Casa Manila Toronto Filipino Restaurant Review

(scroll down for Chinese/ 中文版看下面)

Are you a fan of Asian food? Does a box of Chinese Fried Rice or Pad Thai takeout sound good to go with all your Netflixing on weekends? Maybe add a box of Lumpia or Kung Pao Chicken to the order. In Asian Cuisine, the not so secretive secret recipe ingredient that always makes you “thirsty for more”  is called MSG. I left Casa Manila Filippino Restaurant Toronto without that thirst.

Casa Manila Toronto Filipino Restaurant buffet

“Nature to Nurture,” is Casa Manila’s slogan and they stress on not adding MSG or any powder to their food.
The restaurant business in Toronto isn’t easy. New restaurants pop up all the time, but less than 20% of them survive over 5 years. Casa Manila has been around since 2010.

Chinese(中文)：
現在多倫多越來越多外國人愛吃中國菜及亞洲菜。一份外帶的揚州炒飯或泰式炒麵再外加一份宮保雞丁或菲律賓炸春捲已成為很多人週末在家配電視的好選擇。亞洲料理中不太秘密的秘密武器叫做「味精」。味精含有可以增強其他風味的活性物質，幫食物添加更多風味，讓料理更美味容易入口。甚至讓食用者「一發不可收拾」，越吃越多。後果可能就是口乾舌燥。我離開多倫多Casa Manila菲律賓餐廳時，並無此徵兆。「Nature to Nuture (自然培育))是Casa Manila餐廳 的口號。他們自稱食物中不使用任何味精或「粉」狀類調味精。
多倫多雖然愛吃鬼多，但是步調也快，生意隨步調起起落落，翻新率高。在多倫多開餐廳不簡單，能夠生存超過五年的少於20%，比熬過癌症復發期還難。Casa Manila 於2010年創始，至今已8年，算是過了安全期。
Of the 45 countries I’ve been to, The Philippines is sadly, not one of them on the list. One can get a mini-tour to the Philippines upon entering this restaurant. Each booth is designed to represent a region of the Philippines. The only things missing are the sun and the beaches. Casa Manila blends culture influences that have shaped The Philippines in history including Austronesian, Indian, Maharlika, Chinese, Mexican, Hawaiian, American, and even Taiwan cuisine, into its menu, making the menu probably the one that offers the most extensive variety of Asian food I’ve ever seen. The menu is also friendly to people with dietary restrictions and preferences (not to say allergy-free).
Chinese (中文)：

殘編走過45個國家，菲律賓很遺撼的不是其中之一。但是我在Casa Manila 瞄到了一絲菲律賓風情。老闆將包箱坐位設計成代表菲律賓各個不同的區域。只差沒有暖心的陽光及美麗的海攤。
這裡的菜單加入曾經影響過菲律賓的各國飲食原素，因此有很多選擇。菲律賓飲食文化因此涵蓋許多國家的文化歷史，包括印度、中國、台灣、美國、墨西哥、夏威夷、甚至台灣。（咦，是「寧可錯殺一百」的心態嗎）？有特殊飲食偏好的朋友，在這裡也可以找到可以吃的東西（但並不適合過敏者喔）。
During the buffet, Casa Manila offers the following items:ＣＡＳＡ ＭＡＮＩＬＡ吃到飽的用餐時間包含以下菜色:

• Spring rolls (Lumpia Shanghai)

Spring rolls come in the option of chicken or vegetables. We thought it could use a bit more crisp.
菲律賓春捲有雞或素得選項，我們覺得翠一點會更好吃。

• Chicken Chopsuey (Sapsuy)Chicken Chopsuey are chicken chopped into pieces and cooked with broccoli, carrots, celery And chayote

這道是碎雞肉跟花椰菜、紅羅蔔、芹菜和佛手瓜ㄧ起煮出來的料理

• Bicol Express (Bagoong at Gata)
  Bicol Express tastes a bit like Thai curry with its coconut ginger sauce and shrimp paste.

這道是用椰子薑醬和蝦醬一起料理的，吃起來像泰式咖哩。

• Coconut ginger vegetables (Ginataang Sitaw Kalabasa)
  
  Coconut ginger vegetables (Ginataang Sitaw Kalabasa) is prepared with Asian long beans, butternut squash, green and red bell peppers cooked in coconut ginger sauce.

這道是僅有的青菜料理，有長豆、南瓜、綠色和紅色甜椒

• Grilled pork belly (Inihaw Liempo)Grilled pork belly (Inihaw Liempo) is delicious without rice and served with seasoned vinegar.

這道五花肉是友人的最愛，好像也是唯一一道可以不配飯就能下嚥的。

The options may not seem a lot compared to Casa Manila Filipino Restaurant’s extensive menu, but a spoon of each are enough flavours to down 2 bowls of rice.
這裡的「吃到飽」雖然只有單單這幾道，但是光是其中兩道的各一口就能讓我嗑掉兩大碗白飯，還真的是「吃到飽」。殘編用完這餐，回去還胖了兩公斤呢！