Kulinarya
Another sit-down Filipino restaurant. I’m glad they are around. I enjoy them way more than the restaurants with pre-made food sitting over a warming bath. This place makes food to order (with some dishes like the Paella requiring at least 2 hours notice). I’ve heard some good things about Kulinarya from my friends, so I brought my parents to try it out. I also wanted to compare it to Kumare in Richmond. Again, we ordered a ton.
We ordered Lechon Kawali, Lumpiang Shanghai, Pork Sisig, Beef Kaldereta, Pancit Malabon, Inihaw na Pusit, Sinampalukang Manok, and Garlic Fried Rice.
We started with the Lumpiang Shanghai. Typically, they are served as little spring rolls filled with pork. These ones are quite large and cut into threes. It was stuffed with a lot of meat, which was a lot smoother and softer than I’m used to. The Lechon Kawali was served on the bone and you had to cut it off yourself. Pretty different. Still tasty. Crispy. But I think I prefer it at Kumare. The skin was crispier there. I wasn’t a big fan of the Sizzling Pork Sisig as there were plenty of ears in there. I’m not a big fan of that texture. It just said that it was minced pork served on a hot sizzling plate. The Beef Kaldereta was probably my favourite. The beef was tender and the sauce was flavourful, though I would like a little hint of spice to it. The Inihaw na Pusit was really good too. It was a huge stuffed grilled squid. I have never seen a squid that big, but it was huge, and stuffed with tomatoes, onions and herbs. It was really good. The squid was cooked perfectly, and not too rubbery. I liked the texture. The stuffing wasn’t cooked too long, and still had a bit of freshness to it. The Sinampalukang Manok is a chicken soup served with tamarind leaves. The soup base is kind of similar to Sinigang, but the leaves, and other ingredients change the flavour slightly. It was pretty good, but the meat was a bit tough as they used the chicken breast. Finally, we also had the Pancit Malabon. I wasn’t familiar with it, until I saw it. It’s basically Palabok, but maybe a bit less salty. It’s a noodle dish served with a shrimp sauce.
We were so full from that meal, but we still ordered some Casava Cake, and a Halo Halo to share. I enjoyed the warm Casava Cake, and especially liked the topping. The halo halo was really good too, but seemed to have a bit less ingredients – i.e. no Leche Flan.
I enjoyed most of the food at Kulinarya, and the service was really good. They were attentative, the staff and owner were nice, and the food came quick too. The restaurant is really small though, as there are seats for about 16 people. We went right at noon when it wasn’t so busy. 30 minutes or so later, there were people waiting out the door.
On one hand, I thought some of the food was better at Kumare, but the service wasn’t very good as I think they were understaffed when we went. We seemed kind of neglicted. At Kulinarya the staff was quick to take our order and bring out the food. However, the space is a lot smaller at Kulinarya. Kumare has plenty of dining room. Kumare also has a bakery with much more choices for dessert. I’d recommend both, and luckily they are kind of on two opposite sides of Metro Vancouver.
Kulinarya
114 – 2922 Glen Dr
Coquitlam, BC
(778) 285-6577
