After spending a 3-week vacation in the Philippines (also meeting the Hive PH community), you would probably think I got tired of Filipino food. 3 days after I came back to Japan, my partner told me out of the blue he wanted to eat Filipino food. Should I say no?
There are Filipino restaurants in Tokyo, yes, but the problem is sometimes it takes an hour from our residence to those restaurants. My partner doesn't really take long travels. Wait, is 1 hour long? For him, it is. But that day, he couldn't be stopped and didn't mind searching for the best. He basically did all the research, what I did was just to call the restaurant to ask if they were open.
We were already in Shinjuku when he decided we would be eating in a Filipino restaurant. I just wanted to eat something in Shinjuku, ramen or yakiniku or whatever. But yeah, he had other plans and because he's craving, okay, I'd give in.
The Filipino restaurant we went to was called Ipoipo. It translates to tornado in English, hence they have a small tornado in their logo. I didn't inquire why they named their restaurant like that. Some Filipino restaurants here name their stores with their names. This one's different.
It was past 10 PM when we reached the restaurant. The Filipino restaurant my friends and I always go out close at 8 or 9 PM so I was surprised this resto was still open at this time. There was no one in the restaurant though except the staff. It was awkward being the only customer.
They have a lot of choices on their menu. My boyfriend wanted to order everything. Of course, I didn't let him. Though when our orders came, I realized we really ordered a lot. 😁
Lumpiang Shanghai came first. It had many pieces in one serving but I think there are better ones out there.
Pancit Bihon came next and my boyfriend loved it. I cook this at home, minus a few vegetables. He said my version was almost the same as this one. Whew, what a compliment I needed to hear. Makes me encourage cooking for us. 😅
My boyfriend was asking what tapsilog means. It's so hard to explain it guys, can someone explain it in simple terms? Tapsilog is a combination of tapa, sinangag (fried rice) and itlog (egg). He was asking what a tapa is but at that time, I just didn't know how to explain it well. All I said to him was it's beef and just wait til it comes. 😂
According to Panlasang Pinoy, tapa is a dried cured beef similar to beef jerky. I should have googled when he asked. 😄
My only order was the Bicol Express. I missed to eat this when I was in the Philippines. Or did I? Anyway I forgot if ever I ate it there. Ever since one of my coworker/friend cooked this dish when I was still living in Osaka, I just couldn't get enough of it. It was probably the most delicious I have ever tried. He's from Bicol Region where the dish originated. I've been to Bicol and tried it there but my friend's version's still the best for me.
The Bicol Express in Ipoipo was tasty. It's not as great as my friend's but it passed my standards. 😅 The coconut milk wasn't too strong to smell. It's creamy and the pork was tasty although many fat portions.
The last dish that came was the soup. We ordered Pork Sinigang because my boyfriend's familiar with it and likes it. Too bad it came late, I wasn't able to enjoy its hot soup because we ate a lot already. My boyfriend probably had lots of space in his stomach because he was still able to eat the soup.
Did we order a lot? Yes, we did. Did we finish them all? No, we didn't.
Usually, it's rude to take out the food you ordered for dine in but since we're in a Filipino restaurant, I didn't mind being rude and asked if I could bring home the food we weren't able to finish. 😂 So Filipino. They're kind enough to put it in plastic.
How much did we spend? We paid more or less 7k yen (around 49 USD or almost 3k PHP) for all those dishes. Was it expensive? Yeah, I think so. I couldn't help but compare it to the ones in the Philippines because I've just been there. In small eateries, it's way more expensive but in big restaurants like the ones in the mall, it's probably the same price range as this or probably lower.
Either way, there are other Filipino restaurants in Japan that serve unlimited food for only 1500 yen (or 10.5 USD or around 580 PHP). We could have saved a lot if we ate here but oh well. We had fun and we're full anyways.
Will I still be coming to this place? Probably yes. Even when it's kinda luxurious to eat here (because of the prices), they serve delicious food that hits close to home. And they close very late! Whenever I'm craving dishes from home, I could come here. Added to my go-to places. ✔️
Ipoipo Philippine Restaurant is about a 6-minute walk from Kinshicho Station in Sumida-ku, Tokyo. Look around, you'll be able to see the Tokyo Skytree while walking. 😌
Thanks for reading!
See you around! じゃあ、またね！
With love,
All photos are taken using my phone unless stated otherwise.