Truly Deli-cious!

MANILA, Philippines - Local restaurants have evolved in recent years and have reinvented their menus by experimenting with different fusion dishes.

True Deli, which serves modern-Filipino dishes,  stands out among modernist Filipino restaurants in Quezon City.

Pinoy rules: True Deli serves a modern Filipino plate with clever elements, making it stand out among other modernist Filipino restaurants. One of its unique dishes is the bonggang manok.

The opening of its first branch on Timog Avenue in 2011 could not have come at a better time. At that time, it was hard to find a restaurant that served duck meat on its menu. True Deli takes pride in its traditional Filipino fare — from all-time favorites adobo, kaldereta, and sisig to a wide array of silog specialties — with a twist. True Deli’s menu offers an assortment of familiar yet modern Filipino comfort food.

Diners just couldn’t get enough of the resto’s duck specialties cooked in different ways. True Deli’s commitment to local sources of ducks and its  skillful blend of culinary influences are suggestive of the sincere and ambrosial facets of the Filipino dining culture.

While its duck dishes — duck ham sandwich, adobong pato, and sisig pato — top the menu, True Deli also serves spicy chicken wings (maanghang na pakpak), turkey asado, litson kawali, sizzling lomo ng baboy, litson baboy ramo, or sinampalukang kambing, which is a definite must-try.

From appetizer to dessert, True Deli stays true to the Pinoy taste. For starters, there’s Kesog Puti Pillows, six pieces of small deep-fried breaded and crispy white cheese with calamansi vinaigrette dip; Pillows in the Garden, salad greens topped with kesong puti with calamansi vinaigrette; and Onion Singsing (its version of onion rings) with mayo dip.

Loyal customers love the soup dishes made with carabao’s milk. Try the mainit na sabaw ng kalabasa, pumpkin soup richly flavored with fresh carabao’s milk; and mainit na sabaw ng kabute, mushroom soup with carabao’s milk.

For the main course, indulge in litson pato served with litson or peppercorn sauce; binakol na pato or binakol na manok, served with shreds of chicken or duck meat cooked in coconut soup with coconut meat, ginger and lemongrass; the sizzling lomo ng baboy; and dinakdakan, slices of pork dressed with mayonnaise and spicy ingredients.

Mainstays on the menu are the duck treats cooked in different Pinoy-style ways. Like this duck ham sandwich.

Traditional Filipino all-time favorite meals are also available such as kare-kare, crispy pata, kalderetang kambing, garlic bangus, pares, pinakbet, laing, chopseuy, and chicken pastel.

Whether it’s for breakfast, lunch or merienda, the silog varieties are served all day. Litson pato silog is a house specialty and served with fried rice, fried egg, and atsara. Equally tempting are the tapang baka silog, sausage silog, and longganisa silog.

True Deli also has a good lineup of snacks — from sandwiches to pansit. Choose from egg mayo sandwich, tuna, sausage, and the house duck ham, which are all served with nacho chips. Lugaw con litson is a must-try.

For dessert, there’s blueberry and arnibal cheesecakes made of kesong puti and carabao’s milk. Other cake variants include moist chocolate, decadence, carrot cake, red velvet and black forest.

True Deli also serves tea-infused drinks such as the malamig na tsaa (strawberry-flavored iced tea) kalamansi at mantikilya (hot calamansi extract with butter), Tsaa ng True Deli (True Deli Café’s specially made tea served with calamansi), pininyahang tsaa (tea with pineapple extract), and coffee.

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True Deli is at the upper ground floor, Victoria Station 1, GMA-Kamuning, EDSA in Quezon City, and at the ground floor of Victoria Towers on Timog corner Panay Avenues in Quezon City. True Deli also offers catering services.

For information, call 441-8560 or 441-4929, or visit www.truedeli.ph.