Starbread

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Starbread is the Filipino Krispy Kreme, except that instead of freshly made donuts its small sweet breads.  With locations sprouting all over the Bay Area (the original in South City/Daly City), they delight the masses with their famous seniorita bread.  They claim their are the original makers of the seniorita bread, but I fondly remember eating them a very long time ago at Banana Q in Vallejo before Starbread existed.  I have searched high and low for a replacement for Banana Q's version and only stumbled upon Starbread's version, which is good, but not a good enough substitute for a childhood memory of the most delectable buttery sweet bread. 

These cigar shaped rolls are made of sweet bread with a oozing melted butter and sugar filling.  Orders always come piping hot and fresh.  Buttery and delicious, these can be quite addicting and extreme willpower is needed when eating them.

Filled senoritas seem to be a new thing here.  There are three flavors:  strawberry, apple, and cream cheese.  The cream cheese was the best of the three and was similar to a cheese danish.  However, I still prefer the original made with butter and sugar.

Strawberry filled senioritas were my least favorite.  Filled with an artificial strawberry flavor, this seniorita was too sweet for my liking

Address:                 Starbread
                                5855 Jarvis Rd.
                                Newark, CA
 

Type:                       Filipino/bakery

Popular chomps:     senioritas

Chomp worthy:        senioritas  

Demison

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Demison lies in a small unassuming strip mall in San Jose.  This small store sells a lot of knick knacks and items that I recognized from my recent trip to the Philippines.  You almost have to adjust your eyes to sort through everything in order to focus on the food at the counter.  Right next to the register is a tin pan of homemade turon and some siopao. 

With the store reminding me of an episode of Hoarders, I did have my doubts of how good a tray of turon aka banana lumpia would be.  Turon is a sweet Filipino snack made up of sliced bananas, sugar, and sometimes a piece of jackfruit.  All other turon I've had look like fried, stumpy envelopes, so this is the first I've seen as a long, thin eggroll.  Also, only banana in this one.  Surprisingly in the middle of the afternoon, the turon was hot and seemed like it was freshly cooked.  Not too oily and very crunchy.  I think I'm a fan of this style of turon.  Each bite has just the right amount of banana to crispy wrapper.

Address:                 Demison
                                1647 N. Capital Ave.
                                San Jose, CA
 

Type:                       Filipino

Popular chomps:     turon
 

Chomp worthy:        turon       

Uncle Boy's

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If you are Filipino or know a lot of Filipino, the name of this place is pretty funny.  Its a little bit of a trek than the usual late night food, but its open till 3A.  Its one of the only late night burger options out this way except for Jack in the Box.

Even though its not super crowded like El Farolito, the food does take a while to arrive in your hands.

The sides options include:  fried mozzarella, onion rings, jalapeno poppers, and french fries.  The mozzarella sticks are really cheese.  They are served extra hot with gooey cheese and a nice fried exterior. 

The sauces are self serve: (from top;clockwise) pesto mayo, chipotle, marinara sauce.  All the sauces were pretty tasty.

The fried zucchini seemed to be one of the more popular side options.  These disks of fresh cut zucchini were extra hot inside and fried nicely.  Every bite was a challenge in keeping the zucchini from slipping out.

The lightly seasoned fries were crisp, but nothing special.

The burgers here remind me of an Ike's sandwich, but with a burger instead of a sandwich.  The word "spicy" caught my eye when glancing over the ingredients of the Hot Mess burger.  Two strips of bacon folded over, cheddar, 1 beef patty, onion, tomato, lettuce, jalapenos, and their hot mess sauce.  I was hoping for something more hot and messy.  I got neither.  Its a decent burger and at this time of the night its a nice option, but not sure if I'd travel all this way if I wasn't in the area.  My late night taste buds sprefer Sam's (see post HERE) when I'm craving a burger. 

Mamma Mia is another funky twist on a burger.  Melted jack cheese over a beef patty, 3 mozzarella sticks (but the menu said there should be 4!), and marinara sauce.

    

Address:                 Uncle Boy's
                                245 Balboa St
                                San Francisco, CA
 

Type:                       burgers/American/Filipino/late night eats

Popular chomps:     mamma mia burger
                                 zucchini chips
                                 hot mess                                                             

Chomp worthy:        zucchini chips        

House of Silvanas

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I rarely ever go to Daly City, but I came a picture of these macaron looking cookies and they looked interesting enough to venture out there.  It's a little tricky to get here.  The deserted looking plaza where this bakery is looking like you need to enter into the plaza (with Ling Nam) in it, but its not.  You actually have to go up a little futher into another plaza and follow the swirling street into the correct plaza.  Confusing, but thats Daly City for you.   
House of Silvanas are actually a chain from the Philippines with a couple locations in Southern California and the Daly City being the only Northern California location.

From top left (clockwise):  chocolate, mocha, strawberry, mango, original, ube (purple yam), buko-pandan (young coconut).  At first glance, silvanas look very similar to macaron, but they are very different.  First of all, they are stored in the freezer and served chilled.  The cookies are cashew meringues with buttercream sandwiched between the wafers.  The cookies are they dusted/rolled in cookie crumbs.  The texture takes a little getting used to since I've never tasted a cookie like that. Upon first bite, you get a sense of chilliness and you can probably get a small chewy bite in before the meringue wafer melts/disappears in your mouth.  You are left with a sweet aftertaste that is slightly salty.  It can be pretty addicting.  An assorted box ($13) comes with two of each flavor.  Personally I liked the strawberry flavor.  It reminded me of the Nesquick strawberry flavor.

A glance inside the ube flavored silvanas you can see the light fluffy texture of the meringue wafer and the thin layer of buttercream. 

Address:                     House of Silvanas

                                           2055 Gellert Blvd.

                                           Ste 3

                                           Daly City, CA

Type:                             Filipino/bakery

Popular chomps: silvanas
                                            sans rival
                                            ensaimada

Chomp worthy:      silvanas      

Taco's Sandwiches

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Taco's Sandwiches

I'll venture anywhere to hunt down good food.  This is an example.  Not exactly in the best area (6th Street), but only 20 steps from Market St so I'd say still relatively safe.  Also, it's right next door to famed chef Julia Child's loved Tu Lan.  Taco's sandwiches is owed by a guy named Taco who sells sandwiches and no, he doesn't sell tacos. 

Blackened fish po boy

inside the po'boy

Cajun dusted filet of fish, chopped lettuce, tomatoes, onions, and chipotle aioli served with tartar sauce on the side.  This sandwich is delicious.  The fish is fried perfectly - no greasy aftertaste here.   

pulled pork adobo

 The pulled pork adbo consists of "slowly braised" marinated pork shoulder, homemade coleslaw and grilled onions topped with chipotle aioli.  In a city of Korean tacos, and sushi burritos, of course there has to be a Filipino sandwich.  The meat is moist and tender giving it a contrast to the crispy, crunchy slaw.  I wish he sold the coleslaw separately.  It's hard for me to find a good coleslaw that I like this.  This one is perfect -slightly sweet, crunchy, and not swimming in mayo.   

lumpia

Taco offers a combo with lumpia with each sandwich for a little extra, but I opted to order a side of 5 pieces.  Another perfectly fried item.

fries

Fries came out hot and crispy.

I don't think I've liked sandwiches this much since Ike's.  The portions are large enough to share and the prices are cheap.  Unfortunately, Taco's sandwiches last day is Friday (9/30) due to lease issues.  Hopefully he'll be back soon so I can try the other sandwiches.

Address:                          Taco's Sandwiches
                                                 6 6th St.
                                                 San Francisco, CA                   
 

Type:                                   sandwiches, Filipino
                                                 casual

Chomp worthy:        Blackened fish po'boy, anything fried
   

Random facts:         Last day of business until futher notice is this week!