Pino is like a sibling restaurant of Pipino. Pipino offers vegetarian Filipino food on their menu while Pino is the opposite. The places are situated side-by-side, only separated by these white, fence-like wood (see photos below). Pino diners may also order from the Pipino menu, however, Pipino diners cannot.
While others cringe by thought of vegan, we do not. My friends and I are more on the omnivorous side rather than the herbivorous. So yeah, we eat whatever's edible. Haha! We really have no problem trying whichever restaurant we want to eat in.
And now, we do know why this place is gaining customers day by day. It's because their damn good food. :) Basically, what they serve are basic Filipino food but what sets them apart from other Filipino restaurants is their flavor and of course, their special vegetarian menu. They stick with the basic technique of how these meals are originally cooked but the flavor is just bursting inside your mouth. I am no food nerd nor a certified food critic but I hope you believe me enough that their food is just so yummy! Haha!
These are what we ordered (We didn't order vegetarian meals though):
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| Bopis |
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| Kare-kareng Bagnet |
This is one of their bestsellers. Oh my goodness, I can't even begin to describe how delightful this is. The bagnet is crunchy enough but still appropriately soft enough for your teeth to chew. The vegetables are half-cooked, just the way I like it. You might want to order additional kare-kare sauce when you order this one if you want to add some on your rice. As you can see, that amount of sauce won't be enough for the three of us.
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| Sinigang with Salmon |
Again, I forgot the exact name of this dish on the menu. Sorry. Anyway, I love this sinigang, too. Well, I might be biased since sinigang is one of my favorite Filipino dishes. Haha! The kick of the sourness in this dish is just right. Yung parang humahagod talaga sa lalamunan. Unlike other restaurants, they were too generous in placing the vegetables in the bowl. It also seemed like they placed the whole salmon in that bowl. You can scoop a lot in this bowl, actually, you get what I mean? Haha!
Apart from good food and good menu, the place is perfect, too. The restaurant is a small, intimate space so you can't really feel that the place is crowded even if it actually is jam-packed with customers. I like that it gives off that relaxed vibe that you and your friends or family can actually sit down and talk while enjoying fantastic dishes. Their interior and decors do help in giving that vibe. And of course, let's not forget, their dishes are pocket-friendly, too! Yay! :)
I hope my words gave enough justification and credit for how good this restaurant is. Well, I really did my best in 'trying' to convince you to go and check out this place. Haha! So you better get out of your house and drop by at this place. If you didn't trust my judgment though, well, you would still get out of your house and try this for yourself. :)
You can check their website for details. Or the owner's personal page. :)