Jake’s Corner Cafe

Finally a filipino place close to home! Boy was I wrong…
Like I said in my previous reviews of filipino restaurants, the standards would by my mother and grandmothers cooking. Seeing that its walking distance from home why not try it. The pancit was way too oily, adobo, dry.
I guess I’m still stuck to driving all the way to west covina or LA for decent filipino food.
I gave 2 stars because the service was great… the food unfortunately wasnt.

The continued adventures of Stomach and Howard…
(Ep1: Veggie Grill, Ep2: Paco’s Tacos)
Episode 3: Filipino Flavor
Me: «Hey Stomach, you hungry yet?»
Stomach: «I can eat. Whats on the menu today boss?»
Me: «Let’s go check out Jake’s. I“ve never gone to a Filipino café before.»
Stomach: «Ooooo, Filipino eh?
Me: «Check out the menu, what a mix… Adobo chicken, beef, pork, hot chicken plate, hot beef plate, pancit noodles, epanadas, and… hamburger?
Stomach: «Fuck it, Hot beef plate!»
Me: «But I haven’t decided ye…»
Stomach «Shut up bitch! Im hungry and you’re getting the Hot Beef plate»
Me: *whimpering* «ok, Hot beef plate and a sprite please» (under $ 10)
(food comes)
Me: «Mmmm, beef is… chewy…»
Stomach: «You done chewing yet!?»
Me: «Almost…»
Stomach: «Dude!»
Me: «Almost…»
Stomach: «Hurry up man!»
(audience laughs)
Me: *gulp* «whew, that was tough, mmm, pineapple mac… try this bro»
Stomach: «Macs a little hard huh? This stuff is gonna take a while to digest»
Waitress (Loves to smile, very friendly. I dont think Jake likes to smile): «Is everything ok? would you like more rice?»
Me: «Im okay, thank you very much»
Stomach: «She’s nice… Dude, is this what Filipino food is like?»
Me: «Don’t know, its not too bad and the prices were reasonable.»
Stomach: «alright, next time we come back, you pick… BUUUURRRRP!»
(audience laughs)
The End

I kind of had really high expectations about this place. I came here on a hot Friday afternoon, looking for something to complete my filipino food craving.
Upon arriving… it felt just as hot outside, that it did, inside. No a/​c, and it’s a Pepsi world in this place. This did not make for a happy Ags. Seriously… it was your typical 90 degree San Gabriel Valley in the summer-​type hotness. Going in, I was a bit skeptical, as they had a short menu posted on the wall, without any prices. They also mentioned that they had a special on the lumpia: 5 for $ 1.25. Alright, I’ll try that. Mind you, it’s Lumpiang Shanghai, in case you’re wondering.
I had the chicken adobo, which wasn’t bad at all. (Isn’t adobo an easy dish to make?) They gave me a heaping portion of it, along with rice, and some pieces of lettuce and carrots, that was called a salad. Then I thought to myself… who has filipino food, and salad? Errrright, I ain’t complainin’.
There was this huge glass window, in the middle of the store, which I assume is perfect to display pastries. How come there weren’t any? How come I’m reading other reviews, and there seems to be an offer for some sort of mysterious red velvet cake… or perhaps even cookies? WTF? I didn’t see none of that. No bueno, Jakey… no bueno.

I have to admit that I was disappointed that this restaurant replaced Cheesecake Café. But yay for another new place to try! My co-​workers and I tried the Chicken and Beef Empanadas, Pancit Plate, Chicken Curry, the Pork Adobo dish (I think?), and the Mac and Cheese. All the dishes were pretty good, but I’m not sure how authentic it was. This was one of the few times I’ve tried Filipino food.
The service was excellent though! :) Our waitress was nice enough to let us try the red velvet cupcake, mocha cupcake, and chocolate cupcake. I was a big fan of the chocolate cupcake. Overall, I like their desserts and would like to go back to try their cake or cookies.
I would definitely go back, but only when I’m in the mood to have dessert with my lunch. Plus I like to support the local businesses. Even though this place is small, I like the extra attention we receive. :)

[CLOSED SUNDAYS]
My family and I were pretty excited to see a Filipino place open up because we’ve been eating homecooked Filipino food for decades (mom used to work with a lot of Filipinos).
Today, we decided to head on over and check them out.
My sister and I picked up:
2 chicken empanadas
2 beef empanadas
1 slice of red velvet
1 slice of ube
And then the friendly waitress gave us a couple of their cookies — oatmeal and chocolate chip.
I haven’t had anything save for a bit of the oatmeal cookie which was good. It tasted more like almond than oatmeal.
My mom later went and picked up:
1 chicken adobo plate
1 pancit plate
2 chocolate pastries
chocolate and strawberry cupcakes
And then the girl gave her a few tiny cream puffs.
Now, we’re not Filipino nor are we Filipino food experts, but upon opening the boxes of pancit and adobo, we were disappointed. The chicken is dry and doesn’t have that distinct adobo vinegary taste. The pancit is dry and has no flavour. Man, I am so disappointed because they’re so close and the people working there are really nice. Seriously.
Empanada: good, better than the ones we get from Valerio’s
Cakes/​Cupcakes: cakes were dry. BUMMER. :(
Cream puffs: good
Cookies: okay