Tapsi House Cafe & Grill — Restaurant in Lake Elsinore

We arrived after 2pm. Exact location: Building "A" is all the way to the end of the Outlet Lake Elsinore shopping center next to "The Union" marketplace. Lots of parking space.

Eating Choices: (1) Order Combo either 1 or 2 items, or (2) Buffet - schedule will be announced, pls verify. On combo: choose (a) all rice or (b) half-&-half of rice and pancit palabok

Wait time for food to be served: 10 to 15 minutes, if not less.

BEEF TRI-TIP - very tender, flavorful. PORK MECHADO - So soft, so savory. LAING SHRIMP - woah, out of this world! PORK LECHON sold by the Lb - good. FRUIT SALAD - yummy for 2nd serving! PANCIT PALABOK - no need to add lemon! Full of flavor, very satisfying!

OWNERS Nikka and "Nanay" (mommy) V are so warm and accommodating. They apologized for the sold-out items when they didn't need to, but it's appreciated.

I learned the CHEF grew up helping her grandma, aunties, uncles, and parents cook all the food for the "fiestas" (festivals) in very strict, grassroot level of discipline when cooking traditional Filipino food for the community.

I also learned the owner have 20+ yrs experience in hotel banquet and catering service. Now I understand why they have a big space! They can accept big banquets for any types of event!

SUMMARY: Tapsi House surpasses the quality of Barrio Fiesta, Max's, Salo-Salo, even Manila Sunset. The food is visually appealing on plate, the first bite of the food will send your palate to a sophisticated feeling of being in a high-end restaurant. Since they are barely 21 days old as of the time of this writing, I can understand the learning curve, the adjustment period, and some growing pains in settling to an efficient system of the supply chain and service.

I can't wait to be back. Nanay V got me excited about her "Kare²" and the upcoming "entertainment" like open-mic or some performance events in the near future! Reserve me the table and the mic and the kare-kare......

Food - ** tinola wasnt cooked fresh- chicken meat shouldnt be shredded if made daily also dry no extra soup - lechon kawali wasnt crunchy at all and no mang tomas - wanted to order other food apperantly wont be ready til night -_- there was a gentleman who wanted to order 3 or 4 items none were available. Sad to say if you wanna serve HALO HALO which is a country favorite please make it fresh with plenty of ice i ordered a few and was melted by the time i got home literally a 8 min drive from there.

Service - * 2 girls that was there seems lost they could really use more training (not their fault) cultural thing with training they will be great i hope atleast.

Wait times - -* i was there for about 30-40 mins there was a family there before me and they werent serve food yet. Family of 6 came i can only imagine how long til they were served.

Pricing - * really steep for the portion you get which is good for a teenager whose on a diet. Crispy pata was $28 not crunchy and wasnt traditionally made.

Overall i give this place a strong 2 but im hoping over time service will be better wait times wont be so long and food on the menu will be available.

Seems a cook/prep is needed and few front of house and this place would be a *

Will come again do a second review!

Every Filipino knows TAPSILOGan place is always top notch!...

We found out that this family owned Filipino restaurant has just been opened in July 2024 so the place is fairly new, clean and beautifully decorated. We were the only customers so we were able to talk to the staff. Glad that we stumbled upon this place on a Tuesday as the restaurant is closed on Monday. We really had no intention of eating because we had a dinner reservation on that day but since we were already there, we wanted to try out their food. We had the kare-kare, pork belly sinigang and the palabok. Everything was so good and the serving was generous. The beef in the kare-kare was tender and the sauce was really tasty that we didn't even need to put bagoong. The kare-kare is a one person entree that comes with a scoop of rice but we were able to share among the 4 of us. The palabok was very tasty as well. The tangy and savory pork belly sinigang was served in a "palayok." It comes with rice that was good for 4 people. We were all very happy and satisfied with the food especially the great service. We were even offered to sing karaoke which we did and I think attracted some customers to come in lol! If only we were from this area, we would frequent this restaurant but we are from Las Vegas. We will definitely be back when we are...