Restaurant, store offer taste of the Philippines
Jing Franklin said she loves to talk, but at Filipino Asian Mart, having a one-on-one discussion without interruptions can be a challenge.
As people stop by the small dining room to order food, pick up takeout orders and browse the array of imported products on the store shelves, most of them stop to chat with Franklin—the co-owner of the store—before digging in to the establishment's Filipino dishes.
"[Filipino Asian Mart is] unique in the sense that when people come in here they automatically adopt the ambience, like a family," Franklin said. "And we want it to be that way. You can dine in here and you can talk to somebody you don't even know for the first time, and it's very welcoming."
Family-style seating and friendly staff play a role in the restaurant's laid-back atmosphere, she said.
Franklin says her fondness for good conversation is largely rooted in her family's culture. She was born in the Philippines and moved to Austin in 1989. She and her husband, Craig, opened Filipino Asian Mart in October 2010. Customers can order at the counter and dine in or take food to go. Three dishes are permanently on the menu: chicken adobo; pancit, or vermicelli noodles; and lumpia, or fried egg rolls. The restaurant offers a soup of the day; flavors have included tomato, tamarind, guava and ginger.
"Filipino cuisine is a mixture of Spanish and Asian [food]," she said.
Daily specials—"whatever is on the board," she said—vary. Typical dishes include palabok, a noodle dish with seafood gravy and shrimp; lechon kawali, a crispy pork dish; and fresh lumpia, another version of the egg roll that is not fried but instead is topped with gravy, garlic and peanuts. Pricing is by the plate: two entrees with a side of rice are $6.99; three entrees with rice are $8.99.
