Sarap Kitchen

Came to pick up lunch for my boss and i just an hour ago.
1 order of the shanghai lumpia, 1 order of the pork adobo & 1 order of the Palabok.
they ran out Palabok so i asked for the Pancit. Added a drink so i ordered the Banana Milk.
they ran out of Banana Milk so i asked for the Papaya Milk.
they ran out of the Papaya Milk so i asked what DO they have. They only had Green Bean, Red Bean & Strawberry, wouldve been nice to just let me know from the get-​go which food & drinks were available instead of me going down the list lol.
Anyway, i get my strawberry milk and its not cold. Its ‘warm-​slightly almost cold’, i get to work and open my pancit…
its pancit canton NOT pancit bihon
(pancit bihon is the original pancit that is served at any filipino spot), but again wouldve been nice if they wouldve told me they RAN OUT of bihon and only had canton so i couldve ordered something else!
My boss opens his pork adobo n starts eating n says it tastes like it was cooked yesterday. Fail Fail Fail Fail. Alot of Failage. The struggle is real with this 1. Hopefully its not like this all the time as this is the only filipino food joint around work and id like to give it another shot next time…

So good. it’s about time Filipino food is spreading around the area especially in China SGV. Show your support kababayan and as u know, cuisines are made differently from such diverse flavors. So stop hating and be proud.

Great service from the crew and decent Filipino food in the area!
They welcomed me with smiles and they even joked around with me. The food tasted like it was home-​cooked and original which is a great thing.
A down-​side however is that it is in a Lollicup restaurant and the place is pretty small. Its also like a typical asian restaurant where the restaurant looks kind of dirty (hopefully not).
Overall, its nice to try out the place and this could be a go to Filipino food place in the area and the reason why is because its the only one here.

This place is really poorly run and disorganized. It’s owned by a husband and wife team, but the wife wasn’t there. They seem nice but they don’t know how to run a restaurant. Much of the menu is «not available,» and the ones that are, are poorly made. The food took forever to come out. Luckily we had a LivingSocial coupon to take some of the pain away, but the food was not good. Stay away!

Decided to give this place another try since we heard it’s all Filipino food now. While the menu IS all Filipino food, we sat and ate next door at the Lollicup so… not so much on the all-​Filipino fare.
In short, there’s been absolutely no improvement on their Filipino food. On the contrary, everything tastes worse.
If you’re craving Filipino food and decide to come here, they’ll get rid of that craving and probably any other you might ever have.
Order off the Lollicup menu…

Very terrible! I order a mix noodles, chicken adobo and halo halo with my brother. Both the dishes are very salty. However the noodles is very oily too. Fortunately I have living social coupon, that meal cost $ 12 less, we pay $ 16.75 at last. I don’t recommend this place to you all.

I’m sorry to say, but this Filipino food place is the worst I’ve ever had. We ordered sisig, pinakbet and chicken adobo and everything was too salty. The sisig wasn’t even the traditional sisig, instead they used pig ears which was more like a pulutan dish minus the beer. Adobo looked and tasted like it was marinated in soy sauce for a few days then cooked in more soy sauce with salt added. The chicken was black. The pinakbet tasted fresh but to add flavor they must’ve added a whole salt shaker .
This place is merging with the Lollicup next door because it’s owned by the same owner. I’m assuming because it couldn’t survive being a stand alone restaurant.
Just an example as to how bad it really was, there was a lot of leftovers and we didn’t even take it to go. Filipinos never let anything go to waste, but this was definitely an exception.
People do yourselves a favor and STAY AWAY from the Filipino food side of this place.

I’ve come here twice. Once was for the grand opening and the second time was to grab some Halo Halo.
After the grand opening and huge portions of food, I was excited to come back. We had some craving for Halo Halo. It was a hot day and there’s no other way to cool off than eating some Halo Halo in an air-​conditioned room. I placed an order for pick up. Upon arriving, we had to wait longer since they weren’t ready. 5, 10… 15 minutes later, it was finally ready.
What we got was basically a cup filled with crushed ice, some dessert beans and whatnot, and a not so much ice cream. All of the toppings that make Halo Halo were either lacking or just not there… it was so sad. This was a far cry from what I saw on opening day and we were really disappointed. I was keeping up my spirits and giving them the benefit of the doubt that at least the flavor would be there, but sadly, it was not. This was a total let down.
After the disappointing dessert and long wait, we haven’t been back. I really want to give this place another chance, but I’ve had such better experience and tasted much better food elsewhere even if it requires a 15 – 30 minute drive to Glendale, West Covina, or Puente Hills. Maybe I’ll come back again… but in the meantime, I think I’m good.

Ordered:
Tinolang Manok (chicken ginger soup) Love it
Lumpia shanghai (meat filled egg rolls) #nomnom
Crispy Pata (fried pork) Yum
Fried Whole Bangus (milk fish) Awesome
Loved all the food. No MSG. It’s takes so much time and energy to cook all this at home so it’s nice to have a place to go that is affordable and so yummy!

If I could give a 0 I would. The owner said he was pretty flexible but in reality, he isn’t. Came in with a groupon for 30 dollars that is in reality 2 groupons for $ 15. If that was the intent, shouldn’t they have given that as an option? And if you think about it, what difference would it make if I used it at one time? They still get both groupons redeemed and paid out for it.
And as for the food, it’s mediocre. That’s probably why the restaurant is always dead. Sad to say but true. Customer service is not that great, along with mediocre tasting food. I wouldn’t waste my money if I were you.

Lumpia and Pancit were excellent. Cute take on halo halo — americanzed. huge like an actual ice cream ice cream. didn’t love the lechon but to each their own. just thought it was overcooked/​dry and flavorless. so bland. Portion sizes were nice, but way more expensive than I would pay for regularly. I was seriously craving food from home so I’m glad I found a place nearby. Sadly not cheap enough to hit up regularly. Also the service was fantastic. very sweet, kind, helpful people. Very respectful and attentive. My mom even commented on how much she enjoyed the people.

I wanted to take my mother out to try something new. Filipino food is pretty foreign to me. The gave us menus that did not have descriptions of the food. Descriptions would have helped immensely.
Pork sisig — found out that it was pig ear when it came out. It comes out on a sizzling plate with raw egg on top. You are supposed to mix everything around so the egg gets cooked.
Bihon guisado — the whole dish tasted really wet. You can tell that the shrimp used was frozen.
Fresh lumpia — the lumpia was filled with veggies and wrapped with what looked like a raw eggroll wrapper. The dish tasted decent but the restaurant should have indicated that peanuts are used on the dish.
Tortang talong — this is a boiled or steamed eggplant that is flattened with egg poured over it to form a omelette. This dish was pretty good.

«Sarap» in Tagalog means delicious. I was hoping for good things with Sarap Kitchen but was disappointingly underwhelmed. I purchased a Living Social deal a couple of months ago & just recently had the opportunity to use it. From earlier reviews I’ve read the restaurant seemed to be a combination of Filipino & Chinese cuisine. When we went for our visit, it seems that they are solely focusing on Filipino cuisine.
We tried 4 dishes on our visit:
Lechon Kawali — This was the best of all the dishes that we tried and really the only one
we really liked. The skin was super crispy & the meat tender.
Perfectly cooked.
Palabok — This has to be the blandest palabok I have ever tasted. The addition of
freshly squeezed lemon didn’t even help. Plus, just a few pieces of tiny baby
shrimp.
Tinolang Manok — This dish wasn’t bad but it wasn’t great either. The broth was pretty
tasty but there really wasn’t much chicken. 4 pieces of chicken, with
1 of those pieces being mostly bone. Tinola I am accustomed to
eating includes spinach and chayote squash. Not sure if the recipe
is from a different region of the Phillipines but the only vegetable
included was baby bok choy.
Halo — Halo — Like the tinola, this halo-​halo was very different from what I’m used to.
It tasted ok but nothing I will order again.
I was debating between rating this place 2 or 3 stars, but since the lechon kawali was so good I upped my rating to 3 stars.
Don’t know if I’ll be visiting Sarap Kitchen again anytime soon. There are other Filipino restaurants I would prefer to go over this one.

This is the closest Filipino joint near my house. It’s only half a mile among Mexican, American, Chinese and Vietnamese restaurants out here.
I paid 8 dollars for a Lonsilog. I saw the price im like, this better be hooked up on the meat and eggs and sadly I was wishing just like the Lakers are going to the championship 2015. (i love my lakers)
2 baby sized longinsa and two eggs with garlic rice that can feed 4 people. Those proportions would work if i was like 8 years old. I really really want to come back because it is so close. If someone else went with me i will come back. Sigh… Ill find a golidlocks or a DJ’s they will always hook it up.
More oolam with the kanin please.

Fresh lumpia was not what I expected, it was better!!! The skin was chewy and the vegetable mix was delicious! It exceeded my expectations in every way!
The pork adobo was not as tender as I thought, but the meats were chunky and the sauce was so good over rice.
The prices are reasonable too. The pork adobo and fresh lumpia totaled $ 15.22 with tax included.

I don’t usually go out for Filipino food since I’m usually disappointed. Grew up eating the best Filipino food from my mom’s kitchen, and nothing can even come close.
I do go out for Filipino treats though, like Halo Halo! This review is based solely on the Halo Halo at Sarap Kitchen. Decided to get Halo Halo for my parents and family.
Started out great… ordering on the phone very easy. I told them I was within 5 minutes, and that they would start them for me. Got there in 10 minutes because of traffic, and they were taking the Halo Halos out of the kitchen as I walked in. Greeted at the door and staff very friendly. Got very excited to pay and have my Filipino treat; feeling like a little kid in the Philippines.
Went downhill which explains the two stars… Halo Halo is way too pricey. 5 Halo Halos came up to $ 27.10, which includes tax. Also, Halo Halo needed to be sweeter and richer. It lacked flavor, and it wasn’t the sweet decadent dessert I enjoy from time to time. Other ingredients inside seemed sparse. I didn’t find any rice krisps, jackfruit or red beans! Most disappointing… it wasn’t Leche Flan inside the Halo Halo but a custard like the one found in Boba drinks. Finally, very flimsy drink carrier. Amazed that I was able to get the 5 orders home safely.
We have a Groupon for Sarap Kitchen, and still willing to try the Filipino food soon. Maybe the food can make me increase my rating. Till next time.

Delicious food & wonderful service!
Ordered fresh lumpia, pork sisig, pork adobo, pancit canton, and halo halo.
We’ll be back for sure!

September 5, 2014
After purchasing a Living Social deal for Sarap Kitchen, I decided to check this place out with my mom and sissy after out trip to the Monrovia Farmers Market.
As we walk towards the entrance, there stands a sign saying «Filipino menu ONLY». What? I have never seen or heard of not serving the entire menu, but only half. In the end, I had to ask why only one menu and not the other? It’s because the other half of the ownership is out of town. Strange to be out of town after two months in business… and to not have a chef in the kitchen that knows how to cook Chinese dishes? Okayyyyyy.
Anyway, we ignored that because we weren’t really going to try the Chinese menu anyway. We were more interested in trying out Filipino food for the first time with the family.
The interior is gorgeous and very red. I love the décor and it’s very pleasing to the eyes. They have a flat screen tv that plays soaps.
The menu: so confusing to non-​Filipinos. There was NO picture representing what the dish is or looks like. No description explaining the dish at all. My sister and I had to ask about practically everything on the menu.
In the end, we played menu roulette and ordered three dishes and halo halo (not found in the menu). I had to ask if there is a dessert menu before the owner told me that they do have a dessert called halo halo.
My sister had to take it upon herself to suggest that they should fix the menu and be more descriptive with ingredients etc.
Okay, now what did we order?
Pork Adobo, Fresh Lumpia, and Bistec Tagalog:
From a family who had never really had Filipino food, it’s pretty interesting. Every dish comes with long grained rice. The fresh Lumpia is so strange and extremely not what I expected. I didn’t really enjoy it and should have ordered them fried. The Bistec Tagalog was yummy! I’m a huge fan of vinegar and sour stuff. The dish is perfect with the rice! Such strong flavor. Mom doesn’t make this flavor at home.
Next, the pork adobo. Okay, apparently I when I bit into my pork, my meat was FROZEN still. Honestly, I feel like this place will not go far if they don’t make changes to their food, quality control, and menu. Sarap should focus on one menu and not two different menus, unless it’s a fusion. I do wish them well and because (according to the owner, they have been opened for two months), I really wish they do realize that focusing on one menu would bring them more success. I hope they choose wisely because I really love the owner (Filipino part of the two owners) because he is very kind and just a friendly soul.
Dessert: Halo Halo (meaning: mix-​mix according to the owner) is so pretty! Compared to my style of shaved ice dessert, I enjoyed it, but needs more flavor other than milk. Finally though, I have finally tried halo halo!
I don’t want to be the Simon Cowell or the Pierce in judging and I hate Paula for giving false hope, so I’m going to be the Randy Jackson.
My Final Verdict: for now, due to my food experience: 2.5 stars and my service experience: 4 stars
I really want to give more than two stars, but I got to be honest.
GOOD LUCK SARAP!

Skimmed through Unilocal to see all the new restaurants popping up around my area and I found this place. This place use to be called Honolulu Hawaiian BBQ and now the name has changed to Sarap Kitchen which serves filipino/​chinese food. I never heard of that combination before. Well the background behind this is that one of the partners is chinese and the other one is a filipina. That’s where you get a mix of filipino and chinese food in one restaurant. They have a promotion right now which is if you spend over $ 20, you get 5 dollars off.
They have lunch specials every day from 11am to 3pm on selected items that are $ 6.25, $ 6.75, and $ 7.25 (chinese food). As for filipino food, there were 6 dishes to choose from (Chicken Adobo, Chicken BBQ Skewards, Pork BBQ Skewards, Fried Bangus, Grilled Bangus, and Lechon Kawali) for $ 7.25. I wished they had pictures next to the items for consumers to gander at. Basically had to ask the waitress what each item was for the filipino lunch specials, without knowing what the plate looked like.
Parking/​Ambiance: The location is basically located next to a lollicup in the same plaza as Action Lanes. There are plenty of parking spots and the venue was clean and quiet. A little too quiet for lunch hour, but I understand it’s only been open for a lil over two weeks!
Service: Service was slow and the food took awhile to come out. Twenty five minutes to be exact.
Food: I had the Lechon Kawali (fried pork belly) lunch special ($ 7.25) which came with a vinegar dipping sauce and a plate of rice. I thought the fried pork belly was just okay, but literally had to drench it with the vinegar looking sauce.
MIght come back to this place in a month or two when I hope they figure things out.

Juicy Filipino Chinese food
Came here for their soft opening and the food was delicious! I love the idea of mixing the Filipino and Chinese plates since I am a mix of both cultures. This is a unique combination that I don’t see around the area often. I’m so happy that I can finally get Filipino food near where I live and don’t have to go too far when I’m craving it.
The inside is very clean and has a very welcoming ambiance. The servers are polite and helpful. The price is decent and have great value. The portion size is pretty big so it’s more bang for your buck. The location inside the plaza is very convenient with plenty of parking and space.
I recommend this restaurant for family dining or just getting some takeout. There is a variety of food so you will have plenty of choices.