We’re departing from our normal topics today to give a quick review of the new Tambayan Filipino Restaurant and Karaoke Bar in Fern Creek (a suburb of Louisville, Kentucky, for those of you who aren’t local).
Tambayan, which means “hangout” in Tagalog, opened last week at 6121 Bardstown Road, next to the CVS pharmacy at the corner of Fern Creek Road. They provide a simple, but enticing menu of traditional Filipino dishes. Owner and principal chef Lida, who hails from Negros, brings a sense of enthusiasm to the new venture. I should probably pause here to point out that, while I have no connection to Lida or anyone associated with the restaurant, I am certainly cheering her on and hoping that the new restaurant succeeds. It will be great to always have a nearby source for good Filipino food when we don’t feel up to cooking at home!
I finally got the chance to stop by Tambayan today after church. It’s always difficult to decide where to start when trying a new restaurant for the first time, but when it comes to Filipino food, the canonical choice has to be adobo. Every region, indeed seemingly every cook, in the Philippines has their own take on this national dish. The base ingredients of adobo are meat (commonly chicken or pork), soy sauce and vinegar. Tambayan’s adobo includes small potato cubes and carrot slices. While the menu offers a choice of chicken or pork, but the waitress was happy to fill my request for half chicken, half pork (a common order in the Philippines). The result was slightly saltier and less sour than most adobo in my experience, but very tasty nonetheless. I would definitely recommend this $9 entree for someone just making their first foray into Filipino cuisine.
All entrees at Tambayan are served with white rice (of course!), two lumpia (small Filipino pork-filled egg rolls), and the Filipino version of chop suey (mixed vegetables in a light broth with garlic). I ordered an extra lumpia for 75 cents. Almost everything on the menu is available a la carte. Be sure to ask for a small side dish of sweet chili sauce for the lumpia. The chop suey is an excellent side dish. The vegetables were very fresh and not overcooked, as is a common complaint of mine at many restaurants in the Philippines. Good chop suey like this should have some “crunch” to it!
In addition to Coke products, Tambayan offers mango juice and sago-gulaman, a very sweet, syrupy drink served over ice with gelatin cubes. For most Americans, it’s probably unlike anything you’ve ever had before. Give it a try! Tambayan also offers a small selection of bottled beers. I was surprised not to see San Miguel, Red Horse, or any of the other Filipino favorites among the choices, but Lida told me she’s working on adding at least San Miguel at some point. She also hopes to get a full liquor license some day. With the big screen TVs, stage, and a small dance floor, I can see how Tambayan could become a lively night spot in the near future. I’m sure it will be the place in town to watch the next Manny Pacquiao fight!
Service was very friendly and efficient, but Americans should be cautioned that the Filipino dining experience is not something you want to attempt when you’re in a hurry. Relax and enjoy! 
I was a little surprised to see that the place settings included only a fork and knife. As any Filipino will tell you, the most important tool at the table is the spoon! So if you really want to demonstrate your ability to eat like a Filipino, ask for a “kutsara” (just like “cuchara” for you Spanish speakers), put it in your right hand, and use the fork in your left hand. With a little practice, the spoon can be used just like a knife. Trust me on this one.
The food at Tambayan was so good, we placed a take-out order of Grilled Pinoy Manok (Filipino grilled chicken, $9), Sinigang na Baboy (a tamarind-based broth with pork and vegetables, $8), and Tokwa’t Baboy (slices of pork with deep-fried tofu in a savory sauce, $9). In short, everything in the take-out order was just as good as the adobo. Lida definitely puts her own touch on each of these classic dishes. I found the sinigang to be a little less sour, but certainly no less tasty, than what I would call the “traditional” recipe. Again, the vegetables were fresh, and perfectly cooked. Both the Tokwa’t Baboy and Grilled Pinoy Manok should prove popular for either an American or Filipino palate.
On that note, there certainly are some Filipino dishes that non-Filipinos generally find distasteful. Balut, dinuguan, pinakbet (or anything with ampalaya, a.k.a. “bitter melon”) all come to mind. But you won’t find any of these things on the menu at Tambayan. In short, a visit to Tambayan might reward the non-Filipino visitor with some new taste experiences, but you certainly don’t need to consider yourself an adventure diner to give it a try. As much as the Filipino population has grown in the Louisville area (and Fern Creek in particular), Tambayan is going to need a steady base of non-Filipino customers if they hope to survive that critical first year of a new restaurant. I hope this review will convince a few of you to give it a chance.
Posted by Tim Totten 
