Kawali Express

Wish their website reflected their winter hours. Drove here and was met with a «closed for winter. see you in the spring sign.» –_​– now searching for lunch.

I walked in enthusiastically and said «Hi» and was literally greeted with a blank stare. When I asked how much a combo meal was, he pointed to the wall with his finger and eyes, without a word, as if to say «It’s right there– are you blind or something?» I definitely did not appreciate the attitude! My wife said to me, «Someone’s having a bad day.» The food itself was pretty good, but not good enough to negate the lack of customer service. Furthermore, the food was carefully measured and it wasn’t much– for a comparable price, Manila Café in Mount Laurel PILES up the food, AND they have at least 2x the selection, AND their customer service is SUPERB. I attempted to check out Kawali Express before, but the previous 2 times I made the drive, they were closed during regular posted hours. I finally caught them on a day they were open and unfortunately, I cannot agree with the other Unilocal reviews. I said «thank you» after I paid, and he did not even look at me when he replied «thanks.» My family will be sticking to Manila Café.

I currently live in Manhattan but my hometown is near this near restaurant and had been hearing great things from family and friends about it. Took it upon myself to finally try it out today and was amazed. Finally some great ethnic food has come to suburbs. I had the pork belly lechón which was so tasty on its own but made even better with the sauce they recommended with it. The skin was super crispy on the outside like a fresh pork rind and succulent on the inside. The pork adobo was another tasty dish I tried which was tender and seasoned perfectly. Finally I tried the chicken afritada which is a chicken stew type dish in what seems like a tomato based sauce with potatoes and carrots. The server will give this to you in a separate bowl when ordering, however once you get to the table pour the whole thing over your rice and you have one great meal. The sauce mixed with the rice is perfect and the chicken was juicy and had flavor all the way through. Coming from NYC, I’m always a bit skeptical when hometown friends talk about how good a place is but I would say that hit this one right on the head. I definitely will be going back whenever I visit home.

We love this place and we’re happy it opened in our town. We’re here at least once a week and we love the variety of food. Everything is cooked with pride and the food is reasonably priced. This place is definitely an upgrade to the other Filipino take-​out/​dine-​in stores in the area. They’re closed on Tuesdays, and after 4p on Sundays.

Excellent place to eat AUTHENTIC filipino food! Friendly owners and staff. I tried a little bit of everything, lechon kawali, sisig, sinigang, karekare, tocino, bicol xpress, bibingka, sago, taho, ube… EVERYTHING is knockout! I highly recommend this place if you’re looking to try filipino food.

Unexpected location for filipino food but nonetheless very happy they built up shop in south jersey. The décor was not typical of a typical «turn-​turo» style restaurants. Im glad the owners put effort in decorating this place as on the outside it may not seem so appealing but when you walk in its inviting and definitely approachable.
My family and I (total 4) ordered a bunch of things. We went towards the end of the day so I’m sure had we gone earlier we would of had a fresher selection of food. I do warn you that it has been only a month since the establishment open and feel like the more customers they get the better they will be at replenishing the food.
My family ordered the lechon, bicol express, tocino, torta talong (grilled eggplant inside an egg omelette) sweet and sour fish. All were good but definitely the lechon was cooked to a great consistency. Crispy and chewy inside.
The desserts were pretty good as well. We chose the flan and Ube which was informed by the owner as real Ube! Overall we had a good experience and they owners were very welcoming. Hope the business does well as ill be sure to come back!

Nice restaurant with traditional Filipino foods and taste. Not Americanized, unlike Cebu in Philly that went bankrupt. Also very nice to not see a grocery store in the way before getting seated. A bit off the beaten path to get here so hope it stays in business for a while.
Facebook site to Kawali is…

Nice area, great taste