Tabachoy — Restaurant in Philadelphia

I had very high hopes for this restaurant …I been waiting months to get reservations and the majority of reviews have been positive…though unfortunately our experience was not so much. Tabachoy is a very small restaurant and you expect a higher noise level then the average restaurant - the noise level in the restaurant was extreme me and my husband could barely hear each other and when the waitress came to take our order I had to repeat what the waitress said several times to my husband due to the noise level in the restaurant. In regards to the service, at first it was fine to the exception to not being able to hear her discuss the tasting menu process - So we decide to go with the tasting menu since there was so many interesting things in the menu and from what we were told we could choose 2 options from the small plate and entree section, Which I was excited about because both my husband and me wanted to try different things - Well a few minutes later another waiter comes to our table to take our order, when we precede to order he tells us that we can’t choose what we want off the Chef’s tasting menu and it is a blind chef tasting menu, which was not told to us before and he told us the waiter’s was wrong and gave us the wrong info in a curt manner - So we decided to go with the Chef menu anyway, unlike a bit of an adventure… So we receive our appetizers which in my opinion were all delicious we had this Filipino style Caesar salad that was amazing - Chicken wings that were very juicy and seasoned well and fried pork rolls that were scrumptious though my husband felt they were meh 🫤 Than came the small plates which were strean beans in a soy sauce - the Filipino style soy sauce was very good though the beans were overcooked and over-charred - then we had a raw tuna dish in a green sauce which was very delicious -Then came the two entree’s which was pork cheek (which I was planning on ordering in the first place) the pork cheek was very tender and I loved the savory/sweet sauce it was in, My husband was not thrilled with the sauce in the dish - then came the 2nd enter and this is where the evening took a major dip for me because the 2nd enter to come out was a bowl of tofu that was sitting on some type of reddish sauce - first off for a chefs tasting menu you are suppose to get the highlights of the cuisine that is served on the menu or something new that the chef has whipped up not a food that is hard to garnish miso soup in every chine restaurant you go and one of the cheapest foods you can serve - I was not thrilled especially with the other different things they have on the menu they decide to serve us this very uncreative and literally tasteless food (Tofu) - I decided to speak up and let the waiter know we were not happy with this choice - and would like to choose something different but he said they couldn’t make any replacements and we would have to pay extra and he reminded us that he told us it would be a blind tasting, said in a very dismissive way and was not willing to accomdate us. So we decided to just finish what we had in the table and wait for dessert which was a Filipino style cheesecake with a caramelized sauce which was heavenly - My other pet peeve is not once did they come over to ask how our experience was both before my complaint and after and not once did they come to check if we need any water - So with that said I do want to go back and try some other things on the menu thought this time of course a la carte - But they truly do need to work on their customer service and not serve an entree dish that is very cheap to make and not even close to being a highlight of the menu...

Honest Review from a Homegrown Filipino

Great service but unfortunately I couldn’t give this place a higher rating from a Filipino POV. Really am proud a Filipino resto is in Philly but really felt the need to give my two cents here. This review will be lengthy and as a homegrown Pinoy, I’d like to share my thoughts and hoping the owners would at least consider.

The place is quaint, small but definitely with a good vibe. First reaction that I had upon entering but the smells of wonderful Filipino food was a bit lacking but of course I was still excited to try the food.

We had the following and I’ll be reviewing each one:

Lumpiang Shanghai - this was really good! Would rate it a 4/5. Nice crispy shell, good texture on the meat inside plus the sauce was good. Would probably rate it higher if it was more flavorful, lacked a bit of umami vs what I’m used to in the Philippines.

Salmon Sinigang - 2/5. Unfortunately this was very much lack luster. The soup wasn’t sour enough; that eye-wincing sourness that envelopes your palate was lacking. The soups did not taste like salmon at all which tells me the salmon was probably not stewed in the soup. The salmon in the soup was ok, but the menu said salmon belly so I was expecting some fat. Hoping for a better, heartier version of this next time

Pancit Bihon - 2/5 - again, lack luster. Quite bland. I feel like the heartiness of pancit was overall missing. Not a lot of umami and it tasted like the vegetables were just thrown in with the noodles. Could use a bit of pepper and garlic too.

Pork sisig - 2.5/5 - Flavorwise it was ok. It wasn’t terrible. But the meat was cut up too thick so the meat was just tough. I did request for some soy sauce and lime which are what you’ll find it served with back home which made it taste a bit better. Maybe if the meat were cut more finely and the pepper and spice amped up a bit more this would’ve been stellar. Good effort, though!

Chance’s fried chicken - 2.5/5 - the chicken was juicy, let’s give it that. The skin was soggy. I feel like this was trying to take inspiration from Max’s fried chicken? But did not live up to it’s fried name. The gravy tasted a bit weird, complex? Not bad though. A good chicken dish but wouldn’t come back for it.

Ube Sundae - 4.5/5 - loved this! Great way to end the meal. The Ube sundae was well flavored, not to sweet. Paired with the banana turon it was served with, awesome! The rice puffs (pinipig) it was served with could be a bit more puffed, but the flavor it brought was good. Overall a great dish and would definitely have again.

I do understand that Filipino food in the US needs to cater to a broader audience but I hope that in the future, Filipino food here could just be unappolegetically Filipino, especially in finer dining places. It was a good effort, food wasn’t inedible. But, the spirit of home was missing and hoping this could be brought into the dishes...

Always super excited to try different takes on Filipino dishes and flavors!

Got the tasting menu which came with the app sampler, both sides, two mains and dessert. This is cheaper than getting all of these items individually and portioned well for a single meal. However, if you want to try everything AND leave with food, order a la carte!

Our favorite of the app sampler were the wings. Super juicy and even better with whatever the herbal green sauce was. The lumpia tasted like my grandmas, but our filling slipped out of the wrappers as we bit them. Appreciated the house-made sweet chili sauce. I was most excited for the Tabachou Caesar. Loved the punchiness from the citrus and the funk from the bagoong, but I think it was over dressed for us. Also loved the fried shallot or garlic and the herbs!

For the sides, I liked the Philly laing but I felt like it was missing something? Maybe we could have the option to add bagoong. The adobong haricot verts were too salty for us.

The standout of the meal was the ginataang cauliflower. I wasn’t expecting it to be cold and at first I was searching for the cauliflower until I realized it was blitzed LOL. Liked the crispy Maitake on top for texture. Ended up being my fave. I would even love it as a dip for an app. I hope this is on the menu every time I’m in Philly. The other main we got was the sisig. I liked the flavor of it, but it lacked texture for me. There wasn’t any ear or crispy skin and there was a lot of mayo. It was more smooth and fatty and rich than I prefer. I would appreciate some kind of texture, more chili, and more citrus.

For dessert, we got the ube sundae and the pandan cheesecake. I’m a huge fan of pandan and not that big on ube so I was surprised that I preferred the ube over the pandan. The ube sundae was ube soft serve with crisped rice and turon (banana spring rolls). Love the hot + cold combo. I wanted to like the pandan cheesecake, but it was granular/not smooth, and I think the pandan balance was off or something because it left an astringent after taste that I didn’t enjoy. I like that it was wrapped in banana leaf for that nostalgic Filipino dessert aroma and flavor.

Service was friendly and quick. No problems there! There was however, a light that flickered throughout our time dining that I found super distracting. Not a big deal though.

While I will always have something to say, this was a positive experience and I think this is a good intro to anyone wanting to try Filipino food! I am excited to return to try the rest...