Lola Grill and Restaurant

Lola Grill and Restaurant is a Filipino restaurant located Ushikucho area of Ushiku City. The restaurant is very close to Ushiku Station. If you are coming by train, just exit the train station through the west exit, walk for a minute, and you'll be there. The restaurant is on the second floor of a white building on that street. If you come by car, there are plenty of pay-to-park parking areas around the restaurant.
Our group was a huge group of around 8, and we took the train from Tsuchiura to Ushiku. We were celebrating two birthdays and were ready to have some delicious Filipino cuisine. We walked into the white building, took the elevator to the second floor, and headed inside to Lola.

Inside

When I first walked into Lola, the first thought that crossed my mind was that this place either used to be a club or a hostess club. Most likely the latter. That could be off-putting to someone who doesn't like hostess clubs, but rest assured, Lola is nothing like that. It is a restaurant through and through.
The restaurant is all table seating and can probably fit up to twenty customers. We were seated at a big table with a huge couch and golden-looking seats that I am sure weighed over 20 kilos each. I thought we were going to be given menus, but to my surprise, my Filipino hosts had called ahead and arranged everything. This worked out well for me since I barely know anything about Filipino food, so I left it to the experts. I did take a peek at the menu and found that there were a lot of dishes to choose from. I didn't know what half the dishes were, but the good news is that the menu is in both English and Japanese.
Our party ordered some drinks and waited for our food to arrive. What I wasn't prepared for was a huge feast that was about to come to our table.

Time To Eat!

Dish after dish after dish came to our table. I was in shock at how much my Filipino friends ordered for a birthday party. I turned to my friend and asked how we were supposed to eat everything that came to our table. He just shrugged and said that we would share everything and somehow finish it.
Everything that came to our table was delicious. I wish I could talk about all the dishes we had, but then this post would be a bit too long. I have selected a few dishes that stood out to me and were great. Plus some desserts too.

Lumpia

The first dish I want to talk about is called Lumpia. It is a Filipino-style spring roll, and it is awesome. The outside is a thin, crepe-like, crispy skin that holds together a savory ground meat delight with some chopped vegetables in the ground meat. The lumpias come with a sort of sweet and sour dipping sauce that was fantastic with the lumpias. I loved this spring roll. I loved it so much that I ended up having four of them. I do not regret that decision, but it was going to make it a lot harder for me to help finish the rest of our meal.

Filipino Style Pork Skewers

The next dish I am going to talk about is skewers. Pork skewers, to be exact. The skewers came with a vinegar dipping sauce that had a few small slices of peppers in it. I grabbed one of the skewers, dipped it in the sauce, and gave it a try. It was very tasty. All the slices of negi and meaty pork around the skewer were great. The dipping sauce was delicious with the pork, and I loved how the sliced peppers added a small kick of spiciness to everything. I controlled myself a bit more with this skewer by only having one, but it was a good skewer.

Crispy Pata

Crispy, succulent, juicy pork? I can definitely get behind that. Crispy Pata is a deep-fried pork leg that is usually simmered in spices and fried until the skin is a crispy golden brown. When I took a bite out of this amazing dish, two thoughts came to mind. One, this is incredible. Two, this reminds me of home. I am American, but I come from a Cuban background. Cubans kind of cook their pork the same way as the Filipinos. We cook our pork until the outside is crispy and golden brown. We just simmer it in different things. It was nice to get a feeling of home from eating this pata. It was also nice to find out that Filipinos and Cubans share something in common.

Crispy Palabok

This dish left the biggest impression on me out of our entire meal. This mountain of a food monster was not only delicious, but it was a wild roller coaster ride. Crispy Palabok is Filipino crispy noodles topped with a hardening savory shrimp sauce that has pork, eggs, and a bunch of other things that I am still not sure of. When the palabok came to our table, it was a huge mountain of white, crispy noodles. I didn't think anything of it until the staff came with a pot full of yellow sauce and poured that sauce all over the noodles. It was a sight to see. The sauce slowly engulfed all of the noodles like fresh lava after a volcanic eruption. My friend grabbed a shovel-like spoon and served me a huge portion of palabok. After trying it, I automatically loved it. This dish is usually served on special occasions, but I wouldn't mind having it every week. I loved how the sauce hardened around the crispy noodle, and you get this amazing thrill ride of different meaty flavors, followed by a crispy crunch of noodles. This had to be my favorite dish of the whole meal. I loved it so much that I had three helpings of this fantastic palabok.

After we finished our meal, I was beyond full. It would have taken a miracle to get me out of that 20-kilo chair. I looked at my friend and said, "This was amazing, thank you so much." My friend looked confused and said, "It isn't over yet. We still have dessert." I was both excited and scared by his statement.

Halo-Halo

Quite a few people may have heard the name halo-halo. For those of you who have never heard of halo-halo, it is a very tasty treat. Halo-halo is a Filipino parfait-like cold dessert. It usually comes with ice cream, crushed ice, coconut milk or evaporated milk, fruits, beans, and coconut strips.
When the halo-halo was set in front of me, I was impressed by its sheer size. It was a long, delicious-looking parfait. I was about to grab a spoonful of ice cream until one of the birthday girls stopped me. She informed me that halo-halo means to mix. I was supposed to crush and mix everything inside the glass. That is why there is a small dish under the halo-halo, to catch everything that might fall over while you are mixing. I did just that and grabbed a spoonful of my new mixture. When I tried it, what I got was an explosion of different sweet flavors. Ice cream, mango, beans, I couldn't keep up. It was a wild ride that my taste buds were enjoying. Even though I was extremely full, I powered through and ate the whole halo-halo. I do not regret this decision since it was a fantastic dessert, but I am pretty sure my waist has expanded because of it.
I thought the dessert portion was over, but it wasn't. There was more!

Mango Suman

If you are a fan of mochi, you will love mango suman. Mango suman is a sticky, chewy sweet rice dish served with fresh mango slices. The sticky, soft, chewy rice is in the middle of the dish, surrounded by fresh mango slices. It is a very tasty combination that Lola does very well. I loved this dessert because again, it sort of reminded me of a similar rice dessert that Cubans make. Even though our rice dessert is made with condensed milk, and it is not chewy, suman is made with coconut milk. It was a delicious dessert to end our meal. I hope I can have mango suman again when I visit Lola in the near future.

Once we were done with all our food, it was time for me to call upon all my willpower to rise out of my chair and somehow take the train home. I thanked the staff for an amazing meal and thanked our group for inviting me to this amazing party.
My time at Lola was a great learning experience and was a lot of fun. I had amazing food, had a fun time with a great group of people, and found out that I really like Filipino cuisine. I hope I can take Mrs. Ibaraki Eats to Lola to introduce her to some of these dishes soon.

So if you are around Ushiku Station and are looking for some tasty Filipino cuisine, why not give Lola Grill and Restaurant a chance? Who knows? You might see us there. My wife, enjoying a new experience, while I marvel at the crispy palabok and all its mountainous glory.
Enjoy!

For more information on Lola Grill and Restaurant, check out their Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100090062770250&mibextid=wwXIfr&rdid=VAfScycjvugZR95y&share_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fshare%2F1DtFNGy2PS%2F%3Fmibextid%3DwwXIfr#

A special thank you to Hiiro Shi for inviting me to an awesome birthday party and for sharing Filipino cuisine and culture with me.