Helen’s Kitchen — Restaurant in West Covina

With all the hoopla about Pares Overload in social media these days, this place piqued my interest during a recent foray towards the West Covina area. We were hungry but pressed for time, and a quick Google search for "the best Filipino food near me" brought back Helen's on top of that list. We secured a reservation quickly (yes, they take reservations online) and headed there. The place is decent-sized, obviously recently opened as it still had that unfinished quality about it. We were quickly greeted by a friendly gentleman named Floyd, the owner who shared that his Kapampangan wife is the chef, and that he grew up eating pares back in the Philippines. There were 3 other sets of diners there who seemed to be enjoying their meals. Of course, we ordered their Pares Overload as featured on their print ads and menu board. The verdict --- it was pretty legit price wise, tastewise, and appearance-wise. Is it the best I've tried? Well, it was as I'd never had this combo of fried pork belly, chitlins and pares before. The lumpia and shumai were pedestrian at best (I'm sorry) and the garlic fried rice was decent. My husband agrees with me. The portions were big enough for sharing but we ended up ordering more rice to finish all the rest of the food. There aren't any reasons not to support the business in the future. I see big things for them, especially once they start serving desserts! We will...

Wonderful filipino spot! Helen’s Kitchen is a great place to get some “lesser known” filipino favorites. If you’re tired of seeing different variations of adobo, pancit, and fried chicken everywhere, Helen’s Kitchen serves tasty Pares, Tapsilog, Longsilog, Sisig, and more! Their Halo Halo overload was also really good too.

Super friendly staff, clean dining room, good vibes from the customers, and only about $12 per person. Helen’s Kitchen has that perfect balance of old school recipes and modern flare. Great place to bring filipinos and non-filipinos! We will be...

The food is amazing. I got the Crispy Pares with Garlic Rice and Soup and Mais con Yelo. The Pares is amazing; I’ve never had anything like it. The crispy meat melts as I chew. It’s too flavorful to eat alone so definitely a must with rice. The Mais con Yelo is a shaved ice drink with corn, corn flakes, honey, and ice cream. They didn’t skimp on anything and the drink was packed with corn. Very sweet and refreshing. It took about 30 minutes to make my food altogether, but it was...