Short talk: We had a very bad thunderstorm late last Friday night. Ferocious non-stop lightning strikes hit one of the pumps at United Water (our source of water supply). As a result of this, we have to boil our water for 1 minute before we could use it for drinking, cooking, etc. The damage must be quite severe since the situation is still unchanged after 2 days. Bergen County restaurants have been hit hard. Without clean water, the food business is a NO-GO. Even the uber popular Starbucks stores are in total darkness since Saturday. *sigh*


Filipino Food

Just before the frightful thunderstorm on Friday, we stopped by our local Filipino restaurant, Pistahan to pick up our dinner. We decided to try something different other than the usual Binagoongan.

Browsing through the menu, I found Kalderetang Baka - chunks of beef & vegetables sauteed in a spicy tomato sauce with raisins, potatoes and pickled olives. It turned out to be quite a hybrid of a dish. To me, it looked and tasted like a cross between stew, though slightly drier, and the Malaysian style 'Masak Hitam' (dark sweet soy sauce). The end result was surprisingly very good! This will be one of my favorites at Pistahan from now onwards.

Kalderetang Baka

Pistahan specializes in pork dishes like lechon kawali and crispy pata, but they do have quite a range of Filipino food. However, we prefer to call for take out because their dine-in service is rather slow (honestly speaking!). I suspect Pistahan strives on their catering side of business since the place is usually more than half-empty. However, this weakness is quickly compensated by their delicious & authentic dishes!