A mouth-watering Filipino food trail with friends in DMV

These are must-visit Filipino restaurants in the DC-Maryland-Virginia area

By Marivir R. Montebon

New York – Weekend escapades with friends naturally fire me up. The Labor Day retreat this year with accountant and FilAm business chamber executive director Ledy Almadin, TFC ABS-CBN multimedia journo Don Tagala, and Olive Magpile of the Philippine Embassy in Washington, DC was indeed one for great delicious memories.

At Hiraya: (L-R) Ledy, this writer, Tita Bing, Don, Susan, and Olive. 

With high energy, we embarked on a food trail, a gastronomic quest of Filipino cuisine, from a few restaurants in the DC-Maryland-Virginia (DMV) area. The restaurants are owned and operated by Filipino American entrepreneurs whose palates have a non-traditional flair catering to a diverse clientele.

The first resto was Hiraya, located at 1250 H Street NE Washington, DC 20002. Hiraya is an old Tagalog or Sanskrit word which means vision or imagination in English. Chef Paolo Dungca has set his vision and imagination in its café at the first floor and the restaurant on the second floor.

My tribe shared an ample dinner table for six at the restaurant. With us was media personality Bing Cardenas Branigin, more fondly known as the mother hen of the young FilAms in the area. Joining us was dear friend Susan Pineda, immigration consultant, who was the first to introduce me to Hiraya in the winter of 2024.

Pato Tim

Asado

Lechon Kawali

Ube Latte

We chose the salo salo (literally, shared meal) menu for $65 per. I started off with sabaw (soup) which was foamy celeriac, granny smith apples and smoked trout roe. It had an unfamiliar but heartwarming taste.

Don raved over his Pato Tim, an aged duck breast and leg confit, stone fruit, and star anise while we all dug into Susan’s Asado upon her invitation. It’s made of ovoka farm beef tongue, smoked tomato, and mesclun greens.

Olive and I ordered the same ulam (main meal) of Afritada which was a fusion of tender amish chicken leg, smoked tomato, and baby carrot. Tita Bing was happy with her Lechon Kawali, the heritage pork belly with salsa verde, pomelo patis, and Sichuan pili nuts.

With chef Paolo Dungca (4th from left)

Chef Paolo dropped by our table to explain a little bit about our delicious choices.  Carefully created cuisine goes well with the Filipino hospitality, he quipped.

My Flan Impossible (sun and stars coffee and vanilla crème caramel with cocoa crumbs) was satisfying with Ube Latte. Ledy and I agreed that we just had the best Ube Latte so far.

We did a toast for a wonderful dinner and friendship. Cheers!

With Social Burger owner-operator Denise Lee. The Milo Shake was glorious. 

Our next food trail adventure was a brunch at Social Burger at 350 Maple Ave W Vienna, VA 22180. We were received warmly by owner operator Denise Lee. There’s really something magical about us Filipinos – how we easily socialize with each other even on first meetings.

Social Burger has been in Vienna for ten years, and the neighbors are charmed by the hospitality of Denise and her staff.  But the core of her business’s longevity is the high-quality meat which Denise ensures to pick for her clients.

My vegan plant-based burger

The Bulgogi Burger. OMG!

I didn’t eat the beef burger ‘though, as my friends anticipated. I went for the plant-based vegan burger. Ah that was so delicious, I finished all of it.

There’s the Milo Shake with our burgers, bringing in lovely childhood memories in the Philippines. Who hasn’t drunk Milo as Filipino children, right?

Denise has survived competition in the burger industry with her brand’s distinctive taste and high-quality meat. Her presence in the community in times of need and traditional fun fare endeared her even more to her clients.

Social Burger has become a household word in Vienna, surviving and thriving even during the Covid-19 pandemic, through Denise’s instinctive innovation of pick-ups.

Wonderful time at Meadowlarks Botanical Gardens in Vienna. Olive discovered it through Google. 

We were wonderfully stuffed at Social Burger on our way to an unchartered destination – the Meadowlark Botanical Gardens. In the sweltering heat of Sunday, we walked through the verdant grass and picturesque garden, mindful of burning our calories as we laughed, chatted, and took pictures relentlessly.

We headed back to Washington, DC for dinner at Tiki on 18th just in time for the happy hour. My Mango Zero (ah, non-alcohol for the tame one) was thirst quenching.  Tiki is a cocktail bar serving Filipino food at 2411 18th Street NW Washington, DC 20009. It’s a business partnership between Oscar Guardado and chef Jo-Jo Valenzuela.

At Tiki on 18th - small plates, big drinks. 

Shared joy: Ube Cheesecake

We had a light dinner, opting to share small plates of kwek-kwek, pork barbecue, inihaw na manok, and veggie ukoy. Writing it down made me realize that it wasn’t light after all.

There was still room to share the world’s best Ube Cheesecake which is of course, purple yam cheesecake with toasted coconut. Oh, that was heavenly.  Second night in a row that authentic ube closed our dinners. Life’s good, we agreed.

The last leg of our food trail was in Purple Patch at 3155 Mount Pleasant Street NW Washington, DC 20010. The nine-year-old award-winning restaurant is owned by Patrice Cleary, a retiree of the Marine Corps and corporate world.

Top notch singkamas & mango salad

Sweet spaghetti 

Hot calamansi

Patrice was born in the Philippines to an American father from Massachusetts and a Filipino mom who taught her to embrace Filipino heritage, thus paving the way for her culinary artistry.

Purple Patch’s singkamas and mango salad was my unforgettable appetizer. I also couldn’t resist the sweet spaghetti which Don had ordered twice.

Tita Bing Branigin joined us for dinner as well as some Filipino leaders in the DMV community whom we had a no holds barred conversation on public affairs. That went well with our delicious dishes.

And the time to go back to NYC finally came, scheduled after our early dinner, so we would reach the Big Apple before midnight. We’ve had a very wonderful escapade, with each bite of Filipino food as a celebration of life and friendship. Besos, everyone. #

We closed the Komida Filipino Kitchen after our dinner. L-R Dr. Jayson Parba, Mario Suson, Florian Goodall, and Ms. Millicent. 

Komida's Beth Jones

Postscript:

Prior to Labor Day, I dined at Komida Filipino Kitchen on 7900 Ritchie Highway Ste E-111 Marley Station Mall Food Court Glen Burnie, MD 21061 with my friends in the language interpreting industry. Komida is worth your time and money. It’s your typical Filipino turo-turo, fit for the hungry and in-a-hurry at the Marley Station Mall. Its mongo soup is food for the soul and every food has the traditional taste. Owner-operator Beth Jones is a darling.