Comfort food for Pinoys

If the walls of Tribu Restaurant in San Bruno and in Union City in California could speak, they’d tell the same tale: The stars were here!

Indeed, Filipino celebrities like Sam Milby, Piolo Pascual, Cherie Gil, Nonito Donaire, apl.de.ap of Black  Eyed Peas and Arnel Pineda of Journey have at one time, dined in Tribu Restaurant that is renowned for having one of the most  authentic tasting Pinoy food.

The food is so good that even The New York Times and San Francisco Chronicle have featured Tribu in separate articles with no less than Michelin chef Jennie Lorenzo raving.

Stephanie Santana, daughter of Tribu owners Kit and Happy Santana, said that if the Thais are known for their spicy food, the Italians for their pastas and cheese, and Indians for their curries, then Filipinos are slowly getting into mainstream consciousness abroad for their “comfort food.”

“Filipino food — it’s not trying to be fancy. Still, Pinoy cuisine has international qualities just the way it is. Those who are not familiar with the taste will eventually warm up to it. I know this for a fact because many people who go to Tribu for the first time, return to order the same thing,” she said.

The Santanas recently opened the Tribu Grill Express in Berkely Square, Commonwealth Ave. cor., Tandang Sora, Quezon City. Though less than a hundred seater, the place looks bigger because of the huge number of customers that fill up the seats both night and day.

It’s fiesta forever in Tribu.

“The secret is there’s no secret. We just cook food the way a native would except that we use the freshest ingredients. We also make sure we serve the food within 20 minutes upon order,” Stephanie said.

Majority on the Tribu menu are ones any Filipino is familiar with. Pinakbet, Crispy Pata, Sizzling Bangus Belly, Crispy Fried Chicken, Inihaw na Baboy — ye ole favorites, as another restaurant would put it.

In the US, the food tastes even better because of, well, nostalgia. Because the food tastes the way it should be, the Filipinos abroad get a piece of home right on their plates.

“Our heaviest day is Sunday after lunch. I guess, that’s after people have gone to Mass.

Every Sunday, this huge crowd just suddenly turns up that you kinda wonder where they’ve been hiding before,” Stephanie joked.

Perhaps it helps that the interiors of Tribu are not ones to intimidate anyone. An article described it as “welcoming with huge windows…cheery orange and yellow walls, and an open kitchen.”

All items are reasonably priced — not to cost anyone an arm and a leg at all.  Tribu even has set meals for those on a budget or whose appetites are — shall we say — restrained.  

For Filipinos in California, they can very well bring friends of other nationalities to Tribu since every viand is described simply, thus, eliminating gustatory confusion.

Although Tribu Grill Express will be getting stiff competition from restaurants of its kind, Stephanie is unperturbed.

“Just taste, oh, the kare-kare,” she said, naming an item at random and in impromptu.

She was right. One bite and you’d think you had died and gone to heaven.

And that’s just for starters.