Turo Turo at Kabayan Filipino Store and Café

Recently we wrote a story about a visit to a local restaurant that promised elevated, affordable dining, and some readers took issue with the definition of affordability and lamented what they see as a lack of coverage by the Observer of enough truly affordable eats from less pretentious and sometimes overlooked restaurants hidden about North Texas.

While one can disagree with this premise, we’re always on the lookout for hidden culinary gems and asked these readers for some suggestions. One recommendation was Kabayan Filipino Store & Café. Both locations, one in Lewisville and another in North Dallas at 19009 Preston Road, offer both a Filipino market and a restaurant that promises a price-friendly experience that deserves more attention. Challenge accepted, it was off to Lewisville.

Kabayan is the Tagalog word for "countryman" or "citizen," and is the proper way to address fellow Filipinos. It's a fitting name for this little spot that serves traditional food that is indeed easy on the pocketbook, especially if one goes the turo turo route, the cafeteria-style special combo menu option offered.

Turo turo translates to “point point,” because one points to the entrées and dishes from a colorful display of stews, noodles, skewers, curries and soups such as sinigang, a popular traditional sour soup native to the Philippines.
There are two size options: The double plate ($10.99) includes your choice of two entrées, or the big plate, where you can go wild and select three entrées for $2 more. Both include a large scoop of steamed rice.

It can be overwhelming for those us not familiar with Filipino food, but the staff is extremely helpful and patient. We were really interested in what looked like a large pork roll that reminded us a bit of porchetta. Lechon, it turns out, is a roast suckling pig, sold by the pound and stuffed with lemongrass, garlic, onions and tamarind. It is traditionally served at weddings and Christmas, where leftovers are used to make lechon slaw.
This dish had two main components: rich succulent chunks of roasted meat that practically dissolved in the mouth and crispy, crackly pork skin full of salty and meaty umami greatness that we’re still thinking about. One wonders how there are any leftovers remaining to make the lechon slaw.
Our second choice was chicken curry, which is dark meat chicken on the bone braised in a rich and complex curry sauce garnished with bay leaves and a pepper. This was really good, despite our usual preference for boneless white meat.
Our third selection was pork bicol express, a stew of tender pork chunks with ginger, garlic, onion, coconut milk and bagoong alamang (shrimp paste). It was a wonderful mélange of flavors and textures that immediately brought to mind comfort food — a more complex mac ‘n cheese, if you will.
Finally, we went with a skewer of barbecued pork on a stick: perfectly grilled pieces of delicious pork belly that can, of course, be included in the turo turo but are also available at the extremely affordable price of $3.99 a skewer. We might order half a dozen next time.

We also shared a serving of lumpia, the Filipino take on the egg roll that is filled with ground pork. They were fine if a bit of overkill after the rest of the meal, since they took some time to prepare and arrived after we’d already finished the mains.

For the hungry and adventurous sorts who are not as concerned with cost, there is also the bilao platter for $65 that includes pork barbecue skewer, pork liempo (grilled pork belly), Cajun shrimp, whole fried tilapia, pork lumpia, butter garlic okra and bok choy with a bowl of steamed rice. This item promises to serve three or four people.
After the meal we looked around the market area for a bit and found a couple of Filipino snacks and bottled sauces that looked interesting, so it was a productive lunch trip. Affordable and appetizing, traditional and tasty, we were glad to have discovered this place, and you should, too.

2305 S. State Hwy 121, No. 165, Lewisville. Tuesday – Saturday, 10 a.m. – 7 p.m.; Sunday, 10 a.m. – 3 p.m.