Is Filipino Food Spicy? A Beginner Guide from Barrios
Is Filipino food spicy? Mostly no. Which Barrios dishes have heat, gentle dishes for beginners, how much to order, and straight answers on peanut, shellfish, gluten and vegetarian options.
Barrios Restaurant & Bar
10/28/20264 min read
Is Filipino Food Spicy? And Other First-Timer Questions
Most people trying Filipino food for the first time ask the same few things. Is it spicy? And can you work with my allergy? This is a guide to Filipino food for beginners, with straight answers from Barrios Kitchen & Bar, the Filipino restaurant at 1571 Barrington Street in downtown Halifax.
Is Filipino food spicy?
Mostly, no. Filipino cooking leans sour, salty, garlicky and a little sweet. Vinegar, soy sauce, garlic and citrus do most of the work. In the Philippines, chili is usually left on the side, chopped into a dish of vinegar, so each person adds their own heat.
There are exceptions. Cooking from the Bicol region, with coconut milk and chilies, can be hot. On our menu, a few dishes do carry some heat:
Pork sisig, $20, is seasoned with soy sauce and chili. It also comes with a raw egg on top that you mix through the pork while the cast iron plate is still sizzling, so the heat cooks the egg, then a squeeze of lemon.
Sisig tacos, $7 each ($5 on Tuesdays), carry the same soy and chili pepper seasoning in a soft shell.
Gambas al ajillo (Gambas Ala Jillo on our menu), $17, is shrimp sautéed in olive oil with garlic and chilies.
Chicken wings, $19, come in your choice of sauce: mild, medium, hot, honey garlic, sweet chili, honey buffalo or spicy ranch. The hot and spicy ranch bring the most heat, so ask how hot each one is.
If you are not sure about a dish, ask your server before you order.
A simple heat guide to our menu
Based on what our menu lists for each dish:
Some chili or spice: pork sisig, sisig tacos, gambas al ajillo, and the calamari, which has a mango chipotle spice and chipotle mayo.
Your choice: chicken wings, from mild up to hot and spicy ranch.
No chili listed: barbecue skewers, pancit bihon and guisado, chicken inasal, kare-kare, beef caldereta, lechon kawali, crispy pata, pinakbet, torta, and the pan fried haddock in coconut-turmeric sauce, which is mild.
A mild dip: the spring rolls come with sweet chili sauce, which is more sweet than hot.
A whole chili in the dip: the soy vinegar dip with the chicken inasal and the crispy pata has a whole chili in it. It is not spicy unless you mash or slice the chili.
Filipino food for beginners: gentle dishes to start with
Chicken inasal, $22. Grilled chicken marinated in citrus, garlic and spices, with garlic rice and a soy vinegar dip. There is no pork in it.
Pancit bihon, $17. Thin rice noodles with vegetables in a light savoury sauce, with grilled chicken, crispy pork belly or shrimp at the same price.
Spring rolls, $9 for four, filled with seasoned ground pork and vegetables, with sweet chili sauce.
Barbecue skewers, $15 for three, sweet and smoky from the grill, and gluten free.
Kare-kare, $22. Crispy pork belly and vegetables in a rich peanut sauce, with bagoong, a salty shrimp paste, on the side to season it yourself.
How much should I order?
Many of our mains come with rice. Filipino meals are often shared, so a good start is a little less than one main per person, put in the middle of the table, with a starter like spring rolls. It is easier to add a plate than to leave one half-eaten. For two people, spring rolls, pork sisig and chicken inasal come to $51 before tax.
If you would rather taste small amounts of a lot of things, come for Sunday brunch. It is a self-serve spread from 10:30 AM to 4 PM, at $29 for adults, $15 for children 12 and under and free for children 5 and under, with tocino, longganisa, pandesal and siomai every week, and you can take as little of each as you like. Reservations are recommended.
What if I have an allergy or a diet to follow?
Peanut: the kare-kare sauce is made with peanut and cannot be changed. The crushed peanuts on the pad thai can be left off. The lumpiang sariwa party tray comes with a peanut sauce on the side. We fry in canola or vegetable oil, not peanut oil.
Hidden shellfish: the bagoong with the kare-kare is shrimp paste, and the palabok sauce is made with shrimp stock. Dishes with shrimp in them, like the gambas or the shrimp option on the noodles, are named on the menu. The siomai at Sunday brunch is pork and shrimp. The pancit bihon and guisado sauces contain no fish sauce and no shrimp paste.
Gluten: the barbecue skewers, market salad, pancit bihon and pork sisig plate are gluten free. The sisig tacos come in a taco shell, so ask.
Vegetarian: the pinakbet is vegetarian and vegan-friendly, made without bagoong or fish sauce. The torta, an eggplant omelette, is vegetarian. Pancit bihon or guisado can be made with vegetables and tofu on request.
Halal: we are not halal certified, and the kitchen handles pork.
Tell your server about any allergy when you order.
Visit Barrios
We are at 1571 Barrington Street, open Tuesday to Saturday from 11:30 AM, until 9 PM Tuesday to Thursday and 11 PM on Friday and Saturday. Sunday is Filipino brunch from 10:30 AM to 4 PM, and we are closed on Mondays. Book a table or call 902-444-2515. The full menu is online. Prices shown are from our current menu and may change.
Quick answers
Is Filipino food spicy?
Mostly no. It leans sour, salty and garlicky, and chili usually comes on the side.
Which dishes at Barrios are spicy?
The pork sisig, the sisig tacos and the gambas have chili in them, the calamari has a mango chipotle spice, and some chicken wing sauces are hot.
What is a good first order?
Chicken inasal, pancit bihon, barbecue skewers or spring rolls. None has chili cooked in, and the spring rolls come with a sweet chili dip that is more sweet than hot.
Is the sweet chili sauce spicy?
It is more sweet than hot. It comes with the spring rolls, and it is also one of the wing sauces.