Maria's Kusina — Restaurant in Buena Park

"Oh Maria, Maria. You remind me of a hungry story. Cooking up like a Fil-Am madame . She's livin her life just like a Food Network star." - Parody of "Maria", Santana

Maria's Kusina, formerly Mami King several moons ago, is a Filipino comfort food eatery that serves all the traditional classics at very reasonable prices.

Been meaning to hit this place up for a long while, I finally had the opportunity to do so for some red hot lunch action.

Beef & wonton mami- I'm a soup fiend, and the beef & wonton mami did not disappoint. Thick, fork tender chunks of beef, 3 pork wonton, cabbage & green onions over thin noodles in a savory broth. Ahhhhhh, the soothing comfort of a warm bowl of soup. Hearty, rich & a great addition to your meal. Should be noted that a serving isn't large enough to be shared, IMHO.

Pancit bihon- A Filipino classic, Maria's pancit bihon is just like how Mom makes it. Spritz some lemon over this bad boy, and it's all good. It's good fresh & hot, but I also like it cold as a leftover. I'm crazy like that ;p

Pork sisig- This was the only downer during our visit. While the flavor was there, the pork meat wasn't the tender, choice bits from the head of the pig. I found the meat to be rather tough. Also, the cook was a little heavy handed with the salt, as this dish was a tad too salty. Enough to give a pucker with each spoonful. Including those aforementioned gripes & having an additional egg on top costing an extra 50 cents, I can't really recommend the pork sisig.

Service was good! Our food didn't take too long to come out, our waters were refilled & Maria, herself, even provided a bowl of complimentary broth to go with our meal.

Ample seating, with 1/2 booth seating on the right & tables taking up the rest of the restaurant. 2 flatscreen TV's with Filipino programming are available for your viewing pleasure. Parking is in a private lot at the Superior Grocers marketplace.

Filipinos & Filipino food lovers unite! For those looking for some good Pinoy food, your search is over. Maria's Kusina offers up all the favorites for not a lot. Not a fan of the pork sisig, you can't wrong with their soup or pancit dishes. I'm anxiously awaiting coming back & having a go with the beef pares, savory chicken & just about all their pancit offerings.

Highly...

It is definitely inexpensive with quick and great service. That's all the good I can really say about this place. The food was below mediocre. The only decent food was the Shanghai (lumpia) and if there was one thing I can recommend that I had, it would be that and only that. Maybe also the garlic rice was the only other possible redeeming foods there.

The chicken was very dry and the fried skin tasted a little of fish. The chicken meat itself wasn't very appetizing either. I'm guessing they fry fish and chicken and eggs for that matter in the same pan out fryer as even the eggs had a weird fishy taste as well.

The sago gulaman lacked sweetness that other Filipino restaurants have in the drink, which could have been a plus, however it still has a weird taste beyond that. The boba inside the drink want even properly prepared about was a bit hard and unchewable.

We came here to try out another Filipino restaurant and unfortunately regretted not going to one of the normal...

I often get food from this place because of its convenience when I come home from work. Tonight, I ordered tokwat baboy for pick up and after arriving home, I find out that they didn't include the sauce. Called to complain and they said they forgot to include the sauce and wanted me to come back and pick it up. I explained that we didn't live in the area and would be too much of a hassle having to drive back. Rowena, the person who answered, didn't even offer anything at all for their mistake and even told me to tell them the next time I ordered to remind them to give me the sauce for the tokwat baboy I ordered tonight. Huh?!?. I asked them what if I'd order food next week? What would the sauce be for? She told me that that's all she could do because I wouldn't go back to pick it up. I made a comment that I'd never order food from them again and I was answered oh ok,that's fine! Very unprofessional and no accountability whatsoever!! Thanks for...