Located in the back area of the Asian grocery store, Phil-oriental Foods, the Pinoy Fusion point-point restaurant serves up some classic Filipino food in humble surroundings. My wife and I made a conscious effort to stop-in for a late lunch, taking the light rail from downtown Minneapolis. The food was quite good with friendly service. There is no signage for the restaurant outside, so have to trust Maps and go inside the grocery store. Towards the back against the back wall, is the restaurant, with a few tables/chairs for eating in. Everything is packaged for takeout, and there is no table service. It's very similar to how bigger filipino grocery stores in Cali have a section dedicated to hot meals, with prepared food to be scooped up. It is only open during the weekend during lunch hours, with the current menu posted on their Facebook page. They did have unexpected items (like fried smelt) on the menu, that I wanted to try, but was told it wasn't available. Thus, ended up getting a two choice plate combo for $10, with white rice, one pork BBQ stick and beef mechado. Both were very good, with the pork stick being mostly shoulder meat (little fat), and the mechado having very tender beef, with very little gristle. Both went great with the rice, and my wife and I happily shared. With this good experience, we decided to get 8 BBQ sticks ($30 total) to bring to a dinner hosted at a friend's house that same night. This amount exceeded what was already available, so the nice server let us know it would be 10-15 minutes. We figured it would even be better if freshly made, so had no problem waiting for it. Unfortunately, it wasn't nearly as good, with the pieces having a lot of gristle and not as much of the charred goodness that the original sticks had. Guess one has to eat it for dine-in to get the full effect. read more

See all

Woke up today and had a hankering for some crispy pork belly. My go to spot (Firebox Deli) didn't have pork belly this week, so I decided to check out Pinoy Fusion in St. Paul at 789 University Ave W. They used to be a food truck outfit, but now have a kitchen and a couple of tables inside the Phil-Oriental Market. The market itself is pretty small, with a decent selection of Filipino grocery items, and the small deli is located in the back. Just follow the incredible smells wafting from the rear of the store. Belly up to the counter and about 8-9 entrees are kept warm behind the glass, cafeteria style. Everything looked pretty appetizing, but I was jonesing for the crispy pork belly. I got a pound of that goodness, and I asked the lady helping me what the meat was on the skewers next to the pork belly. She told me it was BBQ pork on a stick. They looked like charred meat candy, so I got 3 skewers. A small take out container of white jasmine rice also came with the order. I also asked if they had any lumpia's today since I didn't see them in the food trays. The lady said they make them to order, so I decided to wait an extra 10 minutes so they could fry some up. Exactly 9 minutes later, the lady came from the back with a to go container filled to the top with hot, small lumpia rolls. Evidently 21 lumpia's come in a single order! Bonus!! I had some to share with the wife and kid. I paid for my order, and snuck a piece of lumpia into my face hole while walking out the door. I burned my tongue, but the pain was worth it. They were pretty good, and super crispy! When I got into my truck, I tried a piece of the bbq pork on the skewer. Holy crap it was good. The meat was nicely charred but tender, and the marinade was outstanding! I immediately went back into the store and bought 5 more. Of course I bought too much food, but it was totally worth it. I'll be back next week, and Pinoy Fusion is now on my restaurant rotation list. Check out the pics- read more

See all

This place is awesome. Such a cheap and excellent meal. The combos have a base price of $9 or $10 and +$1 for lechon. When I went they were basically out of kare kare(no meat left) so I asked if they could just put the gravy on the rice, which they did. The sauce is made with peanut butter but it's not overwhelmingly peanutty, and not super salty either. I definitely want to go back earlier in the day to get the full version of their kare kare. The lechon was so delicious. Crispy skin and juicy meat. It's located in a small grocery store and they have 2 tables if you'd like to eat in. read more

Pinoy Fusion - Pancit, lechon kawali, kare kare gravy on rice - Food Trucks Near Me - Saint Paul, Minnesota

Nice quick cafeteria style lunch counter open on weekends. More designed for takeout than dine in as it's inside a Filipino food store. Back when they were a food truck we had them cater our youngest's high school graduation party. A big hit. read more

I am so happy I got to try more Filipino food. We ordered BBQ Pork, lumpia (eggrolls) and Cassava cake. All were delicious. I absolutely love their BBQ pork. I do not know what they put in there but it was tender and very flavorful. I like to eat them with a side of pickles. Lumpia were very good, too. I took a bite of cassava cake and found out they put milk in there. Anyways, everything was good and the line was worth a wait. I think you have check out their Facebook page to see what time they open and serve. I guess they change their menu every weekend? read more

See all

Fantastic Filipino food made fresh to order! We had hallo hallo and lechon. Took a bit of time, there were many orders ahead of us), but this food is worth the wait! read more

Pinoy Fusion - The food truck. - Food Trucks Near Me - Saint Paul, Minnesota

See all

In my search for Filipino food as I am Filipino myself. I found this after detail searching and learning that so many places closed. I found this place on Facebook and this place has my approval. So this food truck is open on the weekends from 11am to 4pm on certain weekends depending on weather and other factors. If you are curious of their menu for the weekend or if they will be open check their Facebook. Everything I have eaten has been SO GOOD and reminds me of home. The wait for food is typically 15 minutes for the Lechon Kawali but everything is else take less time. I have eaten the bbq pork , Lechon Kawali, Bistek, and bilo bilo. My favorite thing to get is the Lechon Kawali. Most of entrees is about 12 dollars but it is worth it as it is a meal for days. Example like the bbq pork you get 6 skewers for 12 dollars, which is reasonable for them being 2 dollar per skewer. I usual get a complementary rice to eat my meal. read more

Found this place on University Ave. one Saturday and got in the (very long) line to get some amazing Filipino grub. Showed up around 12 pm near the Phil-Oriental filipino market. Had to wait for quite a bit as they make everything to order, but absolutely worth it. The sisig was righteous -- hearty and soft chunks of meat in a light but slightly spicy stock base. Loaded with glutamates and some very slightly crispy from frying on the grill. Wonderful on rice. We added some extra thai peppers of our own and this elevated it to complete silence-inducing bliss. The lechon kawali was completely out of this f'n world. Super crispy pieces of fried pork belly, each piece had a good chunk of tender meat. When eaten together with the tamarind dipping sauce that came with it the combination almost made me believe in god - well, anyway, it made me believe that in the Philippines they probably know how to do up pork better than anyone else on the planet. If you aren't eating kosher or halal this is a foodgasm inducing spot for sure. Eat here if you can find this place. And I dearly hope that you find it. read more

Pinoy Fusion - Pinoy Fusion for weekend lunch in front of Phil-Oriental - Food Trucks Near Me - Saint Paul, Minnesota

See all

Finally found a Filipino food place in the Twin Cities! Pinoy Fusion is litty. Make sure to get the halo halo, Filipino dessert drink. Pinoy Fusion's halo halo is the best I've ever had!! Sweet coconut milk w/ jellies & beans and topped with a large scoop of ube ice cream! So delicious. Their crispy pork belly (lechon kawali) is dope too, and they give you very generous portions! They seem to be open on Saturdays and Sundays from 11 am to 4 pm, and they're parked right outside Phil Oriental Foods (789 University Ave W) in Saint Paul. Everyone should go here and support good local Filipino food!! read more

Pinoy Fusion - Halo halo is fire, make sure to get this!! - Food Trucks Near Me - Saint Paul, Minnesota

See all

The food truck is located right in front of Phil Oriental Foods. There is a parking lot in the alley located immediately to the side of the store. There are plenty of choices on their menu. We ordered the sisig and dinaguan which were delicious. Be prepared for a wait as they cook this food fresh and there are always customers. Come and support a local Filipino business and enjoy some great food. We'll definitely try the BBQ next time. read more

Pinoy Fusion - My daughter and I at the food truck. It does get crowded. - Food Trucks Near Me - Saint Paul, Minnesota

While in the area I decided to stop by and explore Phil Oriental for some Filipino items but then I saw this Filipino truck. I was curious to see what they had to offer. The first good sign I noticed was the customers ordering and the people working the food truck were all Filipino. Next good sign was I could smell the amazing aroma of the Pork being fried up and saw that the menu items were all authentic Filipino food items. So I couldn't help but order the Lechon Kawali which is fried pork belly. Also accompanying the Lechon Kawali is a sweet sauce and a good portion of rice. I'll admit not a fan of the sweet sauce but when I was in the Philippines they usually served a sweet dipping sauce with their Lechon food items so that is pretty authentic. The Lechon Kawali itself was crispy and hot, most likely fresh out if the fryer but allowed to rest enough so the Pork belly wasn't gushing out oils and fats everywhere and to help with what oils and fats there are present they line the container with tin foil. Now the seasoning seemed pretty simple in fact I didn't get very many other flavors other than the pure delicious rich porky flavor of the Pork belly. Simply put I'd say it's comparable to the Lechon Kawali I've had before. For the price point you get a good hearty portion of Lechon Kawali and rice, I'd say easily enough for two people to enjoy. Finding this place makes me so happy because I feel that I have a slice of the Philippines here in St. Paul but I also think this is bad because I can see myself here everyday ordering something which is not good for my diet haha. read more

Pinoy Fusion - Love the images of the delicious Filipino food items. - Food Trucks Near Me - Saint Paul, Minnesota

See all

First time getting food here and wasn't impressed at all. You better order ahead of time or be willing to wait as it really takes a long time for them to prepare the order. Also, they don't keep track of their inventory that they sometimes oversell their food (i.e., kutsinta) that you'll end up being asked if you want to take something else instead by the time they hand you out your order. read more

Went on a Saturday around 245 and the order took 40 minutes to prepare. Food was good (4 stars) but that's really not acceptable for a food truck to take that long (2 stars). Plus, the halo halo was bad (2 stars) basically no flavor whatsoever. The lumpia was tasty and there were so many in the order. The adobo and chicken wings were pretty good too. I didn't love the BBQ skewers but the kid did. I really hope the new Filipino restaurant down the street will add some of these items. At least there I'll have a spot to sit down. read more