“I first had Champ's (owner) food when he was doing pop-ups at Wolf Hollow Brewing Company in West Glenville. Now he has a brick and mortar restaurant of his own. For me, Filipino food is nostalgic. It brings back memories of home. I would venture to guess that Filipinos rival Italians in making food their love language.Champ does not disappoint. On the menu for tonight: Lechon Kawali, Lumpia, and Ube ice cream. It's a nice touch that Chee-Bog offers phonetic spellings of each of their menu items. Let's cut to the chase.Lechon Kawali - it's basically deep fried uncured bacon/pork belly, served with a lechon sauce (traditionally made with chicken liver, breadcrumbs, garlic, onion, brown sugar). The lechon is served with two ice cream scoops worth of white rice, a little fried garlic, and topped with quick pickled cucumber. If you like pork, this is guaranteed to make both you and your cardiologist happy.Lumpia - Filipino egg roll (pork and veggies) served with duck sauce and/or sawsawan (Filipino dipping sauce). Use the sawsawan for the lechon too.Ube ice cream - ube is a purple yam, one of the most Instagrammable ingredients due to its unique color. It lends a subtle sweet potato flavor to the ice cream. The riot of color and added crunch is provided by some Fruity Pebbles cereal.Filipino food is getting it's time in the spotlight now thanks to chefs like Champ as well as Chris Mauricio of Harana Market in Accord, NY.“
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“I first had Champ's (owner) food when he was doing pop-ups at Wolf Hollow Brewing Company in West Glenville. Now he has a brick and mortar restaurant of his own. For me, Filipino food is nostalgic. It brings back memories of home. I would venture to guess that Filipinos rival Italians in making food their love language.Champ does not disappoint. On the menu for tonight: Lechon Kawali, Lumpia, and Ube ice cream. It's a nice touch that Chee-Bog offers phonetic spellings of each of their menu items. Let's cut to the chase.Lechon Kawali - it's basically deep fried uncured bacon/pork belly, served with a lechon sauce (traditionally made with chicken liver, breadcrumbs, garlic, onion, brown sugar). The lechon is served with two ice cream scoops worth of white rice, a little fried garlic, and topped with quick pickled cucumber. If you like pork, this is guaranteed to make both you and your cardiologist happy.Lumpia - Filipino egg roll (pork and veggies) served with duck sauce and/or sawsawan (Filipino dipping sauce). Use the sawsawan for the lechon too.Ube ice cream - ube is a purple yam, one of the most Instagrammable ingredients due to its unique color. It lends a subtle sweet potato flavor to the ice cream. The riot of color and added crunch is provided by some Fruity Pebbles cereal.Filipino food is getting it's time in the spotlight now thanks to chefs like Champ as well as Chris Mauricio of Harana Market in Accord, NY.“