Great Filipino Dishes Are Hidden Inside This Andersonville Grocery Store

By Chicagoist_Guest in Food on Mar 8, 2016 4:29PM

By Jennifer Olvera

Welcome to Inside Story, our series about eating places hiding inside of other businesses. That great coffee counter inside the mall? That awesome sushi stand inside the supermarket? The donut window out the back of your favorite neighborhood restaurant? That's what this is all about. Last time, we found great tacos inside a Mexican Grocery store on Diversey. Now, it's time for some lumpia.

Tapsilog and Lumpia at Uni Mart. Photo by Jennifer Olvera.

For our second outing, we visit Uni-Mart, a bustling Filipino grocery store with four Chicagoland outposts and a straight-up tasty in-house food counter. This joint stocks grocery necessities, from fresh-baked goods to produce and items, like pig’s blood, that could make the uninitiated squeamish. But the real draw is the diverse lineup of cafeteria-style favorites, which get heaped into Styrofoam containers along with sides of rice. You can order a single entrée selection or two — for variety’s sake, go for two. Because a line snakes through the pint-sized place on weekends, ordering can be a tad intimidating. If you don’t know what you want, let in-the-know diners go first.

The options to choose from are plentiful, though smoky, charred skewers of barbecue pork are a must. Three types of pancit are fail-safes, too, the glass-noodle version being the standout. Then again, you won’t be disappointed — or alone — in asking for a 50/50 split that combines glass noodles with thicker, Cantonese-style noodles.

Then there’s the fried-to-a-shattering-crisp, Shanghai-style pork lumpia, ground meat-filled nibbles that are better than any fried spring roll or egg roll I’ve had. They’re sold by the pound, which seems like a lot. After plunking a few into sweet chile sauce, however, you’ll find that they disappear fast. Too fast. Look for these next to slabs of impressively crackly pork belly and varieties of fried seafood, vinegar and garlic-marinated milkfish usually part of the display.

Other finds include a wide array of stewed or stir-fried dishes. Just know that the selection tends to be meat-heavy and veggie-light. Because slow-simmering is not always part of the cooking style, choose wisely: some cuts of meat can be tough. You can’t go wrong with the simple, iconic chicken adobo, which boasts a complex, heartwarming vinegar tang; sweet-savory, russet-hued tapsilog, which is especially popular at breakfast; and beef steak in rich, zippy gravy. If you want a break from the sauce, lechon kawali is definitely the way to go. Dunk the crispy blocks of pork belly into black vinegar to cut through the fat.

The dining area is nothing to write home about — just a few stark tables to get the job done. Once you’ve finished your feast, pick up snacks for the road, including imported cookies, candies and chips seasoned with unfamiliar flavors. You’ll find pantry necessities, too, including fried garlic, fish sauce and and Suka Pinakurat, spicy vinegar sauce made from fermented organic coconut sap — it’s a godsend with pork.

Uni-Mart is at 5845 N. Clark St., with additional locations in suburban Woodridge, Niles and Hoffman Estates.