Divisoria Resto Bar is perfect Filipino family dining, including ample leftovers

• Name + address: Divisoria Resto Bar, 3621 Innes Rd.

• Diet: Meat, vegetarian, vegan, seafood

• Appetizers: $9-$15

• Mains: $15-$25

• Wheelchair accessibility: Yes

• Website: www.divisoriarestobar.ca/home

Back in the old country, one of my long-deceased uncles had married a Filipino woman and my experience of this culture back then was how much they are dedicated to family. 

The importance of family in this community was also front and centre in my experience at Holland Ave. restaurant Sanduk a few years ago. Turning to the newish Divisoria, you may well consider bringing yours as the portions are very generous indeed.

The cuisine of the Philippines is a hybrid of Asian ingredients, Spain's cultural influence and regional culinary traditions. At Divisoria the kitchen delivers the greatest hits of Filipino cooking at supremely fair prices

Divisoria Resto Bar opened in late 2023 as a spin-off of their grocery store on Carling Ave. which had previously called Beechwood Ave. home.

Spring rolls (called lumpia in Indonesian and Filipino cooking) come in three varieties at Divisoria, and I started with the pork version. 

For $9 I received 10 rolls and tasting them, I was wowed by both the portion and the quality of the recipe. This was just madly delicious, and I swear you may want to order a second portion to make a complete meal. 

Although you may want the next rolls as well.

The vegetable lumpia were considerably larger and while the wrappers were less expertly rolled, the seasoning was a hit at the table and stood out as one of the nicer vegetarian rolls of the last year.

They came with a seasoned black vinegar which was the right match for these rolls that were, ironically,  a little more oily than the pork rolls. Still, they’re very much worth trying.

I’m a purist when it comes to wings and that means I don’t care for them when they’ve been breaded. 

I appreciate, however, when they’ve been marinated and served with a very crisp skin. These appeared a little too dark but it had no negative effects on the taste. They’d been cured with lemon, pepper and salt and the skin was brittle giving way to plump, fall-off-the-bone, thoroughly seasoned meat. 

They were very good but could have used something in the way of “plating”.

Beef caldereta is a classic comfort dish of Filipino cuisine and the one I had here would be absolutely at home on the tables of folks who love traditional British stews.

It’s normally made using bell peppers, tomato sauce, potatoes, carrots, olives and liver paste although the last two did not make an appearance in this version. Unfortunate because I was curious how olives might work in a stew. 

The meat was so tender it was difficult to pick up with a fork and the clinging juices made for satisfying mouthfuls. Disappointingly it was also the most underseasoned caldereta I’ve had and I felt the flavours should have been built upon during the long cooking time.

Kare Kare is a Filipino curry on a base of ground peanuts often thickened with toasted and milled white rice. 

The accompanying vegetables of bok choy, eggplant and green beans are three of four of the ingredients typical for this dish although the fourth - banana blossoms - were absent. For this time of year, the veggies were sweet and fresh and nicely cooked.

It was topped with a healthy, or unhealthy depending on perspective, portion of flavoursome and tender pork with its delicious crackling.

Kare Kare is always served with steamed rice and this was the one down note as the rice was overcooked and stodgy.

Pancit is the word for noodles of all sorts. Bihon is the word denoting that the noodles are of the rice variety although I swear I thought what I was served was a mung bean noodle. Which I prefer in any case but if this was Pancit Bihon, I need to find out the brand of this noodle – it was tops.

You’ll have noticed that you’re well-fed at Divisoria but the size of this Pancit Bihon was almost ridiculous as I had trouble lifting it with one hand. The weight on the thing was impressive.

This was the one dish with the greatest amount of flavour and was loaded with a good assortment of vegetables, shrimp and more of that crispy pork. It was delicious and enough to feed four as a main. 

Server Ram (he tells me it’s pronounced ‘Rum’) was so good-natured it was an absolute joy and he apologized profusely when a dish felt as if it was taking a little longer than usual. Understandable as the restaurant was not suffering for patrons and there was a nearby family table of 12 devouring the menu.

Divisoria is an easy restaurant to like: the portions are very generous, the prices are reasonable, the service is both friendly and helpful and space is simple but well maintained. The added bonus is that you’ll have plenty of leftovers for home.

This is my idea of a family restaurant: a place where all the cooking is from scratch and not from a food service company. Just good home-cooking with more than a little heart.

Above a doorway ahead of me was the word Palikuran meaning bathroom. Inside, I discovered that the folks at Divisoria also have a sense of humour.