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Diners accustomed to trekking to Daly City to eat Filipino food under the glare of fluorescent lights will be cheered to discover Palencia, which opened recently in the Castro. Traditional favorites are in evidence here (read: it’s not some wacky Filipino-fusion hybrid), though the rustic dishes have been dressed up some to suit the neighborhood and the elegant dining room, with its dark-wood floors and capiz-shell chandeliers. Look to the braised dishes for a good meal: Adobo (here made with either pork shoulder or chicken) luxuriates in a rich brown sauce spiked with vinegar and black peppercorns; kare kare, a stew of oxtail with peanut sauce, eggplant and bok choy, is like a Filipino take on beef stew; and mild guinataang kalabasa at hipon, slices of kabocha squash, shrimp and long beans in coconut milk, hints at Thai. Though it may at first seem a bit more gussied up than its Peninsula counterparts, it eats just like good Filipino-style home cooking.
Palencia 3870 17th St., 415-522-1888
Diners accustomed to trekking to Daly City to eat Filipino food under the glare of fluorescent lights will be cheered to discover Palencia, which opened recently in the Castro. Traditional favorites are in evidence here (read: it’s not some wacky Filipino-fusion hybrid), though the rustic dishes have been dressed up some to suit the neighborhood and the elegant dining room, with its dark-wood floors and capiz-shell chandeliers. Look to the braised dishes for a good meal: Adobo (here made with either pork shoulder or chicken) luxuriates in a rich brown sauce spiked with vinegar and black peppercorns; kare kare, a stew of oxtail with peanut sauce, eggplant and bok choy, is like a Filipino take on beef stew; and mild guinataang kalabasa at hipon, slices of kabocha squash, shrimp and long beans in coconut milk, hints at Thai. Though it may at first seem a bit more gussied up than its Peninsula counterparts, it eats just like good Filipino-style home cooking.
Palencia 3870 17th St., 415-522-1888
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