- I'm Nicole Wilhelm, your Bay Area host for "5 Buck Lunch."
Having lived in the Bay Area my whole life,
some would call me a unicorn.
As a real native should, I've got all the Bay Area's spots
for cheap eats.
Let me take you on a magical journey
from hangry to happy, for five bucks, or less.
So, we're in the Castro District of San Francisco,
and I am craving some home-cooked Filipino food,
just like my mom and my Lolo used to make.
Now if you don't know, my mom is originally
from the Philippines, fresh off the boat,
and my dad is from Indiana, and he's black,
so that made me a Blackipino.
You know I know delicious Filipino food when I taste it,
and if you're looking for something amazing
for five bucks or less, I know where it's at.
Let's go.
Do you know where I can get lunch for five bucks, or less?
- For five bucks, I wouldn't say five bucks or less.
I'd say my favorite restaurant would be Tacolicious.
Two tacos, a shot, and a beer for 12 bucks.
- When I eat in the Bay for lunch,
there's a spot that I really like is Wooden Spoon.
- I love the Wooden Spoon.
What do you order? - There you go.
The avocado toast is what you have to start with,
no matter what.
- Orphan Andy's, that being very good.
- OK.
- And I remember there's that sandwich for five bucks.
A sushi place.
That's about it.
Like I said, I know the area pretty well.
- Yeah, sounds like it.
But quick question,
have you ever had Filipino food before?
- I had...
Not quite.
I know I had-- - Was it half Filipino food?
Do you slurp when you eat your noodles?
- No, but I could.
- So, you're a quiet slurper?
- There you go.
- If it ain't spit, it ain't love.
- OK Castro, I see how you slurping those noodles down.
So, we are finally here at Turo Cafe & Grill
in Balboa Park.
Let's go check it out.
Hi, Joy, I'm Nicole.
- Hi.
- Nice to meet you. - Nice to meet you, too.
- So your restaurant is family owned and operated, right?
- Everything, starting from the kitchen
to the people rolling the lumpia in the back.
Everyone's family.
And we have my daughters up here at the register
and my husband's on the grill.
My best friends help me out.
My mom and aunties roll the lumpia.
- It makes me feel like home because my mom's also Filipino.
- Oh, awesome.
- So watching all of this, I'm like,
oh my God, it's my childhood!
- Yeah!
Turo means to point,
so at places like this in the Philippines,
you literally go up to the hot bar
and you point out what you want.
They put it on the plate for you, and you get your food.
- Can you tell me about some
of your most popular items here?
- Our most favorite dishes would be our laing,
which is spinach, coconut milk, and fried pork.
- Mmm.
- And then, our barbecue chicken, or pork,
which is grilled by my husband and the rest of our team.
- Are any of those five bucks?
Because I only have five bucks today, and I want
to get something delicious.
- For you, I have something special.
That would be our pancit noodles.
It's a mix of egg and rice noodles, pork,
mixed vegetables, and it's the perfect meal,
'cause you have your starch, you have your meat
and you have your veggies.
- Yo, sounds great.
Yes, I will definitely order that.
- Wonderful.
So one regular-sized pancit, 4.88.
- Oh, amazing.
- Thank you. - Thank you.
- Thank you. - You're welcome, enjoy.
- Now, let's break this pork pancit down.
Mmm.
You see, there's rice noodles and egg noodles,
green onions and carrots, cabbage, pork down on the bottom.
It's a perfect blend of protein, starch,
as well as vegetables.
So you can get it all in one bite.
What I like to do before I eat my pancit is sprinkle
a little bit of lemon juice on top.
I like how the citrus really brings out the flavors.
I like the savory and a little bit of the tang together.
Ready or not, here I come.
You can't hide.
My mom would be proud.
She'd be super proud.
The flavors blend together so well, but they each have
a little platform of their own.
You can tell that they are perfectly seasoned
before they even put it in the stir fry.
And if you're wondering, yes,
I would totally bring my family here.
Mom, Lola, Lolo, totally come through.
It's delicious, just like you made it.
It's so good, let me take another bite.
And then, also, what people don't know,
'cause you might not have seen it prepared,
is that they add pepper to it so
that there's a little bit of a pepper kick.
When you have pancit, it's super delicious, and...
Actually, what are you still doing here?
Why don't you go get your own?
I'm about to go HAM, and I need you to kick rocks.
Thanks.
Look at all of this deliciousness.
This is the honorable mention.
It is a banana lumpia.
You're gonna have banana on the inside, jack fruit,
sort of like a caramel apple meets dessert egg roll.
Super delicious.
And extra brownie points if you call it what it is
in Tagalog, which is turon.
Thank you again for watching.
And if you haven't already, leave it in the comments
of what your favorite lunch spot is for the low.
And make sure to subscribe, comment, like and share,
because sharing is caring, and if you haven't checked out
the previous episode, you should.
It's the best cheap slice in the Bay.