Goldilocks National City — Restaurant in National City

I had always seen Goldilocks when going to the nearby Filipino supermarket, but don’t usually go to National City to dine. One day some friends were in town and we actually craved Filipino food, but didn’t feel like cooking, so we decided to finally try this place out. Parking can be a bit challenging on the weekends at this shopping area, but we were able to get a spot within minutes.

The entrance brings you to the bakery section and the restaurant seating is to the left, but the layout makes it confusing as to where you go to actually get seated. It’s hard to tell which employees are servers and which work in the bakery and they’re bouncing all over but no one really greets and seats when they see you enter and stand there. When we were finally brought into the seating area, we were quite surprised that there were so many tables as you can’t see the whole section from the entrance. It feels cramped with so many tables so close together and the decor is reminiscent of dated diner/cafeteria. The commotion of all the other tables and servers make it a challenge to have a relaxing meal.

The service is good, when you finally get seated and your food order is taken. The ladies that work there are very friendly and work quite hard as the restaurant does not staff enough to handle all the tables they seat. We can see how each server is stretched thin as they run back and forth nonstop to service all the tables, so bless their hearts! If I rated this review on service alone, I would have given 4 stars, but that is not the case.

The food. I’ve grown up enjoying Filipino food and especially married to a Filipino, I’ve learned to make some of my favorite dishes too. Well, we were craving Filipino food this day and didn’t want to cook, so we were ready to just enjoy. We ordered the Sizzling Pork Sisig, Pork Dinaguan, Lechon Kawali, Lechon Kare-Kare. Let me just say that the food was a major letdown. Sisig is my sole favorite Filipino dish, however, the Sisig here was more like a breakfast omelet filling. There was so much chopped veggies, I wasn’t sure if I was eating a vegetarian Sisig or what. I have never in my life had Sisig where almost half was made up of chopped veggies. The Lechon Kawali was extremely dry and over-fried. We had to hunt down a server to ask for a vinegar dipping sauce to help make it more palatable. The Prok Dinaguan was flat in flavor, not horrible but not exactly good. The Pork Kare-Kare was decent and in this case, the best of what we got.

Service from the servers would have gotten this review 4 stars, but the food resulted in the 2 stars. It was the first time I ate here and I honestly can’t say I would be returning, which is unfortunate because I really wanted to...

Goldilocks was an option suggested for my dad's celebration of life gathering. I drove down to the restaurant from Carlsbad to talk with them directly about preparing food for 100+ guests for a Filipino house party (we're Filipino). It was my first time there, and the staff was friendly and helpful. They had me work with Mel, the manager there, and she went above and beyond to help me select the perfect combination of dishes for the party. Knowing we would have some vegetarian guests (like me), Mel helped me customize some of the dishes like the Pancit Bihon, Pinakbet and even the Bagoong Alamang to exclude meat, and suggested a few orders of the vegetarian egg rolls so the veggie guests weren't depressed that they couldn't eat the Shanghai Lumpia. She helped me figure out portions, and also helped with dessert suggestions.

Come the day of the celebration of life, Mel helped our food delivery people be sure they had everything in the order. The food was still hot when it arrived, and many guests remarked how delicious all the food and selections were; Great feedback from a primarily Filipino crowd!

I am 1000% happy with the food, the help, the services and the care that Mel and her team put into our house catering for my dad's celebration of life and highly recommend Goldilock's National City for any home parties you might have. Work with Mel, she's the best!!! Thank you Mel and your team for helping to make this event even more special by providing delicious authentic Filipino dishes and desserts to help us to celebrate my Tatay's beautiful and...

Reviewed on 2018-10-28

We've been to this place several times. If you're looking for decent Filipino food, in my opinion, then you're in for a treat. There's currently three goldilocks bakeshop locations in California; Carson, Cerritos and National City. The shop tenders assorted of food items from their signature cakes to traditional pinoy dishes.

To name a few of my favorite sweets:

Boat Tarts: Purple Yam & Jack Fruit Ensaymada (Sweet Brioche) Black Bean Hopya Salted Caramel Sansrival

We had lunch with the family today at the national city branch and ordered:

Fried rice that comes with golden brown crispy garlic Kare-Kare: Filipino stew supplemented with a thick appetizing peanut gravy. This one is made from stewed oxtail and tripe Fried lumpya or ground pork egg rolls Daing na bangus: Also known as milkfish that is marinated in a mixture composed of vinegar, crushed peppercorn, garlic and salt Calamari: Distinctively fried squid

Only took 10 minutes for the wait. Our server Joanne did a wonderful job. She is very professional, always smiling and consistently accommodating. We all came out very full and happy. The price was also affordable.

The only thing we can nit-pick was the calamari, which was bland and lacked the spice. Other than that, everything was amazing. We'll certainly visit again...