**** Sarap is now Gaya Gaya
While on my "procrastintion drive" to the office over the weekend; I noticed that "Sarap Filipino Kitchen" had taken over the former Capetown Bar & Grill/Malted Diner location.
I was going to add that to my post for last Wednesday; but then on Tuesday; Eater mentioned the place was in Soft Opening Phase. I mentioned this to Calvin who got quite excited so we ended up going…..and I ended going for three days in a row! The last culminating with a group of six to celebrate one of the folks in our team actually surviving second anniversary.
As folks who've been to Capetown/Malted know; this is a huge spot. The folks working; especially the really kind and friendly Server named Lloyd were really nice; but I don't think they were ready for word getting out so quickly. They seemed a bit under-staffed and on my second visit; I saw folks actually change their order to take-out after waiting quite a while for their food. I'm hoping this will be remedied. I also heard folks grumbling about the portion size……sheesh, I guess they want this to be Tita's?
The menu varied from day to day; the first two days there was no Lechon Kawale; therefore no Sisig, also no Crispy Pata. Before our third visit; I mentioned this to Lloyd who promised me that "tomorrow we will have it….I will make sure we do." And as promised, we had our sisig, lechon kawale, and crispy pata.
So, here's a rundown on my favorite; to least favorite items so far….some of which I've now had multiple times.
Picks:
Everyone I've brought to Sarap has enjoyed the Bagoong Fried Rice, even those who had no idea what the flavoring was. It's very balanced in flavor; with garlic tones balancing out the shrimp paste. It's also not overly salty. They mango mostly added a nice textural contrast.
When I first had the Salt and Pepper Chicken Wings; I sent a photo to my friends, "these wings are good….when was the last time I said that about a new place?" I got a bunch of entertaining emoji's as responses; so I'm guessing it's been a while since I enjoyed fried chickens wings from someplace new.
These weren't the best quality wings; but were perfectly fried; moist, light, and crisp. The seasoning was nicely balanced; the wings had just enough salt. Like the fried rice; everyone who tried this, enjoyed it.
The Crispy Pata was very good.
Perfectly fried; very moist, porky, goodness, the seasoned vinegar helped to cut through the richness. Nice crunchy bits….though not as much gooey parts. Still the folks loved it. At one point no one was finishing up the pata…..they thought they'd finished it. I then got my paper towel; put the pata on end; grabbed the spoon, and proceeded to scrape off a pile of meat. I told everyone to finish things up…..I grabbed the bone as the reward and gnawed off all the good parts. Little "ND" cracked up and told me; "you clean the pata like my mom and you eat the bones like my dad." Now talk about a compliment.
Nilagang Baka:
This wasn't a particularly large portion and rather difficult to share for two people as they don't provide adequate spoons…plus we had to ask for bowls.
Still, this was pretty good; especially the meat, which was very beefy and tender. It's not quite as good as the version at Villa Manila; as the broth was on the mild side in regards to beefiness and the sodium level was a bit too high. Still; this was not bad.
Beer Break – We didn't notice the beer list on our first visit. On my second visit, I saw it on the table and took a look….and cracked up. When was the last time I saw Red Horse on tap? It would warm the hearts of my friends "back home" in Hawaii.
Here are the items I'm on the fence about…..
On my second visit; I ordered the Daeng Bangus….the milkfish.
In terms of flavor; this was great; from the vinegar tones, the milkfish had no off flavors. I especially liked the tomato-onion-chili relish; making this more like Daeng na Isda. I wished that this was fried a bit better and the flesh; though tasty was on the dry side.
The Liempo was too much on the burnt side for my taste; making it a bit bitter.
Beyond the charred-bitterness; the texture of the pork belly was quite good; a bit toothsome, but decent.
The pans……
We had high hopes for the Lechon Kawale, but were disappointed.
I will say the lechon sauce was lighter than other versions, but very tasty. The flavor of the pork was swiney goodness. But the skin wasn't prepped correctly and was super hard; most folks didn't even try eating it. It was fried to death and had lost a good amount of moisture in the process. This was a bummer.
When I was told the sisig here used pig ear and head, I was thrilled. I haven't had a good, more traditional sisig since we visited Gapo Resto a few years ago.
That it had the terrible hard lechon kawale in this didn't help…too many hard bits. For some reason this was also quite bland; we ended having to use the vinegar from pata to raise up the flavor. Good Sisig Kapampangan to me should always have combination of crunchy, soft, and chewy bits….this was mostly hard, had no spice in it, and no sour tones.
The worst item I've had at Sarap was the Garlic Rice. I ordered this with the Daeng.
You can tell by the photo. Hard, dry rice; bitter burnt garlic, it was almost inedible. I brought half the daeng and almost all the rice back to the office. Folks would have one spoon of the rice and that's it…… I'm hoping this is just a "one-off".
Overall; I'm glad to have a place like Sarap in the area to go with Mariscos Miramar, giving us two good choices for lunch.
At the end of our last lunch; a very nice older woman came over chatted. I asked about Bicol Express, something specifically mentioned in the Eater post. I was told that the main chef, from the Phillipines, is starting this week. And he is supposed to make a mean Bicol Express. So, it looks like another visit will soon be in the books for me.
I'm hoping they can overcome all the timing and staffing issues before their Grand Opening.
Sarap Filipino Kitchen
7580 Miramar Rd
San Diego, CA 92126
Hours:
Open Daily 11am – 3pm, 5pm – 9pm
The woman working the front was quite friendly and when I asked about the name change, she smiled and said "don't worry, it's all the same people!"
I was kind of afraid of the "three scoops of rice", but it was a manageable amount. The rice was also decently cooked and fairly moist.
The kaldereta was pretty good, nice tanginess, mild beefiness, the meat fairly tender. It is by far the best item I've had here.
