Danny’s Tindahan

I don’t pretend to know much about Filipino food other than my love affair with lechon, which I tried for the first time at the Fiesta Asia street fair downtown earlier this year. When I was but a wee law student wandering around Tenlytown, I was beckoned by this place. It seemed oddly placed in Tenlytown in a brick building that looked more like a townhouse than a grocery, but who am I to begrudge a specialty, family-​run ethnic grocery store in the District?
This store is small, but the selection is well thought out. My Filipino friends tell me that it stocks most of what they would need to make their favorite dishes. I can’t speak to that, but I enjoyed being in an ethnic grocery that had products I had never seen before. I keep telling myself I’m going to try to replicate lechon one day and now I know exactly where to find lechon sauce.
I recall seeing quite a few japanese items on the shelves, most likely to expand their marketbase. That, and the Japanese embassy is just a hop and a skip away. For those who want a great Japanese grocer, head down to Hana over on U Street. For those who live in the neighborhood, this place will do in a pinch and will be far superior than the offerings over at Whole Paycheck down the road.

Its so nice to find a place with frozen pork lumpia, lemon eskinol, and spicy chicharron for the boy. Its a tiny store, but they have a lot of what you’re looking for if you’re homesick for the Philippines. Lemon eskinol is hard to find imo, and I’m tired of settling for the calamansi.
Not the best tindahan i’ve ever been in, but you know what? Its the first place in DC that I have found fresh long beans (
) what a nice surprise, and meals for 3 days to follow :) therefore they gain an extra star.

Danny’s is a neat little convenience store located in the Tenleytown area of Washington. The business is close to both the American University campus and the Japanese Embassy (which I guess explains why it also carries Japanese products). The square footage of the establishment is very small, so there’s not as wide a variety of items as the convenience stores in Maryland and Virginia have.
High taxes in the District also make the products more pricey than their competitors. Even so, the store owner was extremely friendly and the basics are covered for any essentials required for a Filipino living in Washington. This store would score better if not for it’s tiny size and limited stock.
(Photos Uploaded)

the only place in DC to get Filipino food and ingredients…
iv been to a bunch of different filipino stores and i have to say that Danny’s is a lot cleaner and tidier than most… its pretty small, but it had most of the ingredients i needed for my shrimp sinigang recipie… mmmm… all that was missing was the vegetables but whole foods is just down the street…
the lady at the counter was very friendly and informative and told me about the deli that they plan on adding inside the store…
for the Fear Factor fans, they have the infamous Balut (eggs with duck embryo inside)… also worth trying is the buttery Skyflakes Crackers… they have a couple japanese treats too like Pocky and Mochi Ice Cream… all in all a pretty cool store… if you’re from the area, you have to check this place out…

What a find! My roommate and I were soooo happy to find this little hole-​in-​the-​wall at the beginning of the school year. We bought a 16lb bag of jasmine rice for about $ 5and carried it back to the dorms (we had help). It lasted us until the second to last week of school (we eat a lot of rice). My roommate is also Filipina, so she appreciates having something like this place so close while she’s halfway across the world. Last time I was in I was told that they were remodeling to make way for a prepared foods counter. I don’t know how they are going to have space for this, but I’m game! I’ll update once this is complete.

The Tagalog Log
Or: What I think of the Cleverly Named Danny’s Store
Excuse me, where can I find rice noodles, aisle one or aisle two? Where can I find hot sauce, aisle two or aisle one? Danny’s isn’t big at all, so browsing the store takes about 5 minutes. I don’t know authentic Philipino food from Sanskrit, but I liked the variety of goods on these two lonely rows of food: I was the only customer in the store (it was mid-​day on a weekday). Among odds and ends I picked up, I settled on some Chop Suey seasoning, which turned out to make a delicious dinner. The wordless checker rang me up and I was on my way inside ten minutes, but being in the store reminded me of places I have visited. It’s like a 7 – 11 in an alternate universe; slurpees traded in for green tea; snickers bars swapped out for butter crackers. I’m glad to have some international flavor in Tenleytown. I hope this place has more customers than it would appear so it will hang around for a while.
Magpaalam ka sa iyong ina

Convenient for picking up Filipino specific items that you can’t find at other Asian markets. Yes they have the legendary Balut. But for the less adventuress, try one of the red eggs. If you have any Pinoy friends, let them know about it, though they probably already do.

I have to give a shout-​out to Danny’s for carrying chilled unsweetened Japanese green tea in a bottle, just like you can buy from the vending machines located every 5 feet in Japan. I also bought a huge bag of panko there, and some soba for the road. Only three stars because it is quite small and limited in its selection. It’s worth checking out though, if you’re walking by like I was when I bought my tea. The freezer in the back was full of intriguing curiosities, for which I may return.

You definitely pay for the convenience of not having to drive to the other states (oh yeah… DC isn’t a state). Things were definitely a little more on the pricey side. But sometimes you got to do what you got to do to get some good Filipino treats.
Just a little south of Van Ness on Wisconsin Ave, look for a small staircase with a big Filipino flag… and you know you’re there! They have a bunch of the Filipino novelties that angela n. expanded on, including banana ketchup, lechon sauce, etc. They also have pan de sal, hopia, and ensymada. If you’re looking for some homemade cooking, they also have a small assortment of filipino dishes like pinakbet, menudo, and kare kare in the refrigerator.

SF’s legendary Mitchell’s ice cream came up in a recent thread — I grew up a couple bus stops from there and miss it terribly. Danny’s is no Mitchell’s, but this Filipino market does sell some terrific ice cream flavors: ube (sweet purple yam), avocado, buko (coconut), mango, and «corn and cheese» (yeah you heard that right). Unfortunately they don’t sell by the cone or even by the pint — today they only had dangerous half-​gallon tubs. So hard to choose among them, but I bought one anyway! I’m afraid I’ll turn purple from all the ube I’ve ingested today. I also snagged some Philippine Brand Dried Mangoes (thin, sugary-​sweet but slightly sour, delicious).
The store is very small but carries a surprising variety of Filipino items: balut (a fertilized egg with a dead baby bird inside — I’ve never been able to stomach it myself, but it’s a common Filipino delicacy), Filipino ensamada, jars of sweet beans and fruit you can use to make halo halo, various Filipino DVDs …
Judging from the sullen teen behind the counter, the store appears to rely on forced child labor? I guess if I were the owner’s kid, I, too, would rather spend my sunny weekends elsewhere: P
Just a few blocks south of Tenleytown metro. I’ll be back for more ice cream and dried mango, no doubt!