(Chicago) – Something’s really odd with this place. They open too early at 5am and closes too soon at 3pm. It is a Polish diner with typical diner fares like burgers and sandwiches – and yet, it has Filipino breakfast such as tocino (cured meat) and longanisa (sweet sausage), although limited. It feels weird for a typical Filipino breakfast fare imprinted in a western diner menu. For this reason, I headed to Uncle Mike’s.
Filipino Breakfast Combination – Tocino and longanisa with fried rice, 2 eggs and chopped tomatoes
Uncle Mike’s Burger
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Fruit Platter and Pork-and-beans Soup
The over-sized printed plate for the Filipino breakfast is pretty. I love it. But the food on it is just “ok”, nothing surprising. The rice was a little dry but far from being stale; maybe because we came in a few minutes before they close. I doubt if they make the tocino and longanisa from scratch. It tastes like those frozen “kapampangan” brand that you can get in Filipino stores. I have no problem with that. I love those frozen packs. Overall, I enjoyed the Filipino plate. Anything that would remind me of home, will be fun for my palate.
Oh and they serve free “lugaw” (rice soup) here. But it ran out already when we arrived so they gave us pork-and-beans soup instead. The “lugaw”, perhaps, can be a good reason to come back. Actually, I’d like to try the marinated skirt steak which they claim to be the best in town. Let’s see.
1700 w grand ave Chicago, IL 60622 (312) 226-5318 www.unclemikesplace.com