Absolutely one of the best hidden gem, Filipino mom-and-pop restaurants I've been to. The food was packed with flavor, portions were generous, and you can really tell everything is made with care. I didnt have expectations and wasn't planning on doing a review since it was my first time here and not from the area. My photo doesn't do this place justice. I had already eaten a lot and got carried away and wasn't photo worthy anymore. I ordered the 2 entree plate: The lechon kawali was hands down the best I've had -- perfectly crispy without being tough. The texture was spot on, the flavor was amazing, and it came with two sauces that complemented it perfectly. Every bite was satisfying. Dinuguan (not in photo, savory pork stew) was also amazing. Fresh and well balanced. Of all the dinuguan I've had, this one stands out the most to me and wasn't like all the typical version of thicker and vinegary-ness. It's always great supporting small family-owned restaurants when the food is this good. Definitely coming back and highly recommend anyone craving authentic Filipino food to give this place a try. read more

Tara Mangan Keni - Lechon kawali - Filipino Near Me - Marina, California

A great find in Marina!! First time here and I'm glad I found it. A lot of good traditional, homemade Filipino food here! Generous portions, good taste, good music taste. Just great vibes all around! read more

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The staff are so friendly, the food is delicious and the price is spot on. I definitely recommend this place. read more

Tara Mangan Keni - Filipino Near Me - Marina, California

Authentic Filipino (Kampampangan Style) food! Ready to go hot food you can choose from (buffet hot plate setting). A mom and pop shop that provides amazing service and great, yummy and fresh food! Recommend the lumpia and chicharrones if you want something fried. To pair with rice, pork or chicken adobo, Mechado, and Sinigang is a good choice! Plates are filled to the top and heavy for great price! They also have snacks in the front! Enough to share with 2 people if you dont eat much! This is my go to spot for lunch, they always have a lot of food to choose from! read more

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I tried this local eatery because I wanted some Filipino ulam (dishes / food) I ordered 2 items of pinakbet which is a Ilocano favorite of my family. But I noticed it was lacking pork but also the green beans were not the Asian green beans that usually come with it but the last thing was the squash still had some skin on it. I remember my Lola cooking it and teaching me how to cook it. I understand it's different from cooking at home vs cooking in volume as a business. Now on to the pork adobo. It was very hard to bite or chew. But probably because of the bones? I thought it was boneless pork. Lastly the lechon was also pretty dry and tough. I was probably comparing it to a place near my house but overall. I do appreciate the feeling of my Filipino heritage when traveling for work. read more

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Food was good! Service was fantastic! Ambiance gives that filipino homey vibes!! Would recommend! Don't be fooled by the 6pm closing.. owner confirmed they're open till 7pm!! read more

This review is way overdue! I actually wrote a draft a while back but then both my dog and I got sick, and life just got in the way. I couldn't let any more time pass without posting this because they truly deserve it. First off, 5 stars to Ramil and Rose for their outstanding customer service! The first time we came, we were looking for Filipino food to bring to our Airbnb in Lake Nacimiento. We live in Fremont, and the drive was absolutely worth it. We tried the chicharon, chicharon bulaklak, adobo, sinigang, and nilaga, and loved every single dish. Fast forward to our second visit. We needed party trays for pickup, but it was a last-minute order because we weren't sure our plans were going to push through. Ramil and Rose were so accommodating and made it happen. Everything was ready on time and packed so well for the long drive. We ordered the adobo, spaghetti, chicharon bulaklak, kare kare, and leche flan, and everything was absolutely delicious. As a sweet surprise, they even included ginataan for dessert, which was such a thoughtful gesture and so appreciated. Five-star food and five-star customer service. We'll definitely be back. Thank you, Ramil and Rose! read more

The staff and owners were super sweet, but the food seemed old. The chicharon was a but chewy and he refried it before he gave it to us. The singing was good, buy the veggies were a butbold looking. The flavor was there..so we enjoyed the broth and the pork. We would rate that an 8, buy that's not considering the very old look bokchoy. Would drop it to a 6 if we included that. The rice was good and was fresh. Wasn't old rice. So that's also a plus! They didn't have ice after kunchbso we also could not get halo halo. The fish was also not very crispy and had too much dried seasoning ontop. The price was good for the meal and if you het their two entree meal deal it's not bad. I doubt inbound go there again, bug they did have a regular who goes there. For the area it's worthwhile to go and check them out. Again they were super friendly and the reason the food was probably overcooked or old looming is they don't seem to have a lot of people coming in. It could be the area of the type of food the community is interest in. They do not have a large asian community. So this could be th reason. read more

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I ordered a two combo entree to go: pancit with pork adobo and deep fried shrimp. The pancit was good but I feel like it is missing something. I need to compare it with others in the area. The pork adobo was good and the meat was tender. The fries shrimp was good and moist inside. Ordering was similar to the previous restaurant. Linda of like a buffet style or a quick serve. The restaurant is brighter and new wall dressings. Still it only has a few two top seats. I generally ont Ly get it to go. I think if you're in a pinch for Filipino food this can be a good spot for you. IMHO: I wish they were open longer, closing at 6 pm limits the possibilities of late diners. read more

Tara Mangan Keni - Two entree combo - Filipino Near Me - Marina, California

Yes, this is the old Lola's Kusina but it's not. It's brighter inside and there's some new owners or at least some new management. It's amazing what some paint and lighting can do. It's like the same menu but all of the entrées we bought tonight were less salty and still tasted delicious. Both the chicken and pork adobo were tender and seasoned well. The pancit was moist not dried out like a lot of places. This is new, made in house garlic chili crisp. They spooned me up a small sample and it was delicious. Oh, it's made with olive oil...nice. Super nice couple running the show, fast with answers to food questions and genuine with see you agains. Last words...that's a lot of food! read more

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The owners are super friendly and always go above and beyond when helping with my order.

Meh, same food every time. They add coconut cream/milk to their palabok and add ginger to their dinuguan. Would rather go to Camalig in Salinas. read more

My wife and I love this place. We drive from Hollister just to visit it. We cannot get enough of their house made bagoong. It is fresh and so delicious. The food also is incredible. This last time we visited we got some of their chicharone and it was so delicious. Even days later we put it in the air fryer and it was like just as fresh. The fried tilapia was bomb. We had the dinoguan, pinakbet, curry chicken, and picadillo. Everything was delicious and fresh. Super friendly couple behind the counter. I'm assuming they are the owners. Highly recommended. read more

First if all they put the food to be sold on the table to eat. When you stand near the table waiting for your order, the owners watch you like a hawk as if you were stealing the product. Another thing is the lumpia is not made by them. It is processed by machine and hardly any meat. If you order pork lumpia, it is probably vegetable lumpia. I thought they were working hard to make the lumpia. As I was walking out the female owner called me a bad name for no reason. I paid for my order and didn't give them any trouble. They need to learn good customer service. YOU BITCH! read more

Went back and hubs got the pork adobo over rice! Very generous portion. I got the Piccadillo and pork with potatoes, carrots and bell peppers. We couldn't finish either our meals so worth every cent. They also had fried plantains from Porto's so that was a plus. I got another jar of binagoong as it tasted just right! Got a jar of their chili oil to try and a dozen lumpia Shanghai. We couldn't get more but wanted to. I hope to come back on our next trip back! read more

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Pour out a little sabaw for Lola's Kusina. I was truly sad when they shut their doors. Thankfully the doors have reopened as Tara Mangan Keni (or if I heard them right on the phone "Tara's"). The concept remains the same; choose a combo plate or ala cart from the many items on the hot food line. I had pinakbet and sinigang with half rice, half pancit as well as some Shanghai lumpia. The pinakbet was delicious and loaded with pumpkin, eggplant and bittermelon. Sinigang was equally good with the perfect amount of sour! The Shanghai lumpia was cooked to order. This is where there might have been a recipe change. The filling seemed to have finely chopped veggies along with the meat. The sauce is now brown and not as sweet as sweet chili. Still delicious and probably healthier! If you're familiar with Filipino food, you'll feel right at home with the selection of ulam. If you're new to Filipino food, this is a great place to try something new. Lastly, it warmed my heart to see the previous owner behind the counter helping out the new owners. I think they're family? Glad to support this small, family owned business as they enter a new era! read more

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Has not lost that "LOLA's" tradition. Great job!! Keep on with that tradition. Reasonably priced for big servings! Very good family restaurant. read more

When we come and visit Monterey and craving for Pilioino food this is we're go. Nothing to complain. Good food, service and the couple owner were very kind. read more

Found a piece of string in my food. Not too sure if I ate some since the string blended well in the food read more

Tara Mangan Keni - String - Filipino Near Me - Marina, California

I tried a more traditional dish. Kare Kare, I was told it was very good, but when I started digging into it. It was bones. it was all bones. maybe 1 piece of tripe connected to a bone. No oxtail. The sauce and shrimp paste was good, but I can't help but regret that I paid $16 for steamed rice and bones. I was charged $2 extra by the lady because it was beef (oxtail), but the guy at the counter said it was pork leg (it was just tripe). I paid $2 extra and didn't even get beef in my dish or pork leg. I'd go here more often if I got more meat than bones with my food and it was more consistent. read more

For me it's overpriced. Ordered a small to go container for 1 item and paid $14.20. Flavor was not I was looking for for the Mechado (too sweet). 2 stars for value for money and 3 stars for food presentation Service was ok. read more

The Filipino food here is terrible! Too oily, too salty! Not going back! The service is alright but the quality of thw cooking of thw food no thank you! read more

I came in for pancit and lumpia. They add a lot of stuff in the Shanghai lumpia, but it was still very tasty. The pancit was more like pasta noodles with a bunch of stuff in it. Pancit is usually a glass or rice noodle with very minimal stuff in it. This "pancit" had a lot of excess and random stuff in it. read more

Tara Mangan Keni - "Pancit"... not really - Filipino Near Me - Marina, California

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Was in Marina craving Filipino food and tried this place. Ordered 1 entree combo for $12.99. Steamed rice and Pancit was ok-portion of rice to Pancit was off. Too much rice and not enough Pancit. Also ordered 2 pork Lumpia-was not cooked long enough and was lukewarm to cold on the inside. Was previously frozen. Other items were displayed buffet style behind the counter behind glass. Did not look appetizing which I decided to not try the pork Adobo, which is another one of my favorites. Service was pleasant and two people working behind the counter-basically an order-to-go kinda place. Ambiance was none-nowhere to sit and lots of clutter everywhere -I ended up eating in my car. As a local and Filipino I was not impressed and I have tasted better-I won't be back-I will try other options next time. This place is formally Lola's Kucina. read more

Tara Mangan Keni - Formerly Lola's Kucina - Filipino Near Me - Marina, California

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Delicious food. I love the lumpia. Very nice people and customer service. They have new owners and it looks clean and fresh!

Great customer service, food delicious, affordable, small but have place to eat your food.

Service was great food was great too looking forward to some halo halo ice cream! Loved the lumpia / and Nilaga

Quick, comforting and delicious Filipino food at a reasonable price. What more can you ask for. read more

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I really wanted to like this place, but it was not a great experience. Ordered the chicharrones and lumpia and both tasted like they had been fried in old oil. The lumpia was mostly black. The poncit was old, dry and tasted like old rotten cabbage. The pork adobo was perfectly flavored but very greasy. Sadly, I was sick within an hour of eating here. read more

Great tasting Filipino food! So much food for very reasonable price. The owners are very friendly and even shared some tasting of sour soup for us that was yummy! read more

Food is great! Still too much of oil...Halo halo is not that halo halo it's just corn + young coconut + ice cream for 8.99$ it's similar with mais con yelo for 7.99$...Service is alright. Place gotten cleaner. read more

Second day getting lunch from Tara Mangan Mekeni. Folks are really nice and the food is really really good. I would definitely recommend it to anyone who wants to go for Filipino food. read more

If you want authentic homemade Filipino dishes this is the place to go! When I'm missing my dad's cooking this place is as close to it I can get. read more

We drive here every weekend for the fried tilapia, beef machado, lumpia shanghai, beef nilaga, pancit, lechon, pork sinigang...everything is good!! If you need your Filipino food fix, this is the place to go to for all the options! read more

Each time I went here it was worse than before. The food was like when Lola's was there, not bad but not that good. When I order any meat items there's an extra charge "Por Beep". The last time I was there i was not acknowledged & the couple there just walked about & stirring the foods on display. Now that Calamig is open on Sundays again I'll be going back there. Also McKayla's in Prunedale has a better selection & better tasting food. read more