Holiday Village is Capitol Market’s annual European-style holiday market — think twinkling lights, festive décor, artisanal vendors, and seasonal food & drink that give a cozy Christmas-market vibe similar to those in Vienna or Prague. It’s family-friendly and great for holiday shopping, enjoying delicious food, and browsing handcrafted gifts and specialty treats from local makers. 🇵🇭 The Filipino-American Association of West Virginia offered a sampler plate for $30. It included pancit, adobo, rice and lumpia. Additionally, I tried arroz caldo, which is like a Filipino congee, and kutsinta, which is a steamed rice cake with coconut. 🥣 Gritt's Farm offered Tinola Soup (Filipino Ginger-Garlic Chicken Soup), and I also tried a Toasted Marshmallow Hot Chocolate. 🍴 Sam's Ube Bread offered hopia, Spanish rolls, ensaymada, ube pandesal, pan de coco, chicken siopao (one of my favorite bites of the day) and longanisa. 🍲 Jocelyn's Authentic Food offered pancit, adobo, eggrolls & sesame seed balls (another favorite - filled with jelly). Others include Shake Your Boba, Connies & Zenaida.

Based in Elkins, Mona's Eggrolls is a food truck that offers "a taste of the Phillippines." In addition to eggrolls, Mona's also has pancit, curry, barbecue, adobo and more. I was excited to see this food truck locally as part of the Filipino festival. The line was very long, but after about an hour, I made it to the front and ordered the two eggroll and pancit combo. Lumpia is like the Filipino version of an eggroll, and they tend to be more light and crisp. I really enjoyed these - flavorful, but fresh. Pancit is a veggie and noodle dish that is more mild in flavor but just as satisfying. Grade: A

Nanay's Filipino Restaurant is my friends' go-to Filipino spot in Arizona. I love the Filipino food I've tried it the past, so I was excited to try this homestyle restaurant.



The restaurant is fairly spacious, and the food is served in a cafeteria style. In order to place my order, I did a mix of listing items from the menu on the wall and pointing at options behind the case.



They had lechon (suckling pig), pancit (stir-fried noodles), pork BBQ, adobo (stew), lumpia (eggrolls-ish) and more.



I almost wish I would have taken a sample of everything they had to offer so I could explore some other dishes I've never had before.



But, everything I did select was delicious. Deeply flavorful and everything seems to have veggies incorporated. So, that gave a little bit of a crunchy texture. I enjoyed the marinated and vinegary flavors most.



Lumpia, though, may be my favorite eggroll-esque vehicle. I like them a bit crispier than these year, but still so good.



What is your favorite Filipino dish?



Grade: A

There has been one authentic Filipino restaurant in West Virginia that has been an absolute dream! And now, there are two.



Phillippines Best Food, located in Parkersburg, just opened a second location in Williamstown down at the boat ramp on the river.



It's a walk-up counter and has some outdoor dining. The menu is more streamlined with 2 steps: pick a bowl or a burrito. Then, pick your protein. Plus there are sides and kid options.



For my entree, I went with a pork adobo bowl with pancit noodles. It is marinated pork with onions and potatoes served over rice noodles. It has a rich, slightly sweet flavor and is so tender that it's just *chef's kiss* perfection.



But, wait, there's more. If you're not getting lumpia while here, you're doing it wrong. I hate making statements like that - I just love these things. So crispy - but fresh. Just really good.



And I ordered some jalapeno poppers - mostly because I thought they might have a different twist, but they're pretty straight forward.



My favorite part, though ...



Was the halo-halo! This signature drink reminds me of my friends Kaitlynn and Josh, who had it at their wedding. So, this was only the second time I've ever had it. And I can't wait to have it again.



Halo-halo has crushed ice, evaporated milk, ube ice cream (like sweet potato or yam), sweetened beans and leche flan (thank you for this, Sam!). The flavors are different and layered and the texture is varied. Just loved it.



Grade: A

The long-awaited Filipino restaurant on Cantley Drive in Charleston has opened.

Barkadas features Philippine island staples, as well as blends of Spanish, United States and Southeast Asian influences into meals.

"Barkadas" is "Filipino street slang meaning a group of friends getting together, which in turn is how the restaurant was developed. It all started by four friends getting together and deciding to collaborate to build a new concept for Charleston, West Virginia. Our goal is to be the most customer centric restaurant in the area and reinventing the neighborhood pub & restaurant." One of my friends and local chef extraordinaire Paul Smith is at the helm of this new restaurant.

Located at the bottom of Cantley Drive near Dominoes, Barkadas is a medium-sized space that has been chocked full since the day it announced its grand opening. So full, in fact, that the parking lot was packed and customers were parking along the road.

The interior features beautiful dark-hued hardwoods, greenery, recessed lighting and metal fixtures and chairs that give off an industrial vibe. It's modern, but cozy, and has a very cool vibe. When I opened the doors, there was a hostess immediately there to greet me and seat me. I spent some time looking over the menu, which includes fried spam, nachos, bao buns, burritos, burgers, and more.

For starters, I ordered lumpia. What's that?  Lumpia - Six, crispy Filipino style pork egg rolls. Served with house pickled veggies and dipping sauces. My former coworker's mother used to make these for us, and I still crave them. So good. These lumpia were perfectly crisp and delicious. Plus that dipping sauce? Perfection.

Then, I ordered a few bao buns. Bao Buns - Soft, pillowy, steamed buns with your choice of filling: Glazed Pork Belly and Chicken Karaage. I love bao buns and I don't know of any other place in town you can get them. The buns were perfectly steamed, the crisp meat and colorful veggies all blended beautifully. The Chicken Karaage was my favorite here.



Finally, I ordered an Adobo Bowl - Avocado, scallion, tomato, pickled onion. I got mine with pancit noodles - very thin rice noodles.