Bamboo Bistro

We come here for a Halloween event. We had sooo much fun. They made it great for the kids definitely coming back next year for the same event food was delicious they just need more portion. Over all we love it.

Such a fun place to have dinner or host a family birthday. The food was good, no complaints. They have the usual Filipino staple dishes.
We reserved one of the back tables for a birthday, and the food came out hot, fresh and delicious. Service could have stepped it up a bit — several times, we were waiting on drinks or refills that never got to us. Some of us had to get up to call someone to ask for water or refills.
Other than that, though, the karaōke hosts were charming and funny. Good stuff!

I don’t usually eat filipino food on a daily basis, but I come here when I’m craving some. Kuya Dan his Staff are the Shiznit and I can’t say anything bad about this place. Great spot for good food, alcohol and Karaōke!

I recently tried to check the place hoping for some improvement but to my disappointment, nothing has changed.
One problem here is the kind of atmosphere the place projects, not fun place to bring your family or guest for a nice dining.
I was even told that owner has been trying to sell the rights for the place.

1 star because the food was good.
But everything else about our experience was not good. The layout is really awkward and we ended up being seated near the front door which was super annoying. The front door kept staying open as patrons were leaving in and out and it was very cold, my husband kept getting up just to close the door more than 10x.
Once we ordered the waitress let us know the food would take a while because there’s an event going on. We decided to stay anyway, but regret doing so.
When the food finally arrived everything was good, but there were so many inconveniences. There were no napkins. I wanted to order drinks, but the waitress never came by to check on us. And when we needed to-​go boxes we literally had to ask 3 different times. We even had to pack our own food. Wtf is that? We spent a lot of money here, you would expect they pack your food to go.
If you’re going to have an «event» and cannot cater to other patrons dining at the same time, then shut down the restaurant for private events.

So disappointed in this place. I actually came for the table sitting with the food on the table like I saw on the pictures and NOT ONE UnilocalER said it was a MON-​FRI dining experience.
I set this whole thing up for my friends to dine here after Xmas so we could consume all the cholesterol, sodium, & all the bad shit food gives us before going on a diet.
BUT NOOOOOO!!! It was buffet time & we were all really bummed out. The food actually tasted great but its not what we wanted & the website wasn’t updated and also didn’t say it was buffet only Sat & Sun.
I blame the few Unilocalers that I read their reviews but I will be back on Friday to try it again

Been here a couple times now for Sunday Brunch and haven’t been disappointed yet. The selection has been different each time which is great. So many dishes to choose from and very fresh. Would definitely recommend if you are craving Filipino food :)

Deng five dollar beers with a great sounding karaōke and great grub, can’t get that not even south of the border nowadays… need I really say more… seriously

Went here with my boyfriend so I could show him part of my culture … didn’t make a great impression. I thought it was a kamayan but we got plates and utensils. We paid for garlic rice fried tilapia etc, it was pretty good but the service was horrible. For a Filipino family restaurant I thought they’d be more welcoming … We didn’t even get a refill in our water or calamansi juice which was a rip off cause it was $ 3. There wasn’t any toyo served with the tilapia either … Waiter never asked if we were doing okay…
Food was good, but you guys really need to work on your service …

I’m a fan of this place. We were looking for a non-​chain restaurant to eat in the Valley that was still opened at around 11pm. We were pretty hungry, as we had just ran a 5k that evening. I had this bookmarked for awhile, so I decided this was the time to try it. We ordered the beef steak, garlic rice (my boyfriend couldn’t get enough), and pancit canton (reminded me of my mom’s, but disappointed with how little meat was in the dish). Prices were very good, too. Leftovers for days.
They also had a karaōke show happening, complete with a master of ceremonies! Dinner and entertainment (although I wouldn’t recommend kids going to this at night– there was a 14yo in the crowd, as the jokes were kinda dirty). I’d wanna come back for the breakfast and lunch buffets! I loved that I took my Mexican boyfriend to this place because it was the only Filipino place in this Mexican plaza hehe.

Although I have known about this restaurant for more than a year, this was our first time eating at this restaurant. We decided to eat Kamayan style which is the Filipino tradition of eating with your hands.
With Kamayan style, they basically lay banana leaves on the table and they put your food on top of the banana leaves. You use your hands to eat your food. Of course, you cant eat soup with your hands so they do provide you a bowl and a spoon for the soup. We ordered Kare-​Kare, Crispy Pata, Talipia, Squid and a couple of other dishes. They were all good!
However, it does take a while to cook the dishes so if you are planning to eat Kamayan style, I would suggest you order before you come in or plan to wait 20 – 25 minutes for your food to be ready.
The location of the restaurant is in an odd place. It is in a shopping center surrounded by mostly Mexican businesses. It is the only Filipino business in the shopping center.

It’s been a week that haven’t had Pinoy food. Finally, this Sat, got a chance to stop by this place and WOW! All good! What can I say but 4 stars! Btw, I never saw Pinoy food that serves champorado in a decade.

I had a very good time at this Filipino restaurant. It’s an experience because you’re going to order family-​style dishes and then it’s laid out on the table for you to eat with your hands!
It’s a fun and authentic experience. I couldn’t wait to shovel food into my mouth with my hands. I enjoyed eating garlic rice, pancit, crispy pata, sisig, fried fish. The sisig was interesting, it was on a skillet and not what I’m used to and the pata was pretty tasty. You get large portions so don’t order too many orders of rice!
The service was nice but a little slow so you need to flag down help when you need it. I think people come here for the lunch buffet or the late night entertainment that is available. We came on a Sunday at 6pm for dinner and it was pretty empty, only 1 other table being served.
The location is interesting as it’s in a Mexican marketplace and this is the only Filipino restaurant in the plaza. But, it’s fun to try and come with a group of people to get your hands dirty and eat some delicious food.

I called in to pre-​order per their recommendation and she was irritated that I was pre-​ordering because they were busy! And when She finally decided I could go ahead, I started placing my order and they were out of one my first named items! I was just on the appetizers! At that point she gave up and said, call again later.
The food was ok. Not great. Had I known that «kamayan» meant we won’t give spoons and forks to a few guests who were not comfortable eating with their hands, or that a few plates had to be fought for, or that we would have to ask for serving spoons (how do we get Kare Kare out of the bowls?! Scoop it with our hands?!) I would not have come to this restaurant.
The lady who took my order was dozing off on me so I’m not surprised she missed orders and one that we got after everybody was pretty much done.
The man I asked for 2 plates from threw his rag and made it known how upset he was that had I let them know I would be needing plates then they wouldn’t have laid out the banana leaves! Really?! There is no price difference if there were leaves or no leaves!
I would never go back.

KAMAYAN!!! Translation? «Eat WITH YOUR HANDS» in Filipino Tagalog! Long before Europeans decided to «bring culture» to our islands, the traditional, native way to dine was to use your hands as «the utensils.» HEY, no hatin’ now! It’s fun to get a lil down & dirty sometimes ;) Big props to Bamboo Bistro for keeping that tradition ALIVE! Located in the southern end of Plaza del Valle strip mall, the entrance is INSIDE the plaza, with no access from Van Nuys Blvd. We called ahead to secure dinner seating for our party of 11. Drama free upon entering with smiles welcoming us in. Apparently, kamayan with banana leaves is ONLY available AFTER 4pm. Before that, it’s all about buffet. There is a specific menu for kamayan, but you can also request from the regular menu as well. We ordered a bunch of things to lay out on the banana leaf covered table, then washed our hands to prepare for the scoop fest…
*CALAMARE: Tasty with a crisp batter and no gummy or chewiness with the calamari as well. Plentiful amount, too.
*LUMPIA SHANGHAI: Classic Filipino dish prepared in typical fashion. They do it right here. Deep fried to a crunchy golden brown hue. Tasty meat inside.
*PORK SISIG: Pig snout is used here for this dish. Not AS gummy as the traditional pork ear, but I prefer pork cheek for this dish due to its higher meat content. In terms of preparation, though, they do it well, and most of fams liked it. Me? I’ve become a sisig snob & thought it would’ve been better with pork cheek. Just sayin’ ;)
*CRISPY PATA: Truly crispy, but not overly greasy. Pretty good on its own right. Gotta ask for the Mang Tomas Sauce, but when I combined the two… Yummy!
*GARLIC MUSHROOM: The fungus lovers enjoyed this. For me, doesn’t matter how much garlic you drop on mushrooms, it’s still fungus. Hah!
*PORK LIEMPO: This grilled pork belly disappeared QUICKLY from our table! Loved the caramelized marinade that added a mild sweetness to it.
*BEEF CALDERETA: Filipino version of beef stew. Big hearty serving that was thankfully served in a bowl. This one was a bit messy because the broth was tasty, but you couldn’t put too much on your section of the banana leaf or else it would spill all over. Fun eats!
*GRILLED PUSIT: Grilled squid dish that wasn’t gummy and had a good flavor to it. It was stuffed with some kind of FRESH mango & onion concoction (similar to Mexican pico de gallo) that went well with the pusit. Those of us that liked squid, REALLY liked this dish.
*SINIGANG BANGUS: Filipino soup dish with a tangy tamarind base. One of my fave soup dishes, the tanginess is not overwhelming here, which is a great introduction to this dish. Had to ask for a bowl for this one.
*BISTEK: One of my favorite Filipino entrees, this wasn’t on the Kamayan menu, but they still let me order it from the regular menu. Wasn’t disappointed either, quite delicious!
Oh, this was A FUN time going native & enjoying the good stuff here. Big servings, too! Ya have to be a bit patient for the food to arrive because it’s PREPARED FRESH here. I noticed some groups ordered ahead of time and arrived just as the staff began laying out the food. Something to consider for next time. Yup, definitely lookin’ for a come back! All the entrees were delicious and didn’t disappoint any of the elders with the quality and authenticity. Wanna get yur eats on, native Filipino style? Bamboo Bistro does it right! Ma SARAP dito!!! (Tagalog for «tastes really good here!»)

Tried their brunch buffet and all i can say is: it wasn’t bad but there was nothing special either.
Tried most of their food from breakfast to lunch. Their tocino could use more marinade, their sinigang could use less tamarind and their calamari could use less burning. They had no desserts at 11AM at all!
The place itself is nice and the people who work there are friendly and helpful. Though the service was fine, the food were somewhat subpar.

First time ever experiencing Kamayan! Kamayan is a Filipino word for eating with your BARE HANDS. No forks, no spoons, no knives, not even plates! It’s definitely an experience I’ll never forget.

The way they serve you is by covering the table with banana/​bamboo leaves & the food is served on the fresh banana leaves. The way to eat is by using your hands. I’ll be honest, I had a hard time coming to terms with using my hands. I probably sat there for 10 minutes watching everyone eat before actually doing it.
We ordered the garlic rice (AMAZING), pork adobo, fried chicken, tilapia, beef caldereta (similar to beef stew-​very good), kare kare, & pusit. I thought the food was very flavorful & delicious. Serve was overall good.
The area is a bit sketchy & this is a hole-​in-​the-​wall, i didn’t drink the water just because I didn’t trust it.
xo,
Naomi

I can even cook better than them! and I cannot cook at all!
I know the server is doing her thing but they chased me out of a banquet table when there were NO ONE there. Really a high 1 .5 star

Excellent kamayan (eat with your hands on banana leaves) experience and tasty homestyle Filipino food! Tonight we ordered kare-​kare, shrimp, sinigang, salted duck egg, pork bbq, and sisig served on banana leaves.
They also have karaōke and the food prices are not excessive.
Good selection of Filipino beers such as San Mig Light, San Mig, and the tastier Red Horse.

Had service been a bit more efficient is happily give all 5 stars.
Stopped in for lunch today, only 1 other couple eating. Was a long wait to place order and get food.
That aside.
Had the garlic rice which was FREAKING AMAZING!!!
Also had Pork Adobo… very good, but a bit salty
Lastly Pancit (thin noodles, don’t recall what they called that). It was O.K. I have been spoiled by my Filipino uncles mother’s Pancit which is out if this world and have yet to find anything that compares. Perhaps you’ll enjoy it.
Had the waiter been more attentive, I wanted to ask what this potato looking stuff was that was in it (definitely not potatoes)
A guy from Seattle in the area in business, I enjoyed the ambiance of the area and wished I had more time to explore and try other restaurants.
If you know what the potato type thing is, I’d appreciate knowing.