Eating Out: Payag Restaurant | Woodside, NY

UPDATE: Payag Restaurant is officially closed as of July 31, 2017.

When I first read about Payag Restaurant in Queens, I thought it was pronounced “payag” like the Tagalog word for “to agree”. When we arrived at the restaurant, I learned that it was a Visayan word for nipa hut, an indigenous type of house in rural Philippines.

FYI: for a country the size of the Philippines, we have so many indigenous languages. While a word might be spelled the same, like in the case of the word payag, it might be pronounced differently and means something else. It’s just one of the fun things of being a Filipino – most of us are multilingual. But I’m getting off the subject. . .

Payag Restaurant has been around since 2010.

We visited Payag on a weekend for early dinner. No reservations required. We were seated immediately.

This is how the seating inside looks like.

Another table shot! Check out the bamboo stripes on the table.

That’s the bar over there.

Here are the beers you can order. They have San Miguel!

Just some interesting Philippine artwork.

This is a replica of a payag.

Even the table centerpiece has a payag inside a bottle. So cute!

For me, a visit to a Filipino restaurant is incomplete without ordering either mango shake or mango juice. In this case, I ordered Mango Shake. It even came with a cherry on top. Hubby drank Fresh Brewed Calamansi Iced Tea (not in the picture).

Another favorite of mine that’s pretty hard to find is this appetizer, Crispy Kangkong. Kangkong is water spinach. If it’s on the menu, you bet I’m ordering it!

We ate Sinuglaw, a combination of fish ceviche and grilled pork belly. The name comes from two culinary methods – sinugba (grilling) and kilaw (cooking raw fish in vinegar).

Their special dish of the day was this lechon, a pork dish that’s very popular in the Philippines, especially during special occasions. In this case, we didn’t need a special occasion to order it. Who can resist that crispy pork skin anyway?

Hubby wanted to try their Bulalo Steak.

According to the menu, it is “[c]hunks of beef shank marinated and stewed in pineapple juice. Its texture is acquired from the cream cheese that goes perfectly well with steamed white rice or garlic fried rice.”

For dessert, we shared this Halo-Halo that came with one scoop each of vanilla and mango ice cream, palm nut, kidney beans, chick peas, red mung beans (in syrup), macapuno strings, leche flan, jackfruit and shaved ice.

Verdict: With its 100-person seating capacity, Payag Restaurant is perfect for family get-togethers and celebrations. While the restaurant is decorated with a subtle Filipino touch, it isn’t heavy-handed, overwhelming or even all over the place. Their nipa hut theme extended to their lighting fixtures made of capiz shells. Banderitas (small flags or pennants) adorned the ceiling. Even the table is decorated with bamboo stripes. They have OPM (Original Pilipino Music) playing in the background. Location-wise, it’s very close to the 7 train. If not for the music, you can probably hear the train rumbling along outside.

If it’s your first time to try Filipino food, their menu provides the background on how Filipino food came to be. Read it while you’re waiting for your food. It’s very informative. Regarding what we ordered, we didn’t go home hungry or disappointed.

If you’re in Queens, Payag Restaurant should be one of your destinations for fine Filipino cuisine.

Address:
Payag Restaurant
5134 Roosevelt Avenue Woodside, NY 11377