Restaurant Review: Sisig's Filipino Take Out in Suisun City, California

There is a special place in my heart for Filipino cuisine. When I lived on the East Coast it was very hard to find quality Filipino food because most "Asian" restaurants only served lumpia and pancit. Those are the two most requested foods from non- Filipinos, along with adobo chicken.

But after moving to northern California, the story has changed. There's a Filipino food store/ restaurant on every major street in my town! Another town down the road, Vallejo, has a strip mall dedicated to just Filipino groceries, restaurants, wares and such. It was like my childhood had returned!

After getting over the shock of how much Filipino food was available for my stomach, I finally found a favorite restaurant to get my fix: Sisig's take-out in Suisun City.

Sisig's opened a few months ago on a street off of Highway 12 at 303 Lawler Center Drive. They are part of a multi-faceted strip mall called Seafood Center-much like the one in Vallejo- that sells Filipino groceries and fresh seafood. There is also a Filipino bakery and a center where you can send money back to relatives in the Philippines as well as send care package. Sisig's is the nucleus of this strip mall. The cafeteria style is perfect for those who want to grab quality meals for lunch or dinner with limited time for consumption.

I noticed in my first two trips to Sisig's that they don't serve just the usual Americanized Filipino food. Sisig's gets down and dirty, serving its namesake- a meal made of chopped pig snout, onions, spices, pig liver over rice. If you don't pay attention to the ingredients of sisig, you're in for a mouthwatering blast. They also serve Kari Kari, a meal made out of ox tail, boiled squid, dried n' fried tilapia, and shikabobs of cured meat.

If that's too down and dirty for you, don't worry. Sisig's offers up some decent pancit and honestly the best lumpia in a 30 mile radius from my house. There are typically a dozen options when it comes to picking what you want for lunch at Sisig's. The only food I've had there that fell out of favor with me was the boiled squid, simply because it wasn't fresh and got mushy. Other than that, I am in love with the dried tilapia!

Service is generally friendly and warm, but I suggest you go during lunch instead of dinner. People eating at lunch usually know what they want when they walk through the door. During dinnertime, however, you may run into that occasional couple who examine each and every meal before choosing the pancit and lumpia anyway. This can be frustrating, in addition to Sisig's sometimes running out of your favorite food by the afternoon. Every once in awhile the restaurant can seem overwhelmed with the amount of people coming in to eat. This may have to do with the newness of the restaurant because every time I go for a meal the service improves regardless of the crowd size.

There's no boredom in the meals, either, because several will change out daily due to availability and what the cooks decide they want to make. The servers have no problem letting you know when's the best day to pick up fresh adobo pork, another customer favorite.

Pricing is the part you can't beat at Sisig's. For $4, you can get steamed rice, pancit and one of the dozen options available. Your steamed rice and pancit are typically more than you can stomach and worth the price of admission alone! For another dollar more you can add a second side. If you aren't into combos, you'll have to inquire about individual pricing because the meals change daily.

For dessert, Sisig's offers several Filipino treats such as banana wraps, puto (sweetened sticky rice), and my all-time favorite called halo-halo. Halo-halo is a dessert made of ice, coconut milk or sweet cream, ube ice cream, shredded coconut, and another assortment of sweet fruits. If made with shaved ice, halo halo is an absolute dream for the tummy, but most restaurants like Sisig's use crushed ice. However, Sisig's amps up their halo-halo with quality ingredients that don't taste like they come out of a mix jar.

If you ever get an itch for some fresh Filipino cuisine, I would highly recommend Sisig's. I've been going for months and haven't regretted it once! It's easy to get to, doesn't take long to get served and you can have a new experience each time you visit. You can order platters if you'd like to serve their cuisine for a party. Heck, you can order a whole roasted pig if you want!