 San Francisco has been crowned the best city in America for Filipino food, but there's a debate going on. So let's see if the Filipinos on the internet agree. Yeah, long story short, Andrew there was a website called Price of Meat that showcased the best 20 best cities for Filipino food in America. The top 10 went SF, Chicago, LA, New York, Seattle, Las Vegas, San Diego, Honolulu, San Jose, and Houston in the top 10. The rankings were based on factors such as number of Filipino restaurants, food award nominations, presence of Jollibee fast food locations, and overall enthusiasm for Filipino cuisine and East Metro area. Andrew, this sparked a couple of debates in the comments section. Hyen versus Lowen, Homestyle versus Hipster Elevated Chef. What's for the community? What's not for the community? Does a certain immigration wave with a certain set of experiences get a gatekeep? Anything? All right, everybody, we're gonna get into it. Please hit that like button and check out other episodes of the Hot Pop Boys. We are getting into some Asian food talk. First of all, man, we've eaten at a lot of Filipino restaurants in our life. Filmed that a lot, enjoyed a lot. I would say... I think Filipino food is underrated. Yeah, I think it is underrated, and here's my thing, though. I do think it's funny that one of the metrics they used was number of Jollibees. Now, at first, I thought I was like, oh, that's an interesting metric to use because Jollibee is a Filipino chain, but it doesn't serve only Filipino traditional dishes, right? It's more, menu is more American-centric, right? Yeah, it's more like fried chicken centric, but then I guess it also goes to show, the number of Jollibees would go to show you how many Filipinos are in that area, I suppose, right? And how open people are to Filipino food in general. So I guess that's a metric that at first I didn't understand, but I get it now. Hey, shout out to Jollibees. They just opened up one in Alhambra. Delicious. Oh, and one in Times Square. So the reason San Francisco got it, Andrew, and a lot of people were debating, is it SF, is it Daily City, what's the difference? Is because they got the high-end, mid-end, and low-end. Obviously low-end, you know, we're talking about cafeteria-style, that can be good too, but really, realistically, I think there's a limit to it. Mid-end is where you see a lot of variants where you could be getting incredible deals, or it's just mid, right? Like mid in the mid-end. And then at the high-end, Andrew, in SF, they've got this place, Abaka, that is $4 signs. Andrew, let me just show you. Look, this is the Longanisa. It looks like the nicest yakitori you've ever seen in your life. Andrew, let's get this. No, it does look good. It looks good. What is that? I mean, look at the eggs, bro. Is that a pork pump right there? What is that? Dude, look at this babinka right here with fried breed cheese on top. Are those eggs? Yes, I don't know what it is, but it looks delicious. Andrew, I got some quick thoughts. I think that most people's exposure to Filipino food in America, even that are Asian-American, it's either through your Filipino friend's mom, some backyard barbecue that they got, got a bunch of Lumpia Shanghai and Tinfoil in the backyard, right? Or probably people have been to a seafood city cafeteria. Let's be honest, that food is not the greatest. It can get the job done, though. And then, of course, Jollibee's and maybe if you're in a really high Filipino zone area, Max's. Right. But would you say that that's, a lot of Americans haven't really had Filipino food, which can lead to a lot of misconceptions about how good or how good it is not. I mean, I would say a lot of Americans have not delved deep into the Filipino cuisine. It's true. Right. And also, maybe they've been to a spot one time that their friend took them to and it wasn't good. No, it's possible. You know, because to be honest, there's not that many Filipino restaurants in America, given the amount of Filipinos in America. There's like four million Filipinos. There's really not a high rate of restaurants. So it's possible that the one time you go to a restaurant, you know, you're not going to eat Filipino food all the time and then one time it's not that great. Maybe it wasn't that fresh. So then they don't have a good experience. Yeah, I think it's really changing a lot lately with like new immigration waves and different things going on. But that's even debated within the community. We're going to get to that. Andrew, do you think a lot of Filipinos have a pretty chill attitude about culinary representation? I don't think they necessarily put their self-worth into that lane. They're more worried about Rooji having representation in the clothing world or representation as a dancer or a rapper or a DJ. Yeah, yeah. No, I think from my Filipino friends and overall they all love Filipino food. They hold it dear to their heart, but I don't think that they're like, yo, I can only eat it every day. And it's the bed. And like I put all my self-worth in our identity. It's like that's just one part of the Filipino identity. I think the other part is like, obviously a lot of the family values and having fun and things like that and like being cool. And you know, to contrast it with being Chinese, Andrew, I think a lot of ABCs do put their self-worth in restaurant representation because I'll tell you this, it's probably not going to be there in the hip hop lane unless it's ASAP Eva selling Drake a chain and popular jewelry. Andrew, I see a similar arc with Chinatown, Toisan style, Southern Chinese food as well as Filipino food. They might be a little bit further behind in the timeline. You know how they're like, people used to love Hopkey in the 70s and now there's Potluck Club. People love Samboa and SF and now there's Empress Boon. People love Yang Chao for 30 years in L.A.'s Chinatown and now there's Bistro Nas. Things change with changing demographics, right? Yeah. And group identity is just so important and I think this is going to be really funny in the interesting comments section, Andrew. Some people that don't relate to these like really expensive Filipino spots like Habaca or there's a bunch of them, the spot in Chicago that has a Michelin star. You know what I mean? Like, should they go against it? Should they go for it? Or like they don't want to, you know what I mean? I think a lot of Filipinos have trouble considering it as Filipino food because usually it's, you know, it's given like French techniques. It's totally different. It's like super elevated and it's probably done with different like techniques from different cultures, right? Could be like a, you know, Japanese... Yakitori. Japanese-ized Filipino food. Now, is that Filipino food and what if it's hyperexpensive? What if it's like $150 a person? Like, can you even relate to that? Right, what happened to dollar hits? This is $250 hits. That's a lot more. That's $250 X on the math. All right, let's get into the comments section and see what people were saying. Somebody says, I swear to downvote. If anybody votes max restaurant as their number one choice in Los Angeles, I'm just telling you there's gotta be some other stuff. I'm telling you this, man. I really like maxes. No, I really like dollar beast. I like the Filipino chains from the Philippines. Listen, I understand because as a Chinese person, sometimes I think people are past the days of saying, yo, Panda Express is the best Chinese food I've ever had. But they might say like, oh, I just love like yang chow fried rice. Or I just love this. And they're like, I just love the super basic like, you know, Joe Shanghai, Joe Shanghai is good, but it's not like no Chinese person would say it's the number one Chinese restaurant. Right, would you say that it's ridiculous for ABCs to say that Din Tai Fung is the best? Cause Din Tai Fung is almost like an elevated Joe Shanghai. I don't know. It's tough. Yeah. The lines kind of get murky there. Yeah. Somebody said, hopefully you get to enjoy it safely. Nobody wants to go to San Francisco anymore for the safety reasons. So go ahead and just enjoy the food without me because I'm not going. Right. That's a commentary on how bad SF is getting. And then someone said, hey, when they say San Francisco, they really just mean daily city, right? Right. Because daily city is nearby San Francisco. It's part of the larger, I guess, it's definitely part of the Bay Area. Well, literally it's one city away, right? Right. Like it's South San Francisco and then daily city. Do you think they're actually including daily city or no? I actually think they are. Oh. I think they are. I don't know, but you know, Abaca, this like $4 spot for like rich Filipinos or rich tech bros or whatever. That's like in the city. Oh, okay. Yeah. Anyway, guys, like we said, man, it depends on like your own experience. I think sometimes Asian Americans, Andrew, we grow up in like a slice of our own culture, but we think that's the totality of our culture because we don't want to ever want to think that we only know the ear of the elephant. Right, right. I mean, I think a lot of people, they grow up eating their, you know, Lola's cooking and that is probably really good food to be honest, but then they compare every single other dish that they've ever had only to that. Right, right. And it's never going to beat your Lola's cooking on a per dollar cost base. No, because that was zero. Because she loves you and she's pouring love into the food. It's very hard to beat that food. But you know, Lola's also not running a restaurant. Somebody said, so is this trendy Filipino food or authentic? Because there's no way in hell Hawaii is that low with all the Filipinos we have here. Hawaii actually has more Filipinos than San Francisco. Lots of Filipinos, but not a lot of Filipino restaurants. Even Hawaii, they all cook at home. Someone said, fair point. The homemade potluck food is better than any Filipino restaurant at all. Oh, okay. I'm gonna say yes and no. I could see this being true for many decades, but I'm telling you in 2023, the way the diaspora is changing guys, like I would never do. Listen, I've been to a lot of Chinese restaurants, Andrew. Mom and dad ain't cooking on that level. No, no, no, no, no. Yo, someone was shocked that Chicago was ranked so high. David, was this three, did this throw you off? Cause I know the West Coast. I wouldn't have been surprised if it was LA or San Francisco or even Seattle in the top three. Obviously, Honolulu, but Chicago, the Midwest. You know what it is. You know what it is. They have this one restaurant called Kasuma that has got a Michelin star. And it's the only Michelin star restaurant in Michelin history. So. You mean it's only the only Filipino restaurant. So to this point about the previous comment, like we said, we got the homestyle crowd arguing against the Michelin or like James Beard award crowd. Right, right. And I'm just like, man, it's tough because I think they're both valid because if the chef is from the Philippines or the chef is Filipino American, it should still count within the canon of authentic Filipino food. Right. But it's like a different sector, but both sectors are valid. Somebody said no way Seattle beats Las Vegas, San Jose, or Honolulu. I'm going to argue against this, Andrew. This is all the photos of Filipino food you can get within like 10 minutes driving of our hometown. So as you can see here, Andrew, you got porqueta, you got malasada, you got ube pancakes, you got bistec. And then of course, as far as like ultra elevated stuff, Seattle has it too. But I do think this list to your point about Kasuma in Chicago, Andrew, is more weighted in favor of places that won awards. But who controls the awards? Right. And what's award winning? I mean a lot of obviously James Beard and Michelin they want to give awards to usually higher end restaurants fine dining. That's usually who they give it to versus the mom and pop spots that maybe their systems are really good or the food is really good, but maybe inconsistent. But for me, I'm more value what this guy named, whose name is James and he has a beard. I value his opinion more than James Beard. I think there's, I don't think it's, I don't think it's wrong for people to question those restaurants. But I do think. Because you have to value yourself, right? I do think you need to try some of them. And I do think if you love Filipino food, if you're Filipino or you're just someone who's, you're not Filipino and you love Filipino food and you have the opportunity to go to one of the best Filipino restaurants maybe, maybe in the world, right, given the ranking, then you should, you should try to go. And just so we can draw this to a more relatable level, Andrew, this argument's been going on in Chinatown for like the past decade or so, right? Like in terms of the old guard, like choice on people who built up Chinatowns, arguing maybe, like some people are with it, but some people go against a place like Potluck Club. But is it because a lot of people, when they think of fine dining, they don't see their culture in fine dining, right? Like some people don't- No, they can't imagine it, right? Some people don't see their cuisine or their type of food in a fine dining setting. And they're like, oh, well, if it's in a fine dining setting, it's probably for white people. Is that gatekeeping almost in a, not saying downward mobile way, but in a downward way, where you can't see your cuisine presented in an upward way? Or is it because the previous attempts to upwardize a cuisine have made it inaccessible or inauthentic? It's possible, man. You guys let me know in the comments down below what you think. I just think this, in 2023, the chefs are doing a better and better job of making it high-end while keeping it authentic. Somebody said, I don't even know what that means, but that sounds like a crazy comment. Somebody said, there's an opportunity for any entrepreneurial Phil Am folk to bring Filipino food in the masses. Filipino restaurants are underrepresented, given their population. Yeah, I do think there's a great opportunity, right? To bring it to the masses. And like I said previously, I think, you know, it's crazy to say, but like chicken adobo and lumpia are the best places to start. Yeah. I mean, I think there should be, I don't see if there's, is there a way to do that? I don't see if there's, is there an issue if there's more maxes? I love, I think maxes does a pretty good job. Obviously I love Jollabies too, but maxes obviously containing more traditional Filipino dishes. What if there was more maxes? Does that count? Cause that's very, that's a fast casual kind of, you can sit down, but it's not overly formal. But yeah, I mean, of course there's different layers. You've got the dollar hits, the skewers and everything. So I don't know. There's a lot to work with there. This is from a Filipino person who's doubting their own cuisine guys. Like I said, not my words. Somebody said, everybody can say their cuisine is one of the best, but is it really that good? Sri Lanka is going to say their food is good. Indonesia is going to say their food. Somalia is going to say that their food is good. Ireland is going to say their food is good. But look at it, good cuisine isn't defined by local people, but by the consumption of others. There are three main points where Chinese, French, Japanese, Thai and Italian food are the same because they look good, they taste good. And you can just pick randomly from the cuisine and find a good dish. Unfortunately, I just don't think the Filipino food has those three points. So this is somebody like Anna, you know, I guess loving being Filipino, but also being brutally, what they view as brutally harsh with their own people. Right, right, right. Yeah, I mean, we've been a whole video about why Filipino food is not more popular. You guys can watch it in the link down below. There was another comment. Finally, I'll end with this. And we're talking about how Filipino food is such a mixture of different things. It's a mixture of ancient Indonesian, maybe minus the spices. A lot of influence from Spain, a lot of influence from southern Chinese food, the Pacific Island specifically, the Hoken Fujian region of China. Right, right, right. And I think that that's what makes it so variable, right? When you have so many different influences, you could find a restaurant that leans more into the Spanish side, that leans more into the Chinese side, that leans more into the Filipino, Filipino like indigenous side. Exactly, exactly. I mean, I just think like, obviously Filipino food is gonna gain more and more popularity. I can already see it because I think things like Ube, are getting really popular. I think Lumpia has respect now. I think that there's definitely the things that are growing, but also like there does need to be kind of like a whole generation or a mass amount of people who want to cook food. Because I know there's a lot of Chinese chefs out there. There's a lot of Chinese people who know how to cook. They try to cook, they want to cook, right? So as long as you're gonna get, as long as you can increase that number of people who want to cook Filipino food, the Filipino food is gonna get even better. Yeah, and I think that people really gotta update their firmware pack because I'm telling you, I tried Filipino food 15 years ago, 20 years ago at my friend's house and I'm telling you where the restaurants are now, if you pick the right restaurants, you look at the ratings and you talk to people, it's fire. The food is fire. Andrew, long story short, how many like should new immigrants, should old immigrants from the 60s and 70s embrace the people who just came from the Philippines five years ago, maybe they're from a, they could be even be from a rich family, you know what I mean? They don't, I'm not saying they relate to them, but they gotta see experiences that's outside of the ones that they've grown up with around them in their circles as still valid too, right? I think it's because if you are respectful of the traditional culture or the country and what's happening in that country, then to some extent, you should be curious about what the international class is bringing over. You know, just like there's an international class of Chinese people that are also in, as they come over also bringing along a lot of chains from China. Now, this is not food that I grew up eating, but I'm like, oh, if this is what's going on in that country right now, then I'm at least curious about it. Right, you're talking about a hot boiling pot of like red Sichuan peppercorn, or like a Guokui, which is like a thin little flatbread, almost like a thin hot pocket from like Western, from the Western region of like Sichuan, you know? And that kind of stuff, I'm like, interesting because I'm like, oh, even though I don't immediately identify that as Chinese food, I'm like, well, it is Chinese food technically, so I'm gonna check it out. Do you think it is kind of for some people that don't come from that group, they're like scared of it or intimidating it, intimidated of it, or it's causing some like, them questioning their own identity? Because they're like, man, I thought I was the most Chinese guy. I know everything Chinese. I grew up eating Xiomai, I grew up eating these things. And then now there's like 7,000 other dishes that enter the lexicon and you're like, ah, I don't know, I gotta try those now. I don't know if I can. I don't know, man, you guys, I don't know how, I don't really have a good answer for that, but let me know in the comments down below what you guys think. Because like, I guess as Filipino food does get more popular, there's gonna be more super high-end elevated French trained hipster expensive Filipino restaurants that may or may not be for the community. And this is what people don't like. And I feel like a lot of Filipinos out there could probably agree with this, that they're like, I don't see those Filipino restaurants as for the community. Rooji goes there though. Rooji from Rooji. Maybe. Rooji, he hasn't posted. But that's the type he would go to. Maybe, yeah. Yeah, maybe. Yeah. I'll say this though, like, shout out to Kraken Kanji in Seattle, because I know that it's funny because Kanji comes from China originally, right? But it went and turned into Arroz Caldo in the Philippines and Kraken Kanji is a bunch of Filipinos that did some crazy dope stuff with Kanji. It's delicious. They got a whole thing going on in Seattle. So that's why I think Seattle deserves its place on the list. All right, everybody, let us know. If you agree with this list and what do you think about elevated high-end Filipino cuisine? If it tastes good and it reps well, then should it deserve it? Or maybe if it's not for the community, then it's not Filipino. I don't know. Let me end on this, guys. If you guys haven't tried a high-end version of your cuisine, try it out. Because, and recently we went to a Lao restaurant that I bought a $9 chicken thigh skewer at this Lao restaurant. Still run by a Lao chef, but I think he was, like, partially adopted. His name is Dom. Yeah, he... That was one of the best chicken thigh skewers I ever had in my entire life. It was good. All right, everybody, signing off. We are the Hot Pop Boys and until next time, we out. Peace.