Oriental Grocery and Bakery

Food is good, but watch for some of their baked and items, expiration! Owners are friendly, but the place is dingy kinda of filthy! Be really careful on what you get and look at your receipt, they tell you different than your receipt! Make sure you get fresh baked goods! Their sign outside, they spelled the Philippines wrong, kinda of offensive if you can’t even spell your own country!

Just left there with 25 lumpia’s and a buffet to go plate. Overall it’s all decent. The lumpia was really good straight from the fryer. The buffet to go food was ok. I’ll be back for sure.

Love this place! The food is fantastic although it is limited on the entrees you will still find yourself going back for more pancit and adobo… Fresh made halo halo for dessert!?! Parking is tough and it is a store but I will be coming here often for my favorite foods!!!

Went one day when a friend of mine moved just down the street from this place and was curious to try Filipino food. Never having been there myself, I guess my Filipino-​Americanness was enough of a credential to be the guide.
First of all, be aware that parking sucks. The lot is tiny and you’re coming right off the Braker exit of I-​35. Parking spots are super narrow. You might want to make beeping noises as you back out (I sure did).
The shop is small, and as another Unilocaler pointed out, you can pick up pretty much all of the grocery items from MT. If you’re gonna drive all the way over to Breaker, might as well drive another couple of minutes and get all your Filipino groceries along with a bunch of other options as well.
No, it’s not the most posh interior, but the atmosphere is very friendly and relaxed. My companion put it best when he asked midway through our meal «Do you kind of feel like we just randomly walked through the front door of someone’s house and got invited to sit down to lunch with them and the family?» Yes, yes I did. That feeling only increased when the owner who was waiting on us was about to leave on a delivery run and told me, «I’m leaving to go deliver these, but if you need anything, just ask your Tito in the back.» Super cute.
Anyway, what people really care about: the food. Overall, it was pretty good, not amazing. It’s often said that Filipinos can’t go out and eat at Filipino restaurants because we always sit there thinking «I could have just made this for myself,» and I guess that’s what happened to me. The buffet is about 6 – 8 choices plus rice, self-​serve and unlimited. Staples like adobo, bistec, etc. All good, not great. The standout to me was the bangus (milkfish) served whole, which I was pretty happy to see, since I don’t get to have that often. They didn’t have the lechon out when I was fixing my plate, or I’d probably have been elated about that, too. One thing that could have been better for me is if they offered more vegetable options. I’m an omnivore, but I love my veggies. I know Filipinos love their protiens, but having at least one meat-​or-​seafood-​free option would have been good. This also means that vegetarians have to stay away. =(
I was pretty excited about the baked stuff, too. That’s the stuff I can’t make for myself, so I went kind of shop happy. If you haven’t had Filipino food before, must-​trys are ensaymada (sweet cheese bread), tupig/​suman (I can never tell the difference between the two… steamed sticky sweet rice cake in banana leaf), puto (not the Spanish profanity, a different kind of rice cake, more cake consistency). I didn’t try the pan de sal, so I don’t know how that is… it’s easy to mess up pan de sal.
Anyway, I’d probably go back if someone wanted to go, or if I really want some comfort food and am too lazy to cook for myself. But seeing as I love to cook, it might be awhile before I’m back for seconds.

Hmm… I guess I went wrong when I thought that «grocery and bakery» would suggest a decent amount of specialty baked goods and other products, as you would usually find in other stores of this variety.
Now I’m no expert in the ways of Asian desserts and things but I do okay, and was disappointed to find practically none of the sort when I stopped by. When I asked they said they bake goods every day, so I’m left to assume that I missed the lunch time rush or something cause it was slim pickings in here.
With that being said I’d have to agree with others on the restaurant selection inside which looked and tasted pretty good. So final thoughts are if you’re looking for baked goods this isn’t the place but you’ll find a decent snack for your troubles…

I have been to the Philippines and experience the food and culture first hand. Having said that, I have also experienced Pinoy food in Austin at Cebuana Filipino Store. You want to experience a taste of the Philippines, go to Cebuana and BEWARE of Oriental Grocery and Bakery. The store itself is a dump and has few products to offer for sale. The products they do sell are literally THREE times the cost compared to any other Asian store. The food was served at room temperature and to me appeared to be from the day before. The lady working there was only interested in my thoughts about her competition (Cebuana Filipino Store) and proceeded to tell me how much better her establishment was compared to the other. She then proceeded to tell me about how she has items no other store has, which is not true. Just go around the corner to the M T Supermarket and you can purchase the same pinoy products for ¹⁄₃ the cost. I have been to canteens in the Philippines that had better food and a cleaner kitchen. For those of you Tagalog speakers out there — This place is PANGIT!

Yummy Filipino food for reasonable price. Home-​made. The shop is plain and simple. Warm and friendly, generous owners. Take disposable plates and serve yourself. Of very few Filipino restaurants in town, this is as good as it gets. I am definitely going back again.

Date of First Visit: May 10, 2008
My second foray into the Austin Pinoy food scene was at the Oriental Grocery & Bakery Store off Braker and IH 35 South. Hmmm, I think these Pinoys did not get the memo that the word «Oriental» is no longer fashionable to use (see Gammad post)! Anyway, aside from the name, there’s a lot that is great and tasty about the offerings at this place. It’s a modest couple from the Ilocos area of the Philippines that own and cook here (at least I think that’s where they’re from). Anyway, they have an amazing buffet selection for $ 6.99 (slightly more if you want the seafood/​fish offerings).
What I love here, ugh, sometimes even crave, is their lechon kawali, also known as a heart attack on a plate. Yes, it’s the triple layer pork that’s been deep fried. Wowsers! But it’s so f@#$ delicious, especially with a smidgeon of sarsa sauce from that Mang Tomas bottle. Yum! And the skin gets so crispy that you can’t help but attract attention to yourself with all the crunching sounds your mouth makes as you eat the succulent pork. They have other offerings as well, which are often varied from day to day. I’ve tasted their tinola, chicken adobo, beef asado, sinigang, bistek, pansit, and a host of other tasty dishes, but I always come back to the lechon kawali. They also have that quintessential Pinoy dish, dinuguan. I won’t even bother explaining what that is — I’ll let them explain it to you should you decide to try this place out!
So, the first time I ever came here, it actually wasn’t for a meal, but for dessert. They make a pretty decent halo-​halo, and it is packed with a bunch of stuff, with leche flan, ube, and all the usual halo halo mixings. It’s really good, although sadly, as I mentioned in another post, doesn’t quite live up to the Goldilocks standard. UGH! Why can’t they open an outpost here??? Oh, this place also make desserts like royal bibingka, leche flan, puto, enseymada, and different types of suman varieties. And, you can special order stuff, too.
So, anyway, this place is good. It’ such tasty, amazing, quality, and CHEAP Pinoy food. The buffet is all you can eat, but trust me when I say that you’ll be full after 1 – 2 servings. Pinoy food tends to be on the heavy side. Just make sure you come on a very empty stomach, as you’ll definitely want to fill it up with all the delicious offerings.

the only reason i’m not giving this place 5 stars is because i’ve only had their lumpia, which was delicious-i’m waiting to see how the rest of their food compares.

This unassuming Filipino grocery/​bakery/​buffet has the feel of one of the tiny restaurants you might find on a side street in New York. The décor is certainly nothing to write home about, but the atmosphere is great, as the place seems to be somewhat of a hangout for the family and friends of the owners, who will often sit and chat in Tagalog with their guests. They sell an assortment of items ranging from fresh produce to packaged sauces from the Phillipines to cheap bed-​in-​a-​bag packages, and the TV set overhead is usually tuned to Asian satellite TV talent shows.
The baked goods are constantly being churned out and are delicious, especially the yellow butter rolls with grated cheese on top. The flan is also outstanding — rich, thick, and incredibly creamy.
If you come for lunch or dinner, the food is served buffet-​style out of a single glass case, usually with 6 – 8 dishes available. You can grab some white rice out of the cooker, and then load up on various meat stews (lots of pork and chicken), curries, and other dishes. If you’ve never had Filipino food, try it! It’s delicious, and radically unlike any other cuisine I’ve tasted; it’s a melting pot of Asian, Spanish, Pacific Island, and other influences. At around $ 7 all-​you-​can-​eat, it’s also a fantastic deal if you’re hungry.
Salamat Po!