Mabuhay Grocery

very traditional and authentic Filippino store. Right down to the family living room in the back and the guy in the greasy t-​shirt at the front. Small, but a surprisingly good selection and great prices. Could stand to be tidies up a bit, product and shelving covered in dust is just simply not appealing, not even in the Philippines (I know, I’ve spent time there, the better store are clean and tidy to the eye).

Mabuhay Grocery looks like an unassuming corner market in which you would expect to find your usual Rock Star-​Doritos-​Snickers-​type fare. But while they probably do have at least a couple of those items, the draw here is the funky imported Filipino food.
Some gems I’ve come across so far:
Coconut jam. That’s right. I have no idea how I managed to survive without this stuff before. It’s thick, a light milky brown color. Kind of resembles dulce de leche. The only ingredients listed are «Fresh coconut milk, brown sugar, and water.» Spread on toast, it is rich, creamy, totally delicious.
Avocado ice cream. Pretty self explanatory. Pretty awesome.
Prawn Crackers. Not quite as great as the Shrimp Chips I get from An Dong, but just as addictive. They’re crispy, salty, shrimpy.
I’m still relatively new to this neighborhood and have definitely not yet gotten to explore all that Mabuhay has to offer. They have all kinds of goodies in a few big chest freezers in the back room including frozen lumpia, taro, and pint tubs of frozen pork blood.
I have not quite worked up the courage to try their cheese-​flavored ice cream. The packaging is a bright, cheddary orange. I’ll get around to it one of these days, for sure.