Filipino restaurant Kabayan Grill opens in Farmingville
Chicken adobo is one of the Filipino specialties at Kabayan Grill in Farmingville. Credit: Newsday/Erica Marcus
Cherry Castellvi named her Filipino restaurant Kabayan Grill because in Tagalog, the language of the Philippines, "kabayan means countryman. It’s exactly like when Italians say, ‘paisano.’” The name is a signal that the food here “is really authentic, cooked the way our grandmothers cooked it.”
Suffolk diners can now avail themselves at the sparkling new Kabayan Grill in Farmingville. It is the latest link in a chain, established in 2015, that also comprises four venues in Queens and one in East Meadow.
When asked to describe Filipino food for first-timers, Castellvi said, “It’s a combination of Chinese and Spanish, with a little American too.”
The famous dish chicken adobo, for example, gets its name from the Spanish verb, “adobar,” to marinate in vinegar, an age-old Filipino method, but its two main flavors are soy sauce, introduced by the Chinese, and garlic, a Spanish import. And until you bite into a delicate, golden fried lumpia, you might swear it was a Chinese spring roll.
You’ll also find ukoy (vegetable-shrimp fritters) and tokwa’t baboy (fried tofu with braised pig ear) as well as the noodle dishes palabok (steamed rice noodles with shrimp sauce, crushed pork rinds and egg) and pancit bihon (rice noodle stir-fry). Mains include barbecued chicken skewers and lechon kawali (deep-fried pork belly with liver sauce). Pig is much esteemed in Filipino cooking. Not for the faint of heart (but delicious nonetheless) is crispy pata (deep-fried trotter) and sisig (finely chopped pork shoulder, jowl and ear with hot pepper and lemon).
Halo halo, a popular Filipino cold dessert, is topped with ube (purple yam) ice cream at Kabayan Grill in Farmingville. Credit: Newsday/Erica Marcus
For dessert, don’t pass up halo halo, an exuberant pile of crushed ice, evaporated milk and ube (purple yam) jam and / or sweet beans, coconut, cubed jelly or boiled taro. Put it on ice cream and you’ve got halo halo special.
At lunchtime, there’s also a steam table for customers who just want to point and eat. Kabayan’s starters are all under $12 and most mains are under $15.
When it opened in East Meadow, Kabayan Grill took over an old Taco Bell and did very little with the décor. By contrast, the Farmingville store is spacious, modern and blindingly white. (Castellvi said that East Meadow would soon be getting a comparable makeover.)
Depending on the night, there might be live music, comedy or karaoke. There’s also a small grocery store for Filipino imports.
Kabayan Grill is at 1075 Portion Rd., Farmingville, 631-513-5113, facebook.com/Kabayan-Ronkonkoma.
