Food tripping in the US
Winter is best spent with family, or so you convince yourself as you bundle up like a Michelin Man for a vacation filled with food, laughter, and calorie-laden comfort dishes that would make any cardiologist wince. This year’s escapade took us from Canada’s icy roads to the US East Coast, hopping between homes, diners, and delis in search of great flavors and even better company.
The highlight? Eating. The lowlight? Realizing puffer jackets are unforgiving when you’re bloated.
Toronto welcomed us with Costco trays piled high with deli meats, cheeses, and enough rotisserie chicken to feed the entire Toronto Maple Leafs team. The city’s vibrant Filipino community surprised us with a mega restaurant and supermarket hybrid, Seafood City. Walking into it from the cold felt like Manila’s warm embrace, minus the humidity.
![](http://philstarlife.s3.ap-east-1.amazonaws.com/pslife_photos/Maricel_temp/Food and Leisure/2025 - Jan 30/richard gopchang (intestines).png)
Seafood City’s food stalls overflowed with crispy pata, lumpia, barbecue, and uniquely Filipino stews, soups, and noodles. Pinoy street food was well-represented with chicharon, kwek-kwek, and kikiam, while snack aisles brought childhood nostalgia with Chippy, Clover Chips, Piattos, and Sky Flakes. They even had UFC banana ketchup and Mang Tomas lechon sauce alongside Christmas staples like kaong, nata de coco and sweet spaghetti sauce.
For a taste of Canadian culture, we dove into poutine, a glorious mess of fries, cheese curds, and gravy, best eaten without regret. New Jersey calls it “disco fries” (don’t ask me why), but the romance of the French term “poutine,” which translates to “mess,” is irreplaceable.
Then there’s Tim Hortons, Canada’s coffee darling. It’s... fine, at least less sweet than what I remember having in Manila. My brother-in-law, however, has a genius hack: mix Kopiko Black 3-in-1 coffee with equal parts Carnation instant cocoa, et voilà—a concoction that puts Timmy’s to shame. This, I swear, is how I gained two kilos in a week.
![](http://philstarlife.s3.ap-east-1.amazonaws.com/pslife_photos/Maricel_temp/Food and Leisure/2025 - Jan 30/richard bindae-tteok.png)
After obligatory photos at Niagara Falls, we headed south to Washington, DC. Mornings began with decent hotel food served by polite Filipino staff. If we got exhausted with the vegetable quiche, Eggs Benedict, or filled omelets, we could always cross the street to Bagels…Etc., a hole-in-the-wall café where even Metro DC cops lined up for their bagel fix. Upstairs, the Thai restaurant Sampannee offered food so authentic it transported us back to Bangkok.
Nearby, Kramer’s Bookstore in Dupont Circle charmed us with its book collection, even if its in-house band lacked energy. Thankfully, their Triple Chocolate Devil’s Food Cake and Kramers Goober Pie were life-changing, and the Dickens-inspired chai tea sealed the deal.
From DC, we rolled to Annapolis, home of the US Naval Academy and the legendary lobster rolls at Market House. Served on buttery brioche, paired with clam chowder or oyster stew, they were decadence personified. Bitty & Beau’s Coffee added heart to our after-lunch palate cleanser. The café employs individuals with disabilities in a space as warm as their slogan: “Changing the way people see other people.”
![](http://philstarlife.s3.ap-east-1.amazonaws.com/pslife_photos/Maricel_temp/Food and Leisure/2025 - Jan 30/richard Dim Sum Garden.png)
Next was Cary, North Carolina, where my cousin’s family welcomed 2025 with fireworks, ribs, brisket, pulled pork, corn pudding, and collard greens so flavorful they should come with a warning label. Breakfast featured homemade sausage, apple cake, and crispy bacon. I could feel more kilos (sorry, pounds) piling up each day.
But in our family of food lovers, gaining weight while visiting is inevitable. The moment we reached my uncle’s house in Virginia Beach, we were served more southern comfort, with sides of Virginia peanuts to fill endless conversations. Even a morning walk in sub-zero temperature along Atlantic Avenue couldn’t burn those calories I had been accumulating since arriving in the Americas. I could almost hear the buff statue of Neptune judging me as I passed by this Paul DiPasquale bronze creation.
Before heading up for the final leg of our eastern road trip, we managed to squeeze in another southern meal at Cracker Barrel Old Country Store, which served equally sinful ribs, steaks, fried chicken, and the token “healthy” fish and chips, with corn, mashed potatoes, and biscuits on the side. Think big, America!
![](http://philstarlife.s3.ap-east-1.amazonaws.com/pslife_photos/Maricel_temp/Food and Leisure/2025 - Jan 30/richard Bitty n Beau_s Coffee.png)
Finally, New Jersey led to (more) Chinese and Thai fare, and a chaotic yet unforgettable meal at Dim Sum Garden in Flushing. Dimsum carts raced by with cries of “Try this!”—a scene straight out of a Chinese period drama. By evening, we found ourselves at Katz’s Delicatessen in Manhattan, savoring a huge serving of pastrami on rye. Believe me when I say that every bite into this slab of meat, disguised as a sandwich, was pure bliss. It reminds me of Montreal’s winner, the smoked meat of Schwartz’s Deli.
For my daughter and I, that was the end of our American holiday. It was such a relief knowing we’d be returning soon to Manila’s much more flavorful cuisine, chaotic traffic, and annoying politics (and politicians).
But wait! There’s more. The tropical comfort of home had to wait as we took advantage of a half-day layover in Seoul, where we squeezed in one final food adventure. In sub-zero weather, we dove into steaming bowls of mandu-guk, had our hands oily in enjoying crispy bindae-tteok, and finally found what we went there for in the first place—gopchang or assorted intestines cooked for us expertly by the servers. It left me speechless.
With hearts full of memories and stomachs fuller, we finally headed back to familiar warmth. Food, after all, is more than sustenance; it’s love served on a plate. Shared meals remind us of family, stories, and promises to meet again. And that, more than anything, is what made this journey so sweet, and fattening.
* * *
Check out my earlier food tripping in the USA here.