We decided to invite the whole family and try out their paella and some other items two weeks ago. We made a 7 o'clock reservation for eight on September 15th. We ordered:

• Bulalo, beef shank & marrow soup with some veggies: My favorite, but the meat was pretty bland, and the broth was so-so. We didn't care for it.
  
• Escabeche, deep fried fish with sweet & sour sauce: We failed to realize it was catfish until it was a bit too late. Dad hates catfish with a passion. That was a miss in our part. The sauce was pretty good, though.
  
• String beans and squash in coconut milk: Never tried it. Not a fan of ginataan dish except for that dessert item bilo-bilo.
  
• Sizzling sisig, minced pork jowl etc on a hot cast iron plate: with fresh egg, and it was very good, but too much worries me. My very first sisig was mainly minced meat seasoned with chopped pepper, ginger, and a bit of vinegar. It might not have been the genuine thing...like that matters. :)
  
• Carne ala Cubana, ground pork with raisins, garbanzos, & peas: served with egg over easy on top and sweetened plantain on the side. Delicious meat-n-hash. It ranks up there with humba.
  
• Paella (of course): The shrimp was all right, the scallops a bit bland, the mussels were most likely bought frozen in a box, and the chicken could use some seasoning. I however realize Patio Filipino is like any other Pinoy restaurant, only aside from your typical Filipino dishes, they also serve some Spanish items. Having said that, their paella may not be the best, but it's pretty damn good. Though the rice could use a little soccarat, you can taste the saffron seasoning. Whether it was either actual, powdered, or bottled concentrate, it didn't matter. It tasted like saffron and it had no safflower (what we usually dump in our lugaw).

We also had humba and lumpianitas. Overall experience was good. We had fun and we got stuffed. I wound't mind going back for more meat-n-hash. :)