I feel like I hardly eat Filipino food nowadays. I don’t live at home anymore so I don’t have that wonderful luxury of my mom making fried rice and spam in the morning, and it’s also not the healthiest thing for you but who’s counting calories anyway??

I grew up in National City and Filipino food was EVERYWHERE! You would think there would be a ton in Los Angeles, but it’s not true. They exist, but they’re not as abundant as they are in San Diego. So I’m always excited when I find a great spot for Filipino food. I wish I could find more cafeteria style ones like Tita’s Kitchenette on Plaza Blvd, but these cute restaurants will do!

LA Rose Cafe is a super cute spot in East Hollywood. It’s Filipino af. I walked in and I thought I walked into my grandma’s house (which is a good thing btw). The owner was so nice and friendly. Lmao he even asked me if I was a nurse because the restaurant is located where three major hospitals are. He also recommended us to try the ube cheese rolls and chicken empanadas. Chicken empanadas were bomb and the ube cheese rolls blew my damn mind! They were so good. If my heart wasn’t already set on tosilog, I would have only ordered those.

My cousin, Angelo, ended up getting the tosilog and I decided to wild out on some sisig despite the fact I have a half marathon in a week but yolo right??? I also almost left out the best party- bottomless calamansi juice! It was perfect- not too sweet and not too sour. I have honestly never drank so much juice in my life haha.

I’m sure there’s more bomb Filipino food spots in LA! What’s your favorite?