Description
The flavors here are familiar and, depending on what side of L.A. you're from, possibly also unfamiliar: There's cornbread on the menu, but it's influenced by the bibingka, a Filipino sweet rice cake. The resulting cornbread bibingka is lighter and sweeter than the chunky, dense squares served on the side at American joints. The tri-tip is rubbed generously with coarse salt, pepper and garlic and onion powders and smoked for several hours, rendering a tender chunk of meat. The coconut beef has a wonderfully pronounced smokiness and a low, slow heat that lingers. If you get the pulled pork, which you should, also consider the cucumber salad to give it a crunch.
All of the portions are generous, especially for the price (most everything is around $10); for future reference, the inevitably leftover pork is really fantastic the next day in a sandwich.
