By Lindsay Anderson

Special to The Post

 

I recently stumbled upon Casa Pinoy, a Filipino restaurant located on a stretch of Bridgeport Road that’s largely industrial. 

The restaurant is run by a couple, and in addition to their Filipino dishes they offer burgers, pastas, and various other western-style plates.

Apparently they cater regularly to the surrounding businesses with orders for delivery and takeout.

I ordered a homemade empanada ($1.50), because who can say no to a homemade empanada?

Well, I guess vegetarians could, as the only ones on offer were chicken and beef.

I went with the chicken, and enjoyed the contrast of savoury ground filling with the flaky, slightly-sweet crust.

They’re such darling, delicious little packages.

On the recommendation of my server, I also had the Relyenong Bangus ($10.99), a national dish of marinated and stuffed milkfish served with rice and vegetables.  Milkfish is the most typical fish in Filipino cuisine, and is often eaten for breakfast.

The owner explained that because it takes a long time to prepare, Relyenong Bangus is typically eaten by Filipino families during special occasions; the entire fish must be de-boned, then the meat is mixed with chopped carrot, pepper, potato, peas, soy sauce, and raisins before being stuffed back into the fish.  It’s marinated in the juice of a lemon called kalamansi, then baked until the skin is dark and crunchy.

The flavour of the cooked fish was both sweet from the raisins and savoury from the soy sauce, and had a texture similar to cooked tuna.  With the rice and sautéed fresh vegetables, it was a fantastic meal, and one that didn’t weigh me down.

Which was helpful because I needed room for dessert!

Any flan fans out there?  If so, you must try Casa Pinoy’s Leche Flan; it tastes so bad for you, and is therefore wicked good.

It was creamy, richly caramelized, and sweet.

It’s a completely decadent way to end a meal, and just a warning: unless you’re the world’s biggest fan of flan, one slice can easily feed 2-3 people. It is rich.

Though the service was a little slow, I felt welcomed and comfortable inside Casa Pinoy.

 

Lindsay Anderson is dining out at 365 Richmond eateries in 365 days for Tourism Richmond. The Asian Pacific Post is featuring excerpts from her blog each week. See www.365daysofdining.com for Anderson’s blog.

 

Casa Pinoy Restaurant

11911 Bridgeport Road, Richmond BC 

Tel: 604-276-0201

Cash and cards accepted

Vegetarian options available