The Sarap Shop

This is the story of a food truck, not my normal dining destination, but one I have been Instagram stalking pretty much since it opened.  Why?  Well, besides having a menu that is full of things I adore (pork belly! ube!), and a slew of raving Yelp reviews, it was started by a chef I know from his time when he worked at the cafe at my office.  I loved his story, and wanted to support it ... and, of course, eat delicious things.

"The heart of Filipino culture is rooted in our bold hospitality — the ability to quickly turn strangers to friends to chosen family members. This is the magic we've been able to experience ourselves as first-gen Fil-Am Bay Area kids."

The food truck is called The Sarap Shop, and their cuisine is Filipino-American comfort food.  Oh yes.  Hence, the pork belly and ube, and menu that calls out to me.  The menu is also extremely dietary constraints friendly - many items are actually vegan, most can be made gluten-free, and everything is very clearly marked with allergens.  They were early on board with working with Impossible meat, found in a curry version of lumpia and in loco moco from their regular specials menu, and one of the most lauded dishes is actually their tofu sisig.  This is a place that those who want to devour pork belly wrapped in carby pita with fries can dine side-by-side with a vegan gluten-free friend eating the signature tofu sisig salad.  

The Sarap Shop has certainly had an interesting past few years, as have all businesses in the food service industry amongst a pandemic.  Their original location was inside Chase Arena ... and, uh, people weren't exactly going to games in the first phases of the pandemic.  They pivoted to meal kits for home delivery, introduced a retail line of sauces, and, opened the food truck in Parklab Gardens, an outdoor, covid-friendly environment.  They thrived, Yelpers loved it, and thus, I had to visit, bringing along a group of co-workers, as we did a lunch and mini golf outing.  I soon returned on my own when the craving hit.

The food truck closed down recently, but they are pivoting their operations (they have a commercial kitchen and interesting stuff in the works), and I can't wait to see what comes next.

Part of our Feast!

My first visit, I visited with a group of 15 people, so I was able to see, and taste, nearly all of the menu.  Everything was good, everyone was pleased with their food, and there were some clear standouts, at least to me: the pork belly (both sisig and adobo, because, duh, well cooked pork belly is a thing of beauty) and ... the ube fries.  ZOMG, the ube fries.

Setting

The Sarap Shop has two main locations, and a commissary offsite where much of the prep is done.  In addition, they offer catering delivered to you.  Our visit was to the food truck, in Parklab Gardens.   I haven't seen the location inside Chase Arena, so I can't comment on that, but I think it is just a concession stand.

The Truck.

The "truck" is really a tailer, located in Parklab Gardens alongside a few others, which is its permanent home. 

The menu is available in pictorial form right in front where the order window is.  Once ready, food comes out the side window.

Specials.

The main menu at Sarap Shop is based around 3 main concepts: rice bowls (with golden, seasoned jasmine rice and a small side salad), pita sandwiches (which include fries, slaw, and aioli inside), and salads.  You can get your choice of protein prepared in most of the styles, where proteins range from pork belly (two ways, as adobo or sisig), tofu (in their signature sisig prep), or crispy boneless chicken strips.  The menu usually has a few specials as well, like their play on loco moco made with Impossible Beef and a crowd pleasing carbonara.

Besides the main entrees, the "snacks" portion of the menu is a cross between what I consider appetizers and side dishes, and all are deep fried.  Calamari, fries, and lumpia (both regular pork or an interesting vegan impossible burger curry version).  Sometimes specials like onion rings show up here.  Portions of these are quite large, and are great for sharing.

The menu is rounded out by two signature milk teas, both soy based and vegan, one a play on halo halo and the other coffee based with flan.  These are available in individual bottles, or, jugs.  There are no desserts on the menu.

Savory Food

Our group ordered, well, nearly everything.  I got to try rice bowls, salads, snacks, and all the specials.  Pork belly adobo, pork belly sisig, tofu sisig, fried chicken, carbonara, calamari ... yup, we got it all.  The only thing no one ordered was the lumpia or pita wraps, which I didn't notice until I went to write this up.  Next time ...

Side Salad. $3.

"Cabbage mix, carrots, corn, and tomatoes tossed in a house-made calamansi poppy seed dressing."

I started with something a bit boring - a side salad.  This is also used as part of the rice bowls (they come with a scoop of rice and a scoop of this), and is the base for all of the salad dishes.   But why did I get a boring side salad?  Let me explain.

Rather than order a main dish myself, I opted to order this, along with two fried "Snacks" for myself, and had alliances formed with 5 people to try portions of *their* main dishes in exchange for trying the snacks.  Basically, I'd get to sample most of the menu, and have a slew of fried goodness, several carb laden pastas, and fatty fatty pork belly headed my way.  I wanted the side salad to combat all the heavy food.  Balance, you know.

It turned out to be a refreshing pairing, which is what I was looking for.  Crispy shredded cabbage and carrots, juicy tomatoes, and ... cooked corn.  I'll admit, the corn didn't really do it for me - I like corn, but cold cooked corn was not my favorite.  I like hot corn on the cob, cold roasted corn in salads, or fresh raw corn, or corn nuts, but cold cooked corn ... kinda eh for me.  I also wished for something acidic, like some harsh red onion.  It just felt a bit incomplete, which maybe is ok, as it is usually considered the base of the meal, not a standalone salad.

The dressing was vinaigrette style, with a bit of crunch from poppy seeds, and acid from the calamansi.

Overall this was fine, but not something I'd get again.  I also found it odd that they have no salad base option with leafy greens, which I think would make a better eating experience, both as a side here, but also for the salad dishes.

**+, but a great value for just $3.

Calamari Bistek. $10.75. ("Snack")
+ Extra Yay-ioli Garlic Sauce ($0.50) + Extra Ahy! Sauce I'm Spicy ($0.50)

"Crispy, crunchy calamari tossed in a citrusy, savory bistek sauce. Topped with caramelized onions, aioli, and lemons for an extra fresh slap of flavor to the face."

Next came one of the "snacks", and perhaps the item I was actually most looking forward to.  Calamari.  Fried calamari.  I know you can get fried calamari many places, in many styles, ranging from Italian style breaded and fried and served with marinara, to tempura battered and served with aioli, to fish and chips style beer bettered, etc, but it had been ages since I had good fried calamari, and I was really craving it.  I couldn't wait to see what they did with the bistek sauce, and I'm definitely all over caramelized onions and aioli!

The calamari portion was generous, and included individual rings and larger pieces.  All were thickly breaded in a crispy coating, truly crispy and crunchy.  The coating seemed quite flavorful, I thought it was in the batter, but perhaps that was the bistek sauce it was tossed with after frying?  Either way, super savory and delicious.

The execution of the calamari was done properly, not a chewy bit to be found, and the coating covered the pieces well and didn't crumble or break off, as so often happens.  Great job with the breading and frying of these!

So, calamari, well prepared, flavorful.  Definitely a heavier fried item, this batter wasn't for wimps.  And then the toppings, which ... were eh.  The onions weren't caramelized as described, but rather, seemed pickled?  Certainly not what I think of as caramelized onions, but they did add a nice punch of acid.  They would have been great with the side salad.  There were two bits of lemon that I wanted to use to squeeze over the calamari, but they were too small to really be effective.

Finally, the dipping sauce, aioli (the larger container shown above).  It was good, a vegan garlic aioli.  I wanted something more flavorful, so I am glad I added on a side of their spicy dipping sauce too ($0.50), and that was actually the perfect pairing for me, creamy and spicy.  In the future, I'd ask for that instead of the regular aioli.

Overall, this was a well prepared dish, had good flavor, and a unique coating.  I wished it was served hotter though, as it was rather lukewarm when I got  it(they were crazy busy with a slew of orders though, so, I get it), and the toppings weren't really what I was looking for.  It also was a heavier breading than I was craving, but I did love the crunchy factor it added.

I'm not sure I'd get it again, but I was glad to try it.  I did have a little left over, and crisped it back up in my toaster oven at home, and it was actually much better, as it was then piping hot.

*** originally, but ***+ leftover.

Dirty Style Onion Rings $9. (Toppings on the side)

"Crispy and crunchy golden brown onion rings with a drizzle of our Ahy! I’m Spicy Sauce, Yay-ioli Garlic Sauce, and house slaw."

My next visit to Sarap Shop I was hoping to get the calamari again, as I was craving fried food, but, alas, they were out of it.  I wasn't too upset though, as they had the onion rings back in stock (those were out of stock when I visited the first time), and I had been eying them too.  Available regular, with ketchup, or, as I got them, "Dirty Style".  Normally the toppings come on top, but I asked for them on the side, knowing I wouldn't finish them, and would want to be able to nicely reheat at home.

The onion rings were quite good.  And, served piping hot, right out of the fryer.  Crispy, all assorted size rings, nicely drained, greasy in just the good ways.  They totally and completely hit the spot on a hot (and hungover, sssh!) day.   

I quite liked all the "toppings" too.  The slaw was actually just great to eat on its own, I think they tossed it fresh to order with the dressing so it was really crisp, and it was not over dressed.  I think it was the same calamansi poppy dressing that came with my side salad?  Very good slaw, regardless, and nice to have the light contrast with the onion rings.

Both sauces I had before, and was happy to have again.  They worked great with the onion rings, and while I'm sure the regular onion rings with just ketchup would be good too, even if you don't go full on dirty style, I recommend getting at least one of these sauces on the side to dip.

Overall, just a nicely executed dish, and if I was craving fried food, and there was no calamari, I'd get them again, no hesitation.  ****.

Lechon Sisig Carbonara Pasta. $15.
(Special Entree)

"Spaghetti noodles tossed in our housemade creamy and dreamy carbonara sauce. Topped with roasted pork belly sisig, longanisa bacon bits, and shaved parmesan."

Ok, now we were getting to the main dishes.

Sisig carbonara is a regular special on the menu, available both in lechon and tofu versions.  I knew this would be a very filling dish, so I opted to just steal a portion of each from dining companions, knowing I could always order more if I wanted it.

The base of both versions is spaghetti carbonara.  The pasta was well coated, creamy, and rich.  This is comfort food, through and through.  But really, although the heavy pasta is comforting enough, the real appeal here is the toppings.  Here we had bits of pork belly sisig, which was everything I wanted it to be - juicy, fatty, flavorful.  Who knew sisig sauce and carbonara would pair so well together?    

But this dish kept giving.  Longanisa bacon bits, large shards of parmesan, fresh chopped green onion, diced red onion.  Soo much going on here.  Textures, textures, textures, and I appreciated the acidic onions to slightly balance things out.

Overall, a very unique dish, very rich, and perfect if you have a big appetite and want a gut filler.  For a lunchtime outing, when trying all the other things, it was definitely not an ideal choice, but I think it would make a great dinner on a winter day.

***+ as an overall dish, **** for the pork belly sisig alone.

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Lechon Sisig Rice Bowl. $14.25.

"Roasted pork belly, onions, garlic, and serrano peppers sautéed in our savory and citrusy Super Sisig Sauce. Served with golden java rice and a side of our house cabbage salad with calamansi poppy seed dressing."

I also got a chance to try the Lechon Sisig Rice Bowl, but sadly didn't get a photo.  

It featured the same lechon sisig, bits of chopped up pork belly in flavorful sauce that was totally addicting, and even though I'm not a rice girl, the rice served alongside was really well seasoned, and the side salad added a fresh component.  Just a really well rounded dish, and, swoon, that pork belly sisig. 

It was my favorite of the savory foods, and I'd get it again in a heartbeat.  ****.

Tofu Sisig Carbonara Pasta. $14.
(Special Entree)

"Spaghetti noodles tossed in our house creamy and dreamy carbonara sauce. Topped with shaved parmesan and our best selling tofu sisig, a garlicky, citrusy, spicy stir-fry."

Another companion got the tofu version of the Carbonara, and I'm quite glad he did, as the tofu sisig is a signature item at Sarap Shop.  Vegans and omnivores alike praise it, in the rice bowl, the salad, or, as we had it, on the carbonara.

The base pasta was the same, but this time, instead of bits of pork belly sisig and longanisa bacon bits, we had bits of tofu sisig and ... corn nuts!  Yup, they mimic the crispy bacon bits and pork belly crackling with corn nuts here.  Vegans do not lose out on texture, and in fact, I think they even win.  I really liked the extra crunch from the corn nuts.

The tofu sisig was quite good ... for tofu.  Honestly, probably more enjoyable than most any other firm tofu dish I've had.  The pieces were all just under bite sized, which worked well, and they were crisp yet bouncy, and the sisig sauce added the flavor punch.  It also had plenty of garlic, which went very well with the creamy carbonara.  I certainly preferred the pork belly sisig though.

I appreciate the thought and care that went into crafting the vegetarian version of the sisig, and I see why it gets such praise.  But for me ... pork belly all the way.

***+.

I Love My Ado(bro) Salad. $14.25.

"Pork belly slow braised in our house adobo sauce, a tamari and vinegar-based marinade. Topped with crispy fried okra. Served as a salad over cabbage mix, carrots, corn, and tomatoes with a side of house calamansi poppy seed dressing."

And finally, one final entree, which I ordered at the end when I realized no one had gotten the full on pork belly experience.  The ado(bro) features pork belly prepared a more classic way, served as full slices of pork belly.  This is available as a rice bowl, wrap, or salad, and I opted for salad knowing the pork belly would be quite heavy.

The salad base was the same as my side salad, just a bigger portion.  Fresh, crisp, shredded cabbage, juicy colorful tomatoes, and that same cooked cold corn and dressing.  Eh, but, it also soaked up all the juices from the pork belly, which infused it with plenty of flavor, and definitely took it up a notch compared to the side salad.  When I brought some leftovers home, I decided to stir fry them rather than eat it cold (since it was a bit soggy), and it stir fried beautifully, the fats and oils from the pork belly really infused it, and the corn was much better stir fried too!

But back to the salad.  I got this for the pork belly.  And it delivered.  The portion was quite sizable, 6-7 full slices, of well cooked pork belly.  Juicy, fatty, slightly crispy.   Fat rendered well, nothing chewy, just, melt in your mouth.  The adobo sauce was flavorful, although I think I slightly preferred the sisig sauce, as it had the heat from the serrano peppers too.  

This is topped with fried okra pieces, which certainly was a unique element.  I'm not sure I liked it though - the fried bits with the fatty pork belly was just rather heavy, and the okra was well ... okra.  Although fried and crispy, it was kinda gooey and slimy inside.  I'm not sure what would have worked better - the crunch was a good touch, but ... yeah, I dunno.

While I appreciated the freshness the salad base provided, I think the rice bowl may be a better pick with the generous amount of pork belly, as the salad alone didn't quite balance it out in the way a more mellow carb like the rice would, or the pita from the wrap version.  I took the leftovers home and served it on top of mashed potatoes, which worked surprisingly well!

**** for very well prepared pork belly.  I kinda wish they offered just the pork belly adobo as a "snack" option ...

All the Sauces! $15 each.
Yay-ioli Garlic Sauce, Super Sarap Sauce, Ahy! Sauce I'm Spicy.

Sarap Shop uses some signature sauces in their dishes, and all are available to purchase by the bottle as well, both online for shipping, or at the truck.  Since I'm a sauce girl, I got one of each to bring home to my own kitchen use.

Yay-ioli Garlic Sauce

"The creamy, dreamy, and garlicky partner-in-crime to carbs, a glass of wine, a cozy blanket, and your bestie."

The Yay-ioli I was familiar with, as it was the dipping sauce for my calamari, and comes as a drizzle over several of the other dishes.  I appreciated it as a creamy component, but didn't find the garlic to be as strong as I'd hoped.

This sauce is vegan, made with soy-based mayo as the base, with garlic (duh) and tamarind.  A unique spin on aioli, the tamarind in particular is not a flavor I have often. ***.

Super Sarap Sauce

"Supercharge everything — from takeout to kitchen staples to pantry finds — with our savory & citrus-y all-purpose sauce. Dip it. Sizzle it. Marinate it. Use it in endlessly sarap (it means tasty 😋) ways."

The Super Sarap Sauce is a cooking sauce, I'm not sure which of their dishes it is used in, but I wanted to try it as a drizzle sauce, a cooking sauce for stir fries, and more.  They call it general purpose, so it seems pretty flexible.  It is tamari based (so gluten-free), with depth of flavor from garlic, mushroom (umami!), calamansi, and sugar (to make it addicting?).

I haven't tried this yet, but I'm looking forward to it.

Ahy! Sauce I'm Spicy.

"A one of a kind blend of malinamnam (that means umami), tangy, sweet, & spicy Filipino flavors you’ll want to put on everything. Guaranteed to make any saucey auntie yelp, “Ahy Sauce!” 😉"

Spicy sauce had my name all over it.  I'm definitely one to spice up most anything these days.  This sauce, like the Yay-ioli, uses soy based mayo as the base so it is vegan, and has a lovely mix of serrano and habanero peppers along with chili paste, to get some real kick to it.  It is rounded out by tomato, garlic, tamarind, lemon, and sugar, which creates a quite complex flavor profile.  Heat, sweetness, acid, its got them all.

Definitely my favorite of the sauces, and I'd recommend getting a side (always available for $0.50) to add to any dishes at the truck.  ****.

Sweet Treats

I said that Sarap Shop doesn't offer desserts, which is true, but that doesn't mean they don't have any sweet things.  On our visit, they had a special that was not quite a dessert, but certainly not savory.  They also offte the sweet signature milk teas, and we ordered a custom snack mix from their catering lineup.

Kapwa Baking Co Ube Fries.

"Our house stealth fries, tossed in ube sugar, and served with a side of Kapwa Baking Co's famous ube milk jam.  Make funnel cake jealous with this sweet and savory treat."

I mean really.  The moment I saw this special was still available (originally just a thing in October as a partnership with Kapwa Baking Co), I knew I had to get it.  Fries are just fries, and I was planning on skipping ordering the "Stealth Fries" from the snacks menu since we had other fried things, but ... fries with ube sugar?  Sweet and savory?  And ube jam?  YES!!!

To say I loved these is a bit of an understatement.  

First, the base, the fries, were actually really quite good.  These seemed almost battered, super crispy outside, but fluffy inside.  As far as fries go, these were pretty top notch.  Our group also ordered the regular "stealth" fries, and folks devoured those too, but those just came salted and served with ketchup, where these came ... tossed in ube sugar (!) with a little pot of ube jam on the side.

The ube sugar, along with being quite pretty, added, well, sweetness to the fries.  Why have I never thought of putting sugar on fries before?  The description compares it to funnel cake or fried dough, and, hmm, yeah, it makes sense.  Fried carbs coated with sugar ... why not?  Why don't we see things like churro fries?  And the ube jam?  Sweet and so very strong in ube flavor.

Eating these was addicting.  By the handful addicting.  I found I didn't want just one, didn't want to slowly just munch on these, no, I wanted several, as a handful, all dunked generously in the ube jam, all at once.  The combination of sweet and salty and fried and starchy ... zomg.  Danger, danger.  I'm fairly certain I could devour an entire portion of these in about 3 minutes flat if I wasn't trying to act polite in my group.   And while I could tell others were interested to try them, um, let's just say, I didn't really offer, which is horrible of me, since everyone else was so generous with their sharing.  But damn, these were just crazy good.

While I really enjoyed the pork belly in the savory dishes, these were, hands down, the dish of the day for me.  Unique and just totally completely addictingly delicious.  I hope they stay on the menu, and I've been inspired to sugar coat (literally!) more fried savory foods in the future ...

****+.

Halo Halo Milk Tea. 10 ounce. $4.25.

"Inspired by cereal milk, we infused this drink with our favorite nostalgic flavors from the popular Filipino dessert, Halo-Halo. Enjoy hints of ube, flan, tropical fruits, red bean, and more."

This is a pretty fun drink.  Sure, milk tea has kinda had its moment, and this isn't made to order, you can't customize sweetness or mix-ins, yadda yadda, but, they perfected their recipe, and created a nice beverage, that really does capture the essence of halo halo.  The base is soymilk (thus, vegan) and jasmine tea (medium caffeine), plus the obvious ube, along with bits of jackfruit, red bean, and coconut jellies.  You do need to give it a vigorous shake if you want to get the bits.

It is obviously a beautiful color, and the ube flavor is quite pronounced from the extract they use (not powder).  It doesn't have the taste or texture of something made with real ube, but also doesn't taste fake like powders often can.  It is sweet, definitely sweet, and I thought the soy milk base was an excellent choice even for those who like cow dairy, as the soy and vanilla-like ube flavor are always a winning pair for me.

Everyone enjoyed trying this drink, but also admitted it was basically a dessert, and not really what you'd want to just sip on with your meal.  Most preferred a small glass, not even a full bottle like this.  But for a girl like me who "requires" dessert with every meal, it was a perfect finishing touch. ***+.

They also make a Sea Salt Leche Flan Coffee, but alas, were sold out on our visit.

Halo Halo Milk Tea. 32 ounce. $12.

If you, like many, find the halo halo milk tea addicting, you can get it in jug form to take home as well.  It keeps about a week in the fridge, and that way, you can portion it, or thin it down, as you please.  The jugs are also great for sharing at Parklab Gardens if you go with a group, as we did.

Ube Cookies & Cream Snack Mix. $7.75.
(Catering Only).

"Sweet. Salty. Purple. Ube snickerdoodles crumbles, Oreo bits, pretzels, popcorn, and Kix cereal drizzled with ube white chocolate."

I couldn't resist ordering one item from the Sarap Shop catering menu in advance for my group: Ube Cookies & Cream Snack Mix.  I mean, really.  You know how much I love snacks, and obviously anything ube, and ... it had popcorn too?  Yeah, we clearly needed to get this.  You can order this in advance, minimum order is 10 bags.  10 bags seems about right for, uh, one person.  I'm not joking.

Um, yeah.  ZOMG.

This snack mix was basically everything I wanted it to be.  But warning, it is super sweet.  Super, super sweet.  And if you were in it for the cookies & cream aspect, you may be disappointed.  I however don't really care for Oreos, so I was thrilled that they weren't really as dominant of an ingredient as the product name implied. 

But let me start from the top.  Ok, this snack mix is sorta like a Chex mix, but, replace the Chex with Kix.  I actually don't really like Kix, and certainly would have preferred a Chex base, but, the round little bits did give it a different eating experience than the more standard Chex, in a kibbles n bits sort of sense.  The smaller sized Kix also meant more surface area and less cereal, and thus, definitely a sweeter product than had Chex been used, as each Kix bit was covered in ube white chocolate and powdered sugar.  Super sweet, crunchy base.  Kix was the dominant ingredient (well, really, powdered sugar and ube white chocolate probably were).

Next we had pretzels - I found at least 3 kinds of pretzels in my mix - a few round balls nearly the same size as the Kix, twisty rods, and waffle shaped ones.  The pretzels were some of my favorite bites, as they provided a kinda respite from the sweet, and brought in a salty element too.  The waffle shaped ones were particularly fun as they captured coatings in between the waffles.  There weren't tons of pretzels, and I might have preferred more, just to make the overall mix a tad less overwhelming sweet.

Then ... the popcorn.  ZOMG.  You know I have a popcorn obsession, and this popcorn was no different.  Why oh why have I never have ube white chocolate powdered sugar popcorn before?!  It was magical.  Large well popped pieces, sweet coating, zomg.  Like the pretzels, there wasn't tons of popcorn, and I'd love more, or really, I would 100% support Sarap Shop selling just the coated popcorn.  I'd buy it by the gallon, no question. 

Next we had the cookies: Oreo cookie bits and Ube snickerdoodle crumbles.  The Oreos were few and far between, and very small bits, but, as I said, I'm pretty "meh" on Oreo, so this didn't bother me.  The chocolate and ube combination was fairly new to me, and I can kinda see how it works.  And then, the other cookie, the ube snickerdoodles, which I found very little of, and was kinda lost amongst all the other ingredients.

So overall - totally and completely addicting, totally and completely way too sweet but in a way you can't help but devour knowing it will make you feel poorly if you finish it all (which you obviously do), and a bit too Kix heavy for me, but 100%, I'd get it again.  I also wonder what it would be like to use on top of an ice cream sundae, or actually with milk added, like a sweet dessert cereal?

****+, #addiction.