Pick your Plate — Restaurant in Hawthorne

First of all, if you aren't familiar with a mom and pop Filipino restaurant shop that you would find in the small province of the Philippines, you're probably not going to be thrilled by the appearance. This is a total hole in the wall. The ideal definition of what people say a hole in the wall would be. It's clean. It's just not fancy.

You pay for the food and the family is so sweet. They'll let you sample too. For those saying the samples are small... Lol I don't know how much more food you need to the point the lid is barely closed. They pile it in. You can see the pics of everyone here lol.

This is not the type of place you want to bring vegan friends to. Most the dishes are meaty. Though sometimes they'll have a couple of vegetable options.

Only thing to not be surprised about is some days they can run out of food pretty quickly or have a huge line depending if they get hit by huge bum rush of different huge groups of people.especially Thursdays on lechon day if you show after 1pm the lechon might be cleared out) And then some days you walk in and it's like totally empty. And then while you're eating all the 30 people show up lol. Most popular days there are Thursdays because that's lechon day. I like Fridays because sometimes they have Flipspag and fried chicken.

And it's not like your typical restaurant with as a menu you look at in order. You literally check their Facebook page every morning and see what they've got because they cook everything fresh that morning. Anyone that says this isn't authentic Filipino food is one of two things. 1) A hater.. or 2) they actually really don't know what Filipino food is. And for the people that flat out say this place is bland, I would say those are fake reviews because if anything I have to use less sauce or portion out what I eat because it is extremely flavorful. The people say it's not greasy or fatty? They have lechon on Thursday lol? Longenisa. They've got beefsteak with onions or sisig. Literally. Just look at the pictures everyone takes. For your first visit, if you plan on eating there I would say just come by yourself or go with a friend. The cater to 2 menus. The Filipino of course and a western menu. Their fillet & chicken cordon bleu.. so good. The buffet is mostly Filipino.

They're being bulk of the businesses catering so if they are catering that day, they'll usually make an extra batch of that dish and have is an option for the buffet and sometimes you get really surprised because you never knew they offered it. Lol. We've been coming here since the first few months opening and I can still walk in once in a while in the experience a new dish that I never knew that they could cook lol. They actually cater more western dishes... The fillet mignon, cordon Bleu, garlic fried shrimp, and malabon are staples we order here for every big family occasion. We used to do the sisig, but now we switched to chicken sisig (a little healthier lol) I always bring a 1/2 tray pancit to friend parties and it's always one of the first things at the party to deplete.

My folks are Filipino and we've brought so many of our relatives from our of town here from all over the US and back in the P.I. when they visit. They all love this place.

As for my favorites... Friday Flip Spag. This is the only day I'll choose the food by the weight option. Other days... Longenisa with rice, with some Kari Kari sauce or adobo sauce on the rice, (a sunny side up egg if they have time to make it(no line not...

Filipino food to me has always been a tabula rasa cuisine, with some corresponding dish found in another culture. It's always up to personal preference which version a person might prefer, but the one thing I think they do unquestionably better than any other version of the thing I've seen is pork belly lechon. The meat is juicer than Tommy DiNic at Philidelphia's Reading Terminal Market. The skin is so crispy I actually prefer it to Peking duck. There is enough fat left over to grease the gears of an M1 Abrams tank. It's fantastic.

Pick your Plate is a hole in the wall establishment that makes you feel like you've teleported back in time to an old style taqueria on the edge of Inglewood in the days before air conditioning. It is sublimely authentic to a degree you just don't see anymore especially post pandemic, and the establishment absolutely makes no efforts to suggest theyre anything but just a small cafeteria style eatery serving authentic Filipino food.

As far as I can surmise this place has a loyal cult following. The owners know the names of the customers, people bring their own Tupperware to take food to go. Strangers are talking religiously and competitively to each other about how much of this food they can eat. Apparently the winner had a catering event where they bought 5 pounds for every person. There was no leftovers.

The prices are surprisingly good, almost r pre pandemic compared to other establishments and the portions are generous. Hell even the serving of rice is significantly larger than the equivalent serving at any Asian franchise in the area.

And the staff is extremely friendly, almost offputtingly so for someone as introverted as I am. They are helpful and gregarious and full of smiles and friendliness. They seem like they enjoy their work and their positivity is infectious, which is very Filipino in my book.

It truly was a weirdly unique experience with some of the best food I've ever had.

And to be clear, it's not going to be for everyone. Vegans beware, I don't think I saw a single vegetable the entire time I was here and the food is as unhealthy as it is delicious. But if you know what you're getting into, I would definitely recommend this place.

Lechon is Thursdays only. I plan on bringing some of my Filipino coworkers here to get their opinion...

I work in El Segundo and was craving some Filipino food on my way home from work. I Googled "Filipino food near me" and this place popped up. I got there at 3:45pm and the door was locked, but a woman came to the door and unlocked it for me. She said that they close at 4pm and that they were nearly out of everything. She showed me what little was left. There were catering trays for an order later that evening over the remains of the food cooked for that day. As she moved them over, more available dishes were seen. I picked their last Tortang Talong (an egg omelette with an eggplant in it). Then she uncovered the last of the chicken curry, and I selected that as well. I also got a large to go container of their pork sinigang. The prices were reasonable and the owner/staff was very courteous and personable. The food was delicious and the portions generous. I will be coming here again, but will have to call in my order earlier in the day before they run out of the good stuff; even though there were good stuff left, I didn't get the dishes I was craving for like Kare Kare (which I found out is only served on Thursdays. I was there on a Thursday, but the Kare Kare was long gone by then), and Beef Mechado. I hope more people frequent this establishment after around 4pm so they can expand their closing ours far after their 4pm...