Filipino restaurant and bakery Kumare opens turo-turo-style express location in East Vancouver

    1 of 3 2 of 3

      Despite the sizeable Filipino Canadian population in Metro Vancouver, the number of Filipino eateries in Vancouver have remained limited, and we've lost a few over the years like Galing Galing, Goldilocks' Broadway location (which relocated in Burnaby), and Rekados.

      However, some new ones have arisen to meet demand. One such as example is Kumare Restaurant and Bakery, which has expanded its reach in the Lower Mainland.

      With locations in Richmond (8130 Park Road) and Delta (100–8047 120th Street), the seven-year-old local restaurant launched Kumare Express at 5183 Joyce Street (near the Joyce-Collingwood SkyTrain station) on January 14. It's a petite shop, with only 700 square feet and seats for 16 people.

      That's because it's based on the turo-turo style of Filipino eateries. Turo means to point in Tagalog. Manager Liza Muyco explained to the Georgia Straight by phone that it's a grab-n-go concept: you point at the dishes you want in the display cases for fast service or take-out, rather than ordering à la carte.

      The Joyce Street menu is a condensed version of their other locations.

      However, this new location does serve breakfast all-day, with combos with garlic rice, egg, and tomato salad such as longsilog (pork sausage), tapsilog (cured beef), tocilog (cured sweet pork), and bangsilog (baby milkfish).

      There's also soup, including chicken or beef mami (egg noodles in broth) as well as congee, such as arroz caldo (chicken) or goto (beef tripe and tendon).

      For noodle-lovers, options include palabok (thick noodles with shrimp, tofu, and ground pork), miki-bihon (stir-fried egg noodles with shrimp, pork, Chinese sausage, and vegetables), sontanghon (stir-fried corn-starch noodles with shrimp, pork, black fungus, and vegetables), and more.

      Kumare Restaurant and Bakery

      There are plenty of desserts and pastries to choose from, including sago gulaman (tapioca and gelatin with brown syrup), buko pandan (coconut, pandan jelly, and cream), mamon (sponge cake), cassava cake, and more.

      Their version of halo halo includes mixed beans, gelatin, coconut, banana, sweet potato, ice cream, and leche flan.

      Muyco said that they've discontinued their previous Thai dishes but will be soon introducing some new Thai dishes on their menu. She added that they also take orders for Filipino-style whole roasted lechon (pig).

      You can follow Craig Takeuchi on Twitter at @cinecraig or on FacebookYou can also follow the Straight's LGBT coverage on Twitter at @StraightLGBT or on Facebook.

      Comments