Max's Filipino in Glendale
At 2:00 on a Friday afternoon, the place is packed. There are 3 open tables in the whole restaurant. And there’s a pile of 40 blinking pagers at the reception desk in case she can’t seat you right away.
We were the only non-Filipino table. The rest were groups and families of 4-10 Filipinos.
The chicken is what they’re famous for, and it’s delicious. Deep fried, with a very crispy, lightly egg-battered skin, the leg quarter chicken is very moist inside. And the seasoning is perfect. On the table is a bottle of red banana sauce, kind of like banana-flavored ketchup. It’s good on the chicken. There's also Tabasco sauce which is a good addition.
The Lumpiang Ubod, or heart of palm eggroll, has an interesting flavor. You can get it fresh or fried. I got it fresh. I was expecting the equivalent of a Vietnamese spring roll, but this is a completely different animal. The flavors are more subtle, and it comes drenched in a brown sauce. Next time I’ll order the brown sauce on the side so I can better taste the eggroll. The wrap is a crepe instead of the rice wrapper used in Vietnamese spring rolls.
Fries were okay, nothing special.
The combo plate, with chicken, Lumpiang Ubod, fries and ice cream dessert (which I passed on since I was full) is $8.75, a bargain in my book. I also opted for adding a salad and drink for another $1.00. Like the fries, the salad was okay, nothing special. But my partner got the soup instead of the salad, and that looked better.
In addition to the chicken, they also serve a variety of other dishes. Next time I’m going to try the crispy Pata, or pork knuckle.
To drink, I had a guyabano (soursop) fruit juice. Unfortunately, it was too sweet for my liking. I think they added too much pineapple juice. I would have preferred more guyabano, with its delicious sourness.
Service was friendly and efficient.
Max’s Restaurant of Manila
313 W Broadway (across the street from the Galleria)
Glendale
(818) 637-7751
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Max's of Manila
313 W Broadway, Glendale, CA 91204
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JeMange
Jul 24, 2009 09:56 PM
Wow! Sounds like you ordered the only decent things on the menu. I'd classify everything I've had at Max's as inedible. The food is just plain rank. I'm a Filipino and a foodie and am routinely disappointed by the pinoy food I eat in restaurants. The cooking always seems so careless and downright lazy. When I was growing up, the only way to get great Filipino food was to make it or have the maid (before the class warfare kicks in - this was in the RP, where domestics are common, even for the not-so-well-off) make it.
If anyone can recommend a place that doesn't rely on gristle, congealed fat and viscous sweet sauce as the backbone for most of the dishes, I'd be eager to give it a shot.
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