Serving Sake to a Serb: Inay's Pan Pacific Restaurant

Pancit, rice, and chicken adobo at Inay's Pan Pacific Restaurant

Prior to this week, Slavko had never eaten Filipino food. It's a style of cooking influenced by Hispanic, Chinese, and American dishes that many believe to be the Asian equivalent of soul food - lovingly made, loaded with fat. Given that Slavko is accustomed to eating high-calorie Serbian dishes (hello, mayonnaise), it seemed like an easy enough sell.

I decided to take him to Inay's Pan Pacific Restaurant (2503 Beacon Ave.), arguably the most popular of the few restaurants in the city that serve Filipino cuisine. It's a small cafeteria-style venue with a walk-up counter, self-serve seating, and dirt cheap prices. A lunch combo of rice and two entrees costs just $7.50. Selecting two entrees out of an entirely unfamiliar array of options however, turned out to be a challenge for Slavko.

"What would you like?" a woman asks pleasantly as he gazed at the options behind the glass. "I don't know," he responded helplessly. She smiled and waited. Then waited some more. The situation began to feel awkward.

We decided the easiest solution would be for Slavko to order the dishes most familiar to non-Filipinos: Pancit and chicken adobo. The woman nodded knowingly as if she'd heard the generic order countless times before. (Surely she has.)

He immediately got to work on his food after sitting down. The adobo, braised in soy sauce and vinegar, was tender, requiring only the slightest pressure via fork to slide off the bone entirely. "Salty, but not bad," Slavko said slowly. The pancit evoked a similar response. "It's fine," he said sifting through the thin noodle strands and slivers of vegetables and sausage.

I couldn't tell if he liked what he was eating or not. I was certain he didn't love it. After some prodding, he revealed, "Honestly, it just seems like some chicken and stir-fry noodles. I feel like anybody could make this. It doesn't have a distinct enough taste for me to want to eat it again or even remember, really."

His reaction surprised me. Then again, I am biased. Since I was a toddler, I've associated the greasy goodness of Filipino food with awesome birthday parties full of drunk people and karaoke. I wondered if I should take Slavko to one of these parties.

He glanced around the room and caught the eye of the friendly woman who had been so patient with us earlier. He turned back to me and, perhaps feeling remorseful for bashing her food, conceded, "It tastes good." Then he added, "But I won't be seeking out more Filipino food on my own anytime soon."