This place has closed.
I don’t usually don’t write restaurant reviews but I found a place worthy of blogging about. The restaurant is called J.A.C., which stands for Juan dela Cruz Asian Cuisine in Pacifica, California. My family and I happened to show up the same day they opened and we were all enthusiastically impressed at every moment we were there.
Since it was our first time there, we ordered more than what a normal family would order (I’m training future foodie bloggers). I had to sample a little bit of everything. To our surprise, the portions were huge. I was expecting small portions considering the low prices. At J.A.C. you can easily feed a family for $15-$20.
Here’s what we ordered:
Lumpiang Shanghai
Tokwa’t Baboy
Sabaw ni Juan
Miki Bihon ni Juan
B.I.C. (Banana, ice cream w/chocolate)
The Lumpiang Shanghai was rolled together nicely (see the picture above). There was a delicate taste at every bite. I’ve been to several restaurants where the skin was chewy and the filling was gritty. I’m not sure how they did it but the outside was crisp and the filling had a really great texture. I could tell they used top of the line ingredients to make their Lumpiang Shanghai.
The kids insisted on ordering B.I.C. I like their take on this dish. Ice cream served in a tortilla shell with bananas and chocolate. You can’t go wrong with that.
Many restaurants have tried to do different things with Filipino dishes. I’ve tasted many avant-garde dishes and I always seem to regret it. Oh, I don’t like fusion Filipino dishes. At J.A.C., there’s a little new and old in every dish. For me, what makes this place great is the combination of flavors and textures. They take what normally has a single texture and produced an explosion at every bite. There is a sense of special preparation that goes into every dish. I mean, someone really thought about each dish from how to present the dish to the taste to how it will feel on the tongue. They definitely bring Filipino food to a whole new level.
Give them a visit:
J.A.C. Juan dela Cruz Asian Cuisine
713 Hickey Blvd.
Pacifica, CA 94015
(Directly across Lucky)