Max's of Manila - Waipahu, Hawaii

I had only planned to shop at Pacific Market for some vegetables, but ended up in Max's of Manila, eating Filipino food for nearly an hour. 

I'm not too familiar with Filipino food, except for lumpia, pancit, and adobo.  But tonight, I had a lot of first time foods that I can't remember all the names to, such as the soup I ordered.   I think it started with an S and for sure it had an M in it.  It was also two words.  It's a tamarind based soup with shrimp and vegetables in it. I would order it again from the menu.

Let me know if you know what the name is because I can't remember.  I had to point at the picture.  It looked good, so I chose it.

D ordered pork knuckle, which I think is called crispy pata according to my friend.  I was a bit hesitant when I heard it was pork knuckle since I had an image in my head about what it might look like, but once the food came out, it looked fantastic.  I tried a couple pieces and enjoyed it.  It was fried on the outside and tender on the inside. 

I also had dessert tonight.  I ate halo-halo with ice cream.  It was my first time eating halo-halo and  I don't know what to make of it.  There was a scoop of ube ice cream on top of shaved ice with milk, sweet beans, and pieces of hard jello.  I am pretty sure I ate a couple strips of coconut and mango, but I wasn't too sure what I was eating at times.  It looked like nothing in the picture I pointed to when I ordered it.  That's the only way I can describe it ... I've seen halo-halo at other places, so I am sure it must be different depending on where you go.  According to my friend, there's much better halo-halo across the street, so sometime down the road, I'll venture out there to try it again.

You tell me, does this desert look anything like the picture in the menu (top left)?

Out of the few Filipino restaurants I've eaten at, I would  go back to Max's of Manila without hesitation.  I didn't think I was a big fan of Filipino food  because out of all the things I've tried so far that I didn't like, but I realize that it really depends on where you eat that will make a difference in your experience. Tonight, I realize I do like Filipino food and there's much more that I need to try.  I just haven't had a lot of it at the right places.

I always heard Max's of Manila was a good place to eat Filipino food at, so i'm happy that I ventured out to a new restaurant tonight.  It's always fun to explore new foods and I'm glad I found another restaurant to enjoy.

When I first walked in to the restaurant, I noticed there were a lot of people inside and outside the restaurant, waiting to be seated.  I knew it was a sign of good food.  Yes, the service is slow in Max's of Manila, so be warned.  But the food is excellent, so it was worth the wait.

Next time, I may want to try some other interesting things ...  One of them is the green mango drink.

Until next time ..