Kamayan Feast At Casa Manila

Eating with your hands, sans cutlery. Millions of people around the world do this on a daily basis, but it’s not a common practice here in North America, unless, you visit an ethnic restaurant. One of those restaurants is Casa Manila, where I was given the opportunity to partake in their Kamayan style dinner.

Owner Mila Nabor-Cuachon

We were hosted by owner, Mila Nabor Cuachon, who filled the night with many stories from her childhood, the influences to her dishes, the rich history of the Philippines, and, stories about her own personal journeys. We also learned quite a lot about the food from this 7,107 island nation. A lot of the more popular dishes has their roots in the cuisines of Indonesia, Malaysia, China, Spain, Mexico, Hawaii, and even the United States.

Casa Manila isn’t the only restaurant in Toronto offering this style of dining, but it is one that offers more traditional/authentic fare. The menu is extensive, but we were there to experience their Kamayan feast.

For a Kamayan, the table is lined with banana leaves, which is your plate, so no handbags were allowed on the table. This is a disgusting practice anyway, so ladies, please stop doing it.

I got there late because I was spending time participating in Toronto’s favorite pastime: sitting in traffic! I was having so much fun I missed the adobo popcorn, which I heard was quite tasty. I started off my night with a San Miguel Pale Pilsen, one of the most popular beer in the Philippines.  We were also offered Sarsi (root beer), but seriously, who chooses root beer after sitting in rage inducing traffic?

San Miguel Beer & Sarsi Root Beer

After some more stories from Mila the food started arriving. First up were the appetizers.  Appetizers before a belly busting meal isn’t a good idea, trust me. We had Sinigang Baka, a beef soup flavoured with tamarind which made it sour, but in a really good way. Next was Chicaron Manok,  or, as we westerners call it, deep fried chicken skin! The skin was topped with adobo seasoning, pickled green papaya and served with garlic aioli. Lumpia Shanghai followed, which was similiar to a regular spring roll but with more of a meat filling.

Chicaron Manok

Sinigang Baka

Casa Manila has a line of house made Filipino cooking sauces which we got to try with some of their chicken skewers. The flavours are  Creamy Coconut Ginataan, Savoury Peanut Sauce Kare Kare and Adobo.

Chicken skewers

Just as we finished, a gong sounded in the background and platters of food began emerging from the kitchen, this was what I came for! Long platters filled with thinly sliced grilled beef ribs, chicken skewers, chunks of crispy pork belly, and at the center, a fried tilapia with it’s sides filleted and spread before being deep fried. This gave it the fish the look of having wings which is why it’s called the Flying Tilapia.  The meal wasn’t all protein.  All of this meat was accompanied with three different types of rice: white rice, brown rice, and my favorite, garlic rice. You definitely needed something to help cut through all this rich food and the two salads: green mango and papaya certainly helped do that.

Tons of food in this Kamayan

I have a healthy appetite. Hell, I’m a member of The Belly Monsters, but the amount of food was overwhelming. I have to admit that after many attempts to clear out my plate (leaf) I had to tap out. Here’s the aftermath of the feast surrounded by some defeated bloggers.

The remains of the Kamayan feast, we didn’t do too badly.

No real Filipino meal is complete without some halo halo for dessert. Halo halo is basically a tall glass that’s filled with shaved ice and then topped with various sweet beans, coconut, jackfruit, sweet yam, evaporated milk and  ice cream.  In keeping with the theme at Casa Manila, their halo halo comes in a massive glass bowl filled to the brim with all the ingredients.  It’s quite a sight to behold. After the obligatory blogger photos, the staff at Casa Manila then jumped right in and mixed everything together before serving.

Mixing all the ingredients together

If you’ve never been to Casa Manila, I suggest you go visit.  Not only is the food delicious, but having a Kamayan feast is quite the experience.  Mila is an amazing host whose goals are to serve traditional Filipino fare, teach you about the history of the dishes and also prepare these dishes in a healthy way. You’ll leave with a full belly and knowing more about the Philippines that you’d ever imagine.

** DISCLAIMER **: I was invited to Casa Manila along with a group of other bloggers for this complimentary meal.  Even though the meal was free all the opinions expressed are my own, except the part about me enjoying traffic. That was pure sarcasm.