Paolo's Authentic Filipino Restaurant — Restaurant in Calgary

Pretty good overall but...Stopped in here as was in the area and wanted to try something different. We were the only dine in people but there was a steady stream of take out being picked up, particularly the crispy patak for which they appear to be known. Server was very helpful and explained some of the dishes making some recommendations.

Have to say the food was very good overall. The kwek-kwek was substituted for regular eggs as they were out of quails eggs. Even though they were deep fried the eggs had obviously been in the fridge as they were still a touch cold in the middle. Went well with the sweet chili sauce. Spring rolls were decent but average.

The Sisig pork went great with the garlic rice, and arrived crispy and sizzling on the skillet. Onions, calamansi and chilli gave it a nice bite and just enough heat to enjoy the crispy pork. The crispy Dinugan was quite the new experience looking like a dark rich stew almost as it arrived. We were told one of the ingredients was pork blood, which only made it more interesting, thought might be off putting to others. There was a bit of heat from the banana peppers but this was a dark rich and hearty spicy meal which would be perfect on a cold day with the garlic rice.

If you are one of those who prefers not to know what they are eating this would have been perfect just to enjoy the dishes and sample the new flavours.

The owner was a lovely lady who came to chat and ask how we enjoyed the food, what they were known for etc. Only small fly in the dish was in asking for a small take away container as the Dinugan was a large dish we were nickel and dimed 35c for it. Not cool after paying $60+ for the meal overall.

Question? - To return? has to be a positive even just to see what a drunken...

My husband and I had were going to dine in when I looked up the restaurant. However when we walked in it smelt sour —almost like an old wet rag was used to clean the tables and or floors. When we told one of the staff that the smell was quite sour, rather then trying to figure out where it was coming from, they lit some incense to mask it. Wasn’t impressed. We never ended up dining in because of that smell. We decided to order food for take out instead. The dishes we got weren’t bad, and I thought the kare kare was quite interesting. I know that traditionally it’s supposed to be made with oxtail, but instead they had other protein options. When I asked the guy why there wasn’t any oxtail option, he said it was too expensive so they make it with chicken or beef instead. Thought that was interesting comment…when I was picking dessert options I originally wanted the Bilo bilo but when the guy was picking it out of the fridge, he pointed out that there was mold on the top of it so it wasn’t good…. Red flag. I got the Leche Flan instead but even with that option I was nervous because I know there’s milk in it and there could have been a high chance to have mold on it too. When we brought the food home it wasn’t bad. We got the Caldereta with chicken, kare kare with chicken, tapsilog and leche flan. Caldereta was good, I’d recommend it. The kare kare was disappointing. The meat in the tapsilog was pretty much burnt, not impressed, but the garlic fried rice was pretty tasty. Leche flan wasn’t bad but you can tell it was sitting in the fridge for a while because of the texture. Overall, I have mixed feelings about this place. I’d give it one more chance but not...

The food was not bad, but adequate; it was overpriced for what you got though. The decor hasn't changed a bit since it housed Tu Tierra before they moved. Not good service at all; we weren't asked for drink orders, offered napkins or straws (even for the kids, and even when those kids obviously would need them). We even had to hunt down staff to request these things. Also, when we were there (about 5pm-6pm) half the restaurant was dark and someone was watching a movie in that half. Thankfully they at least had a high chair. Though for those that weren't intimately familiar with Filipino cuisine, a more informative menu (ingredients, descriptions) would've been a good idea. We won't be going back even though they're only a couple of blocks away.

Edit: since posting my review--which as of yet hadn't included the bay leaf and peppercorns left in our food or the dirty bathrooms, and the fact that the place was dead besides us and yet we still had poor service--I have been passive-aggressively and agressive-agressively attacked, insulted, and mocked by the owner/representative of the business. As such, I have reduced my rating from 2 stars to 1 star for the completely, reprehensibly unprofessional behavior and lack of consideration from this establishment. Any business that will not listen to, and learn from, it's customers, and try to keep them, or even respect them, is doomed to fail. Next time we want to enlarge our Filipino palette, we will ask one of our Filipino friends for...