 What are some ways that Filipino food can be more popular in the United States, and is it gaining popularity right now? We're here with Filipino comedian and foodie Marcus Cardona to find out Can you please prove your validity to speak on this topic? And you are a former nurse you're a comedian right now, but you also what we're in the food game a little bit Yeah, I feel like I'm always floating in the food game. I'm at restaurants. I'm schmoozing with people I'm walking through kitchens. That's fine. I think that Filipino food is going through a renaissance in the past five years Cuz I just looked it up and there are so many new hipster Elevated Filipino spots of different varieties opening up in Andrew Seattle LA the Bay area New York Whoa all across America, but David why does it have to be elevated? Why can't it be traditional? I proved the accent. It's fine No, but let's talk about it because we we all love food we're all food lovers here I'm very interested in Filipino food eating it a lot growing up But like I want to know like because there's not a lot of Filipino restaurants for the amount of Filipinos in America This is statistically speaking so statistically speaking Filipino food is not that popular But let's talk about maybe why that is but also what are some just suggestions because you got some ideas Marcus Yep, Mark you that could be the Marcus Garvey of Marcus Garvey of Filipino food. What's up? So make sure you like subscribe and turning your notifications But on any type of food Andrew you could put small on it try small a lot guys It goes great on Filipino food as well, but yeah, check it out smaller sauce All right, what do you think of all the elevated spots that have opened up across America in the past five years? I'm sure you've been to what at least 10 20 of them. Yeah With the elevated Filipino food I think that the hardest thing is just the fact of trying to stick to the core but also like who the audience is because Again, we're trying to break a Filipino food out and we're trying to get like a big name like Bourdain or someone else to like endorse it Because we have like we have hip-hop stars We have like sweetie like being like I love Filipino food We have like p-lo going on food tours and whatnot and we have celebrity Filipino chefs But it's about getting like audience and like, you know clients to like who go to the restaurant to be like, you know Filipino foods the next thing right to make Filipino food consumption a more regular part of their consumption pattern, right? Yeah, and you that being said are you pro elevated spot? $20 long anises or a $20, you know dollar hit skewers or you're against it or you're 50 50 I'd say I'm 50 50 for sure like no matter what I want I do enjoy it like more money that goes to Filipino food goes back to the Filipinos So I'm just like yeah, what's up, especially the chefs are Filipino But at the same time I do want to see like I want to hear like white girls on the subway Just being like, you know, so I tried this can allow recipe the other day and like that's Like a like that's like the breakthrough where it needs to cross over into the main street Is Williamsburg picking it up or not yet? Not yet, man. I'm just like out there I'm like, I'm just gonna start like like littering like recipes Maybe it's gonna start more of as a bushwick thing. I don't know So we're going for volume of penetration versus like being like, oh my god I had a $38 adobo the other day. It was delicious. Yeah, people. Yeah people you can you can pack out restaurants But I want to see like someone's apartment and they just have lumpia like I'm like who made this I'm just like not the Philippine. Oh my god You want to see Trader Joe's do lumpia. Yeah, that could be possible I feel like I feel like you know girls have been eating the long anisa before that you've been eating the long anisa If you know what I'm saying like they've been on Filipino food, you know, God Y'all been over the Filipino dudes before food. Anyways, uh, let's let's talk about certain things that that Filipinos are killing it at right now and Obviously ube everywhere ube In green every dessert spot has a ube every I mean ethnic Sorry like Asian Asian II even if it's a East Asian dessert spot, they have ube like it's it's killing it The ube color is dope, but the flavor could be stronger for sure Dan, I believe that ube is like a state of mind, especially Especially especially when you're at like the Boba spots and you're like is this ube or taro I'm like, I can't tell you. No, it's true that the two roots don't taste that different. Yeah, yeah, I mean Kind of like a purple. Yeah, it's pretty similar. Anyways Um Does banana ketchup have a shot? I think or is it because it's kind of like a sweet ketchup You're talking about Jew friends. Yeah, Jew friends banana ketchup Does it have a shot at going mainstream mainstream or what do you think? I think yeah I think it definitely has a spot going mainstream We just need to tap into like the vegan market and we need to push like bananas harder We need to be like, hey if you eat you could eat regular ketchup or you can eat this banana ketchup and get more potassium or We got a market through a Potassium enriched ketchup already so other things that I really like from the Filipinos That I think should be more popular as a kanji, but then here's the thing about kanji, right? Kanji in itself is just not a popular dish Like that's not a cool dish that you want to eat at the restaurant when you're with your friends Yeah, right, but but Filipino kanji is lit. Yeah, our escaldo Lugau both those are great Like one sloppier ones that but we're talking about it earlier where it's just it just seems like slop because like when he gets plated It still comes out like a giant like no You know how you combat that as a modern chef in 2024 just a little plant All the microgreens And then you have to use the tweezers to lay it down and then it must be tweezed on but but kanji always does remind me of what Little Red Riding Hood or who's eating the porridge? That's how it feels I got a hot take Filipino kanji is my favorite version of kanji That's fair. That's fair. Not wrong. I think I think lumpia arguably the best egg roll I think it's I think viet egg roll gives it a run for its money So I might take the viet egg roll, but it's close lumpia is close the so lumpia egg roll everybody Loves egg rolls. So that's that's going more mainstream. I see people. It was like a Lucia's egg roll out in Seattle They I mean sorry Lucia's lumpia out of Seattle. They're like just a lumpia spot Filipino Hawaiian breakfast spots That's that's a genre. You've seen also proliferate in the past five ten years. Yeah, the the combination Yeah, you can get some what's the what's the loco moco? You can get the loco moco alongside like a topsy log or anything like that any of the breakfast is Because garlic rice can be the base for anything. Yeah. Yeah, garlic rice is really good. What can Filipino food? Be a breakfast food like a legit breakfast food in 2024. What do you think in 2024? Yeah, if you're trying to involve more meats and like fish because I think that Fish for breakfast and meats, especially like sausages. I'm like we should have like just instead of Indians like taking over England We should have been there, but it's fine We got sausages But I'd say that it's just how much meat do you want to have in your breakfast because yeah, we got the egg We got the crispy egg the same tie crispy egg that you like with the with the edges We got that we got the garlic rice, but it's like just depending on what meat you want to go with sausage beef or fish Seasick spots. I've been seeing a lot of seasick elevated, you know more hipster looking 2024 looking seasick spots pop up. Yep. Yeah some seasick seasick I'm happy that it's still going because we're all coasting off the ghost of Anthony Bourdain with seasick He gave he gave he gave seasick the gas and we're just running with it as long as possible You know what the strength of seasick though is and I'm not gonna lie. It's not my favorite Filipino dish I don't love it but the presentation is cool too because not not that many other Filipino dishes in my Experience come on the grill plate. Oh, yeah in sizzling where it's it people love sizzling things Yeah, fajitas. Yeah, forget about it seasick when it came out on the gas tires seasick fajitas Oh, okay. Yep. I'll give you the push these four dollar spots trust bay oxen tiger in san francisco We're talking about like potentially the bill per person's like 175 if you have drinks What are you buying it? Are you buying the are you going with a price point for 75 drinks? I'm like, oh, who's there? What celebrity? That's kind of it's it's like a social flex But like honestly, this is like more expensive than a lot of restaurants in the Philippines. Yeah, it's hard to spend 200 on a meal And yeah, I'd say that's like the big thing That's hard also with elevated dining because like I've had good food on like a nice plate But also at the same time some of the best like Filipino spots I've gone to they're like tita's name It's like glorious and it's like served in like a metal sheet tray like a lunch style And it's hard when you've eaten good at that price point And then you have to like justify like well, this is a smaller portion And it's like a little bit of the taste are you spending $20 on this on the fig slice with the fig slice? Oh, bro Ah, dude, it's like dude. I feel like the meme. I'm like, yeah, we got figs at home Um, all right, so I do want to get into I think that uh, I want to get into like Brainstorming some suggestions on on ideas because you got some interesting ideas for Filipino food Let's talk about those. What is your number one idea that you think could pop that more people should do That has not been done yet or because even uh, shout out to flipsy. They're doing what long anisa burritos and things like that American at western Tex-Mex, but with Filipino, right? But you have got an idea that nobody got right now Yeah, so I think that right now everyone knows like, you know sandwiches all over and I think Asian Like dining has also crossed over like the banh mi that's been super popular for years But recently like the Thai scallion Sandwiches that have been crossing over in the breakfast sandwich like with eggs and sausages have been crossing over with the Thai sausage in it Yeah, with the song. Yeah. Yeah, that's been in there. Um, I think yeah, Filipinos We got to figure out a sandwich that is like marketable like overall because I think that we have so many good flavors Is it an ube bun or you're like, no, no, no, we can't do the ube bun. No, dude They they have a they have a there's a there's a place called pogey boys in dc They got a ube burger and I made the cover it was purple purple sandwich and never Okay, so Describe to me the sandwich. Is it using slices of bread? Is it using a baguette like a bun mi? I feel like the baguette's not a bad move because you could always do like a filipino bun mi Yeah, even though you haven't seen this Yo, I didn't know it was like that. It's like super purple. Yeah Yo, okay, so is this is this the way to go where you think, you know, obviously your average american They probably can't get down with the yeah, I think we need it I think we need to figure out like the the sandwich choice because I'm like we were doing we're making progress with burritos But at the same time everyone's like, oh, that's latino like everyone's just like It's just a burrito filled bun like we need to make our own like unique sandwich I think that that's going to be the big game changer Especially with like all the pickle like again the bun mi has like pickled like ingredients Like some kind of like braised meat with like a pickled like vegetable in there I have been still a proponent and this is my perspective on it Of a chain from the filipines like mung anisal, which is owned by jalabi's group or I don't know if they bought it out or they created it Serving lumpia mung anisal, which is the the chicken thigh with the lemongrass, right and um just those two things What do you think of that and that that could break open the market because everybody can be like Yo, I grew up eating mung anisal But it needs to be rebranded as like chicken thigh filipino chicken thigh and then lumpia I'm talking about like out of ton of spots around america. Yeah. No, I definitely think that that's like a specific Market that could have hit like a couple years ago like way back in the day But now like I feel like everything is like you can adjust everything on a menu Like there's like a certain catering for like the food market that you're tapping into now Or just like every like little part needs to be like customizable What are the parts that should be customizable to localize filipino food to different markets? So for lumpia I think that you just need to have all the options because like we've talked about a little bit about how people are like Oh, everyone makes lumpia differently and like different like you know provinces have certain things but I think is having options of one now just base flavor but also like Ingredients which is like what's the protein because is it me? Is there vegetable? Is there tofu? Is it okay to do a cheeseburger lumpia with a cheese dip? Is that a violation? Is that is that a red flag? I know I've had I've had lumpia with cheese in it and I'm gonna be honest It did disappoint but I could like if you execute it, right? I'd be fine with it. I feel like that's fine All right, so Marcus got the burger idea I understand what she said the sandwich idea I got my idea, which is uh, just you know Rock with some chains from Asia, but just like change the marketing all around Andrew, I think Filipinos I feel like the longanisa as a sausage has a shot Because it's even more popular. It's sweet. So I think you could put it in a And a breakfast sandwich or something like that. Definitely. I think that that Filipino breakfast sandwich could be trending more One thing I would say is maybe oh longanisa glizzies Cream cheese longanisa glizzies, yes longer glizzies La glizzies um, I would say maybe like uh Like a noodle soup. I'm like adding noodles to a synagogue maybe You know because synagogue is a is a good soup and it's kind of picking up a little bit more in popularity But I don't know is it wrong to put noodles in it egg noodles I don't know. I think that would be cool because Filipinos. They don't really have a popular noodle soup I don't know people like noodle soups like pho I don't know. Okay. Yeah, just an idea. That's a hot take. That's a hot take You know, all right, all right other hot take add some spice Filipino food is not spicy at its core Let's be honest I don't see a lot of red chilies and it's the the chilies are not usually Infused in so that's what I think should happen because I'm like looking at Thai food Thai food is amazing And I do think you got to take some cues from Thai people because their food is killing it Yeah, Thai people taking over Shout out to your fate. Oh, yeah, talk about how much you like Thai food though. Because just just like Okay, do I love do I love Thai food? I like Thai food because it may like white people are hype about it. So that's why I like Thai food But Thai food, I think you want to be the Thai food Is that what you're saying? White people love Thai food that's at some point now it's gonna cross over and like Thai food is a white person thing But no Thai food. I think that they've introduced like a lot of like more like they've definitely pushed like a combination of flavors They've definitely crossed it over with like seafood and like other meats mixing because I think that's like the big barrier Um, but also, yeah, I'm telling you guys now. Jao is going to take over everything for sauces. That sauce is going to be everywhere Oh jaew yeah, it's a strong sauce man What what do you think about The challenge foods that Filipinos have kind of like the belute in the dinner guan Where do you think that kind of promoting those sometimes puts people off of Filipino food because when they think of Filipino food Now they're thinking all belute what you guys only eat the fertilized duck egg and you're like, no, no, no That's just part of it. But it should you guys still promote it? Yeah, I think I think that that should be like one of the like secret menu items We shouldn't like have it printed on the menu like you had to ask for it Um, it is weird because like literally it's that's that's the challenge food It was a challenge on joe rogue or on fear factor Um, and it it does kind of like set people back because they're like, oh If they're willing to eat this texture then like what what other things are off limits, right? I think I definitely think it like hurts When having it on a menu, but at the same time Joe challenge challenge the real ones like have that as like a late night You have to be there at like a certain amount of hours and then you can order only order at this time and be like Oh, no, that guy's a real one. Should every Filipino parent before a non-asian marries into the family They should have them eat the belute. I feel like oh you want to marry my daughter. You have to eat three balloons I definitely think it's I definitely think it's a weird like challenge It's like it's like you just want to see if they're down for the culture and that's the most down You can be besides uh marrying Real quick Filipino bakeries. We got kora hoods famous in Seattle every city got Ube cookies ube donuts calamansi this calamansi that Yep, dude Filipino bakeries have all like low-key always been on the top that they're the reason why ube is so popular They're the reason why pandesal like it gets brought up as like its own bread category like and Like no matter what like asian bakeries are there, but like there is something comforting because it's always tithas Who are working there about You know other other asian bakeries such as like a paris baguette using ube. Are you it's cool. Um, I'd get the past I'd be cool again. You got to just like know like the recipe But if you made if you made a baguette with ube, yeah, send me like five giant like purple like logs like send that Because i'm like, yeah, if you use ube, I needed to look like you killed barney and just send me parts You know what I had was fire was The red ribbon. I think it was red ribbon empanada. Yeah, the Filipino empanada with the raisins in it Yeah, the raisins in the empanada Because this now this is we're talking about the spanish side, but this is something I think Well, it's hard to say because everybody a lot of different Countries have their empanadas, right? So, uh, but yeah, the Filipino empanada is underrated for sure Yeah, shout out your favorite modern Filipino spot and then maybe just one old school spot the tita spot And then you know the young cool hipster everybody's wearing al d Whatever whatever spot. Um, okay, so uh for the hipster ones that are currently in place is gonna be uh Probably it's gonna probably be cabasera cabasera is great. Like they definitely have like their crossovers. They're definitely trying out some Filipino romans I know that and I like definitely was like, oh you should try this But I think that they've definitely been there in terms of like making sure that even the coffee has like ube in it Like the ube latte is popping off right now and I'm like they're always like in like the realm of like old school and new school um I don't think this place is open anymore But it was uh tita gloria's in queens that used to be a spot And that was again that was the steam tray Like I was like I got flirted with every time I was there I tipped way more than I should have uh, but it was fine and again like that place like Customer service fine, but food ripped. So I didn't care about customer service. And then uh, I'd say for upcoming uh Spots like the one that like leading ones right now and it was mentioned in the bear on fx kasama in chicago kasama Is like I think that they yeah, they're they're definitely like it to get us in the in the foodie world more Um, and I think that they are definitely like figuring out what we should be doing Um, I'll go there one time For me, I'm gonna go with google room in new york for my elevated pick I recently had a rose caldo there crazy was the best congee I ever had in my life And then for my old school spot, I would pick um air one air one In uh woodside or just in general, uh had an la maxis. Oh, yeah You know, I don't want to pick a a chain, but yeah, no, no, no You know philippines new no fried chicken if you guys don't if you guys are on jollybee low learn about maxis Yeah, yeah, that's my andrew you have an elevated and then a homestyle pick um I think I do like cabecera. I think actually there Any time somebody Asked me about like oh, I need to do catering for my office or this work event I'm like, yo, you should get lumpias from cabecera. Those lumpias are really good I think they're my favorite in new york area at least minhatten. Um, and then uh Spoon and pork. Oh spoon and pork is pretty. Oh spoon and pork in la. Yeah. Yeah. They're good. That's elevated So shout out to them. That's really good. Um, I'm uh, I'll pick those two For sure for sure. Well, anyway guys, let us know what you think about our philipino food Talk in the comments section below I think the biggest question for me is like, are you guys going to the spots where it's like 70 80 90 dollars a person? Yeah for philipino food. Yeah, and also do your 70 80 spots have uh, belut And i'm gonna say this Filipinos know to be very hospitable people And I think like that means you I mean you could sell people on the service too because you know The hospital like yeah, well, I don't know. What if you had a a restaurant with like a nurse theme? I'm just I would need to call you bossing when you come in Mem sir, mem sir If trader joe's releases the the the cold meal of the mong anisal with the side of garlic rice or lumpia shanghai in a bag It's going bananas. No, I'm don't doubt them. Don't doubt that they don't already have it I know they have a ube ice cream. Yeah, they got ube everything Anyways guys, uh, let us know what you think about this video in the comments down below We were just having a fun conversation about philipino food. How can it be more popular? It is gaining traction. It is gaining more popularity. Are you going to the expensive elevated spots? Let us know shout out to marcus. Uh, check out his stuff down below. He's a comedian But also a foodie. So, uh, thanks so much for watching and until next time we out