Was craving some Filipino food and found Uncle Mike's Place through Yelp. Ordered for to-go so I can't speak much for their service.
Small place with a homey feel. Pretty extensive classic breakfast items but they are known for their Filipino breakfast items.
Parking - street parking isn't hard to find around the area which makes it that much better since lack of parking sort of deters me from going to certain restaurants.
Longaniza and Tocino combo - came with garlic fried rice and 2 eggs any style. So delicious and definitely hit the spot! A minor complaint: the Tocino was a little dry.
Can't wait to come back here and try more things from their menu!
this place is definitely a 4 food-wise, mostly because the tocino + longaniza combo i tried brought me back to my childhood sunday mornings. Â that's when my mom used to whip up some tocino, longaniza, egg, fried rice and a side of diced tomatoes for breakfast. Â I grew up on this stuff, so I know the food was legit. Â sometimes tocino can be tough, but it was tender here. Â i was also pleasantly surprised my meal came with a cup of lelot, which is a chicken and rice-style porridge (HINT: try it with green onions, fried garlic bits and some lemon). Â haven't had that in awhile; warmed the soul. Â Â
my only real issue i guess is price and I kind of feel bad for pointing that out. Â if people are willing to pay it, good for uncle mike. Â but tocino and longaniza should not be $12. Â bangus (fish) shouldn't be $15. Â spam should not be $9. Â
in fact, when my mom came to visit a couple months ago - the same woman who used to make this stuff for me as kid - I thought it'd be fun to take her here since there aren't many filipino restaurants in our home state. Â however, when I showed her the menu, she absolutely refused, scoffing at the prices. Â but price aside, food was good, i like it for saturday mornings.
We consider ourselves "breakfast place" aficionados and Uncle Mike's is now tied for first place...in a cross-country competition, mind you! It ranks right up there with Ellis Island in Las Vegas, NV. Uncle Mike's delivers on service, charm, authenticity, atmosphere and of course...the eggs, hash browns, toast and coffee - bottomless - couldn't drink it fast enough. We will be back!
Review Source:Filipino breakfast? Â Heck yea! Â I have been here on a couple of occasions and each time was as great as the first. Â I have not tried Filipino breakfast anywhere else though (it's because I don't know any other place in the city that serves it), so I do not have anything to compare it to. Â But this place is amazing and I wouldn't stray too far away. They serve Filipino breakfast, American breakfast, lunch dishes, and anything else that will satisfy morning hungry tummies. Â If it's your first time here, I recommend you try the longanisa (sausages), spam, or combo breakfast platter. Â It comes with choice of egg, garlic rice, and champorado (chocolate rice pudding.)
The service here is great also because you instantly feel like you are part of the family once you step foot into the restaurant. Â They are always so nice and great at recommendations. Â I even had a girl who introduced me to french toast and condensed milk. Â There are no words to describe how delicious this combo was. Â Once in a while, they also give complimentary dishes while you are eating. Â It gives you a chance to try some other dishes they offer. Â If you are looking for a place to have breakfast/brunch, definitely keep this place in mind.
Came here a couple times so far and really enjoyed it.
I had filipino breakfast once before so coming from that delicious experience and the positive yelp reviews, I already went in with high hopes on my first visit. I got the tocino and longanisa combo with sunnyside eggs on top of my garlic rice. My friend got the milkfish which was good as well but I really loved my dish, especially the tocino. On my second visit, I got to also try some of the the skirt steak that my husband ordered. He was really impressed, especially since he almost wasn't going to order it, due to the fact that he typically thinks Mexican-style is the best preparation for skirt steaks.
It's only been a couple weeks since we've been back but the hubby said that we need to go back again soon!
<a href="/redir?url=http%3A%2F%2Fbreakfastrules.blogspot.com%2F2013%2F01%2Fjan-20-2013-uncle-mikes-place.html&s=7d75fec9330282f333c1a94a5b53fb2986717805328067759e80054fb711870f" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://breakfastrules.bl…</a>
Uncle Mike's Place is an understated little ethnic restaurant that serves up good breakfasts with a Filipino flare yet maintains a common Midwestern ethos for anyone scared off by unusual places or dishes. For instance, Brent ordered pancakes and bacon and thought it was pretty good. Breakfast Scout Frank regarded it as one of the "strangest breakfasts we've done" but enjoyed the novelty of having a marinated skirt steak with eggs for breakfast. I'm a Spam fiend, so I loved this place. My Spam breakfast was the bomb and I'm definitely coming back for some other dish from the Filipino breakfast menu.
The service was good. The plates, for some reason, were huge. But they made sure to fill the plates with enough breakfast to not make it look ridiculous. The service was good. We're still trying to figure out why we got a basket full of silverware and giant steak knives. Maybe it's a Filipino thing we don't understand. Who knows. It's all good.
All in all, Uncle Mike's Place in gets a pretty darn good breakfast rating of 3.5 Brent faces.
Hubby and I go here only for the Filipino breakfast - so I can't really comment on their other menu offerings. Â I love how the Filipino items aren't even on the printed or online menus: they are just listed on a chalkboard on the wall. Â Between the two of us and the friend's we've brought here over the years, we've sampled all of them. Â
We recently had breakfast there yesterday after several months (or maybe even a year!) away. Â It seems that the portions have definitely gotten smaller. Â I remember the first time we got the free bowl of lugaw it was a bigger bowl and I was so full that I couldn't finish my main meal. Â I also thought this batch was more liquidy and watered down than before. Â When did they start adding lemon too? Â It's nice they added a "baby" size bagnus (aka milkfish) which was the perfect portion considering you get lugaw and a small bowl of champorado (aka rice porridge) with the meal. Â My personal favorites in preferential order are bagnus, longganisa, tocino, Spam, Â porkchop or skirt steak (just because I usually don't eat that big meat for breakfast).
The staff is friendly and ambiance warm. Â The tables remind me of tables in homes back in Manila where I spent some of my childhood. Â Even the Christmas decorations reminded me of home. Â I also love the wall of Spam behind the cash register...you know us Filipinos love our Spam!
I am jealous that I didn't grow up in a Filipino household after eating the breakfast here because it was slammin'. Honestly, this huge combo filipino meat and egg dish was so flavorful and really satisfying. Not only is it huge, but the flavor is intense for breakfast, which is exactly what I enjoy since I am all about the savory and not the sweet.
The Filipino combo I ordered came with 2 types of Filipino meats, two large eggs served over rice(perfect for over soft to let the yolk run through the rice), some pico and a cup of soup which is similar to congee only with more flavor. Needless to say, I ate the entire plate and not only was I extremely satisfied but I was stuffed.
All in all, this not so small diner on the outskirts of Ukie Village is a great place to come anytime of the day. The menu is large and the staff is friendly, and with plenty of seating for lunch on a weekend, this place is a gold-mine in a city where waits on the weekend for good breakfast food can become annoying.
Enjoy Suckas'!!!
Hm, I was surprised to see that I gave Uncle Mike three stars originally...probably due to poor service at the time. Since then though, I've had nothing but good experiences.
Let's recap: Uncle Mike is not Filipino, but his wife is, and their Filipino breakfasts now take center stage on the Uncle Mike's Place menu. You get your choice of tocino (marinated pork), longganisa (Filipino chorizo), Spam (original or spicy), bangus (fried milkfish), skirt steak or porkchop as your meat, or you can combine them.
I say go for Spam and longganisa.
You also get eggs and garlic fried rice, some sasawan (vinegar salsa-like condiment) a bowl of soup (lugau - Filipino rice porridge) and champorado (chocolate rice pudding).
I haven't had an issue with service at all the last few times I've come, and while I do wish they had other Filipino offerings (just because there aren't that many places in Chicago that do Filipino food), their breakfast is excellent. You also get a good amount of food, perfect for satiating cravings after a long night out.
They've definitely upped their game in the past three years, and it shows. It's a bit hard to get to by public transport, but if it were any easier I'd probably be in a hospital now. Good stuff Tito Mike.
I have been here several times during the past few years. But last time, yesterday, I was not impressed. Service is good, and staff is friendly. I also like the atmosphere mostly the east room. I ordered corned beef hash, fried eggs, hash browns, toast, and coffee. I asked for the potatoes and hash to be crispy. All the food was under cooked, and the eggs were a little cooked but almost raw. I pointed this out nicely to our server. Instead of him remaking the food, they did nothing to the hash and potatoes (which came out cold this time), and simply threw the eggs back on the grill instead of remaking them. The toast was also rather hard. Coffee tasted like they use chlorine based soap in their mugs and/or coffee machine. I may have forgiven this except the meal left me with an incredible stomach ache, etc... May go back someday, but not for a long time.
Review Source:Uncle Mike's Place is a delightful culinary adventure! The Filipino breakfasts here are the bomb. Forget the classic American stuff - order straight from the middle of the menu. If you are a first-timer, try the skirt steak breakfast. Their skirt steak is perfectly cooked, seeping with juices and tender as a baby's bottom. It comes with eggs, fried rice, and a bowl of amazing lugao - a simple but amazing congee with shallots and green onions. I would go just to get a big bowl of the lugao, it is that good. They're also known for their sweet chorizo - or "longanisa" - and pork shoulder breakfasts.
Because Uncle Mike himself is always tinkering with the recipes, no two meals are exactly the same. The last time I went, I had some amazing sweet potato pancakes with blueberries, and my skirt steak was paired with an interesting tasty homemade steak sauce. Delicious!
I love this place. Â It's hard to find the words to even describe the food, you have to just go try it. Â We have been there a few times and have tried a couple different options, all of which have been amazing. Â I am addicted to the Longanisa, I swear I could eat pounds of the stuff. Â The Tocino and Pork Chops are also delicious, and I can't wait to try their marinated steak next time as I've heard it's great.
In addition to the eggs and meat options that come with their brunch options, they have garlic rice and also serve this delicious sort of pico de gallo that mixes wonderfully with everything else. Â They also serve this interesting sort of chocolate rice, which serves as a nice sweet dessert when you're done with everything.
Oh and I even forgot about the soup! Â I forget what it is called but before you get your food they give you this rice-based soup with lemon, it is something that I wouldn't think I would like but you can't pass on it - my wife asked them for another whole bowl of it. Â And they didn't even charge us for it!
Great service, amazing food, and truly something you don't find everywhere in Chicago. Â This place needs to be on your list of go-to brunch spots!
Great place! Wonderful atmosphere and good food at reasonable prices. My wife and I had blueberry pancakes and the chorizo breakfast combo - they were both very good.
The service is also fantastic - at no point was my coffee cup less than half full, and the food and check arrived promptly.
My Filipino friend took me to Uncle Mike's the other day so I could experience my first Filipino breakfast. There isn't much to say about the decor of Uncle Mike's. It has your typical run of the mill diner feel to it.
I ordered the Tocino and Longaniza combo and both were absolutely delicious. What really set it off was the garlic rice that it came with. Yum! I pretty much devoured my breakfast in 5 minutes. I tried Lugao too, which was a creamy rice porridge which was okay. I also tried Champorado, which was a chocolate rice pudding which I really didn't care for.
Overall, my first Filipino breakfast was a success and I would definitely go back to Uncle Mike's for the Tocino and Longaniza with garlic rice.
I came here one morning with no expectations (I had no idea it was Filipino fare), and I was so pleasantly surprised. I've never had a breakfast like this before. Mine was perfect. I ordered the pork shoulder with garlic rice. Incredible. My favorite thing was actually the pico de gallo (or something like it) that came with the meal. It wasn't traditional...it had vinegar or something in it that for some reason hit the spot when I poured it over the rice.
My friend ordered the steak, which he also loved.
We were surprised when they served us a bowl of what appeared to be chocolate rice pudding, although we both agreed it was just...meh. The service could have been a little friendlier (we kinda felt like we were bothering them), but overall worth it fo sho.
I'm hooked. It's to the point that the fella and I are trying to figure out how to marry into the family so that we can go to their holiday dinners. We've decided that cheating on each other for the food is totally acceptable.
This place had been on my to do list for a long time. I finally made it there a few months ago, and I've been back as often as humanly possible. Each time I've gone, I get the Filipino breakfast. In fact, I think it's my favorite breakfast in the entire city, now that Ramova is closed *sad face*. Â Breakfast starts with a bowl of lugaw. It's a garlicky rice porridge with chicken and lemon. I want to eat this every day in the winter, and whenever I'm under the weather. Next comes the main event. Both the tocino (anise cured, thick cut bacon) and the longonisa (anise cured sausage, similar to chorizo) are a sure bet. Besides your choice of meat, breakfast is served with garlicky rice, topped with two eggs your way. I recommend fried so that you can break the yolk and mix it in the rice. Mouthgasm. It also comes with a side of red beans that are almost chocolaty. I know it sounds weird, but it's delicious. There's also a small side of something similar to a pico de gallo, that I steer clear of because they put devil lettuce (cilantro) in it. Add some Intellegentsia coffee and great service to the mix, and you've got a winner in my book.
The fella has branched out further through the menu, and everything that he's ordered has also been phenom. Fruit plate is huge, fresh, and cheap. Blueberry pancakes are to die for. He got a spinach, tomato, feta omelet on the last visit that was great. They even treated us to a small dish of their oatmeal which was super thick and creamy, not too sweet, and flavored with cinnamon and real fruit. Perfect cold morning breakfast, for sure.
AND IT'S CHEAP!
My only problem with Uncle Mike's is how terrible I feel when I leave. Pants unbuttoned, asleep on the couch for at least an hour. It just HURTS SO GOOD!
The Filipinos have a great relative that can cook, and his name is Uncle Mike. This breakfast and lunch place gives a great alt to the typical American breakfast - while still offering the old favs. Â
But the best is the "bangus". Â Eggs done to order over white rice (of course there's white rice), deep fried white fish called "milkfish", and plantain pudding. Â A must try. Â Also good is the same dish with pork chops or chorizo. If you're not feeling adventurous, have the French toast or good old eggs with ham. All decent. And all are started with a egg drop type soup called "lugaw". Â Also very good.
A great bonus for us is that the kitchen sent out a large plate of white rice and beans with pork. Â Super good with a hint of cinnamon at the end. Very nice treat! Â
And also a must is eating Filipino style, with your feet, I mean hands. :) Â A little pricier than I would expect but def worth a try. Service is good but don't expect a classy atmosphere...come here for the food only.
I came here about 6 years ago and back then it was just classic American food. And actually I was just looking at their online menu and it looks like it hasn't been updated as it's just that--classic American. (they need to change their yelp category too!) Well apparently the owner, Mike, married a Filipina and now they serve Filipino style food (mixed in with classic American). And wow. I was so impressed!
They started us off with this garlic grits with sliced lemon and chopped spring onions. So simple but so delicious!
We decided to order family style and got the marinated Milkfish. It came with a pico de gallo-like (whatever they call it in the Philipines) side, a brown tapioca like pudding of some sort (confusing as it looks like refried beans!), rice, and two eggs. The portion was huge and we ordered the baby size too! We finished the plate clean. The milkfish was so good! We also ordered the pumpkin pancakes and a side of hashbrowns. I love the way their hashbrowns are very chunky. The pancakes were average but the Milkfish platter stole the show.
I will definitely be back here. It's such a hidden gem!
I have an uncle Mike and he's pretty awesome. He let's me crash at his house when I go to Las Vegas, he likes to party, and he let me watch my first rated R movie as a kid. Safe to say I have pretty high hopes for any restaurant that shares his name.
Sadly, this Uncle Mike wasn't as excellent. There was dirty dishware and they were out of hash browns and sausage on my visit. I get that it's a greasy spoon, but what type of breakfast place runs out of both hash browns and sausage on a Saturday morning at 11am?
I ended up with over easy eggs and white rice which doesn't exactly cure a hangover  the same way potatoes do. They may have just had an off day, but they didn't exactly live up to my Uncle Mike expectations.
They open super early. 5am. CRAZY! And they're open until 3 so that gives you an opportunity to go for first breakfast, second breakfast and then first lunch. Maybe second lunch if you're quick enough.
$11.95 gets you a large plate full of amazing. You heard me.
Tocino + Longaniza + Rice + Egg = WHAT?!!?!? YEAAAAHH!!! OKAAAAAYY!!!
Lil' Jon knows what's up.
Had their Filipino breakfast.
Love how they give arroz caldo (or lugaw, rice soup, whatever you want to call it) and fruit salad with your meal.
The tocino and the longanisa were good. Edible. The rice was the sh*t. The salsa thing was good too.
It's OKAY Filipino food. Longanisa and tocino aren't really a hard thing to find and make in these parts and I think I'd rather make it at home over running over here to eat. The prices were also over the top. I was really amazed at how much the prices were. They were kind of expensive.
It's a good place to try. I'm glad I tried it.
My first foray into Filipino food!
You heard me, people. My Asian brothers from another mother, yo! Â As soon as I sat down, I spotted the "sofrito" on a shelf and a huge smile came across my face. Â I'm half Puerto Rican and this is our gold!!!
There are plenty of options on the menu but their specialty here are the "Filipino" breakfast specials. Â I went with the Tocino and eggs and ordered a side of pancakes for the wee one.
Before our meal comes, we are served "lugaw" which is their version of a congee. I've never had either and I'm glad this was my first! Â Garlicky rice that was creamy and jam packed with flavor.
Ok. Our friendly server arrives with what has to be the BIGGEST plate ever. On it are my perfectly over-medium eggs over garlic fried white rice (another big thing in the PR community is a fried egg over rice), Â a huge serving of tocino, a bowl of something similar to a pico de gallo, and a small bowl of what looked like cocoa crispies!
Everything was sooo good (wasn't crazy about the cocoa crispy dish) and I am glad to have found this place!
P.S-they serve Intelligentsia coffee here and offer free tea when dining in house.
Ridiculously good food at a ridiculously good price.
Uncle Mike is in it to win it.
[[ FOOD ]]:
Though this place does have quite the large selection of regular breakfast/brunch items, it is known for its Filipino breakfast. Â My friends and I ended up sharing our dishes, and trying a little bit of everything - the skirt steak, longaniza, tocino, and bangus. Â (For newbies, the bones in the bangus fish are totally edible - everything in it is fried to a delicious crisp.) Â The garlic rice was light and buttery at the same time.
Our meal came with free lugao (a rice porridge; the equivalent of this would be "juk" or "congee" in Chinese) which I would have been willing to pay $$ for a big bowl of it. Yum! Â There was also free hibiscus tea.
After getting our freebies and placing our orders, the server walked out with a big plate of pulled pork, and little dishes of cole slaw, fried rice, and beans --- all ON THE HOUSE! Â Ridiculous.
[[ AMBIANCE ]]:
A very casual, but clean diner. Â Lots of street parking in the neighborhood.
[[ SERVICE ]]:
Our server was friendly and explained everything on the menu to us. Â Food was brought out quickly, and cleared away quickly. Â We also got free key chains at the end. Â WOWZAS. Â You didn't have to bribe us to love you more, but thanks anyway!!!
<a href="/redir?url=https%3A%2F%2Fsphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net%2Fhphotos-snc7%2F396934_10100495893637299_1444878668_n.jpg&s=65dff4c5c9ccc1b9ac820c4a4785e72bafefb6de301d06c54195cf5f702ebcde" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">https://sphotos-a.xx.fbc…</a>
I am a sucker for a good breakfast. I got into the city early this morning and met a friend for breakfast at 5am and what a way to start the day. The food is fantastic!
I have worked in the city for the last 5 years but  I am completely suburban and have to rely on word of mouth to find anything. Best part the place in only 10 minutes from the shop so I can dine here more often. We pulled up at 5:10 (place opens at 5:00,) parking was easy to find and we were greeted with a smile.
We were quickly seated and handed the menu, told the specials, and given water. The waitress was very attentive (yes we were the only people in the place.) The chef came out from the kitchen and offered us samples of other foods and was very nice as well. I ordered a simple order of pancakes while my breakfast date ordered the skirt steak, eggs over easy, hash browns, and a side of pancakes.
My pancakes were huge and melted in my mouth. One very happy girl!! His steak came out made to order and smelled delicious! An hour and a half later we left happy and with full bellies!
I look forward to my next visit with Uncle Mike!
Let me start off by saying this review is strictly from a Filipino breakfast standpoint. Honestly, if I ever have a tocinolog or bangus craving, I only have one place in mind: Uncle Mike's.
The prices are about $12 a plate which is a little more than I am used to for breakfast but the portion size fits the bill. Also, I always go for the combo where you can select from two of the following: tocino, longonisa and/or hot and spicy Spam. To round off the entree it comes with a side of garlic rice and diced tomatoes and onions in vinegar. They even throw in a small bowl of lugao. It is somewhat bland without any of the fixings so don't be afraid to ask for Patis, Realemon or vinegar; they have it. Add in a small or large bangus to share with friends and you are back in Mom's kitchen.
I kept one star off because the service can be shotty at times especially if you are in a big group. Regardless this is my go to Filipino breakfast spot for me and out of town guests. (Now if they start offering Champurrado than maybe I'll consider upping to 5 stars.)
We walked the .2 miles to Uncle Mike's Place. It was a long .2 in ninety degree heat- felt like .3 or longer. The interior was cool in climate and design. Green ceiling, tiled walls, aqua cambro cups. They have half size plastic cambro cups for kids. The laminated menu reminded me of bad diner food, the coffee from Metropolis I don't like and the waiters noticeably lagged after 7 hours of Sunday brunch. Girlfriend ordered the steak and eggs only to be told ten minutes later by a tired waiter that uncle mike had run out of skirt steak. She changed her order to patty melt.
The surprise was the food had quality. First we received a lemony garlicky rice porridge called lugao. The waitstaff though understandably hobbled after the bulk of a ninety plus degree shift covered coffee refills and worked as a team. A second server brought mayonnaise for my partner's patty melt. The French fries were hand cut. The potato salad was homemade. My sausages were sweet. My rice was garlicky. My eggs were cooked to perfection- over easy. I think there was fish sauce in the salsa. And despite leaving full I still limped to hoosier mama for a big piece of banana cream pie that I scarfed in its entirety like a sick dog.
The Filipino breakfast options did not look appealing, so I ordered the Classic breakfast, and it was good. Toast, bacon, scrambled eggs, and a HUGE side of fruit.
The side of fruit is a huge plateful and it's seriously the FRESHEST fruit I've ever received at a restaurant. The fruit was farmers market fresh, not grocery store "fresh" and I was amazed because restaurants always give you that packaged, non-organic type fruit. Â
I also had a pancake, and it was YUMMY. For a place promoting its Filipino breakfast menu, it has some awesome American breakfast foods!
Would go back just for the American breakfast food!
Filipino breakfast!
I have never had a breakfast like this before - lugao (chicken and rice soup) to start, garlic rice, sweet chorizo, pork shoulder, eggs (over-easy is a must), toast, rice pudding... I think there was more but I can't think of the rest. The rice and meats totally stole the show for me. The sweet chorizo was my favorite and therefore there were no leftovers... womp womp. I decided that the pork shoulder would be great to save to use the leftovers for a fried rice, so I did and it was!
To sum it all up:
Super casual, perfect type of place to just roll in no matter where you've been or what you look like.
Great price for the ENORMOUS amount of food you get.
Leftovers!
Garlic.
Love Garlic? Â This is YOUR place. Â Garlic-y to keep lovers and vampires away. Â :-)
Filipino breakfast is as good as it gets and better!
ScoutMob dragged me into Uncle Mike's and now addicted! Â My only go-to place for Filipino breakfast in the City. Â The dishes have a clean, healthier taste without sacrificing tradition.
Everything about Uncle Mike's Place is a reflection of owner's heritage and variety of work experience. Â The Chinoy background is reflected on the here and there chinese decor. Â Pinoy is obviously in the food infused with Hawaiian background (reflected on Spam for breakfast), and a clean preparation of sawsa-wan. Â Bottomless Intelligensia coffee. Â Excellent service -- no one is ignored nor forgotten, staff is happy and pleasing, knowledgeable about the dishes that is good enough to be mistaken as 'tunay na pilipino'.
Good value for your $:
- free house tea
- free soup (aka lugaw, a simplier version of congee) for dine-in with roasted garlic
- bottomless intelligensia coffee
- Filipino breakfast dishes can serve 2 without overeating
Longaniza with Tocino, yum!
Bangus with 2 kinds of sawsa-wan comes with a surprise of perfectly sweetened champorado.
Eating pinoy breakfast with spoon and fork is the only way to go. Â Ask how to do the sawsa-wan and the spoon/fork combination. Â It's fun!
Para kay Uncle Mike po:
Kung gusto mong tulungan ang ating kababayan....palitan po ang intelligentsia sa Batangas Coffee. Â Baka mas mura pa. Â
Maraming salamat po sa masarap na almusal.
Awkward! Â (sing-song voice). Â
This is how I felt when I walked in out of the rain this morning with my wife and my sis-in-law.  We parked west of the store front and walked past the side door, because I don't usually think of side doors as entry ways.  So we walked into the corner/front door and squeezed past some diners to what I would have assumed to be the host/hostess station.  The gentleman manning said station was doing something when I walked up to it, but gave me a hello and a how ya doing.  I replied with a cheery "hey, doing all right" and waited for him to retort with a "can I help you?" or  a "How many?"  I stood there for what felt like a commercial break before he finally said something to me. Â
"How can I help you?"
"Um, table of 3?"
He looked around the dining room and then says, it's going to be a little bit of a wait. Â I understand how that's possible, so I say it's fine, and walk back to the far wall to wait for our table. Â Before I can even settle in on my wait, he's back to tell me there's a table for 2, but is wondering if we don't mind squeezing in. Â I thought, if it's just going to be a couple of minutes, why would I want to squeeze into a 2-top? Â I said yes anyway, not knowing that sitting at a table for 2 would mean that I would initially be invisible for a short part of our meal. Â
We were shown to our table and got extra chairs since there was only one there. Â After we all sat down, we got 2 menus. Â I deferred them to the ladies. Â Coffee mugs came, but only 2. Â My sis-in-law asked for another mug from one of the bussers, who then replied, "A mug of what?" Â "Just an empty mug, we only have 2" Â Right after that, our server came and said are you ready to order? Â i never even got to glance at the menu! Â I guess it didn't matter because I knew what I wanted, but I just don't like to feel like I'm not in the room. Â Like I need to ask for my own mug and menu? Â It was just weird/strange. Â
So the food? Â It was good! Â We each ordered something different...
Wife - Spicy spam
Me - Tocino and Longaniza
Sis-in-Law - Bangus (marinated Milkfish)
We were eating a bit of a late breakfast so they ran out of Lugao unfortunately. Â I was looking forward to it. Â Instead we got 3 bowls of Black eyed pea and pork soup, and while that doesn't have the same effect on my heart, it was satisfactory as a pre-meal for me. Â It came with rice, and the soup had good smoked flavor from the pork, and was piping hot. Â
Spicy Spam - A staple of all Filipino households, this spam was sliced thick and fried to a crisp. Â
Longaniza and Tocino - 7/10. Â It was good, it wasn't exceptional, but that's only because I've been eating it all my life and with the exception of uncooked or extremely fatty versions of these cured pork based meats, they're pretty much all the same, Â The tocino on my plate was well done and lean looking, and since my wife was wavering between the tocino and the spam, I ordered a side of tocino for us to split. Â The second tocino that came was not the same as what showed up on my plate. Â the side order had huge HUGE hunks of fat and was not as well done as mine, so I ended up giving her my lean well done Tocino and ate the fatty ass not-so-well done Tocino. Â That's LOVE. Â
Bangus - One of the best things to happen to fish...Marinated in vinegar and smoked then fried. Â Sounds digusting, tastes great to Filipinos all over the world! Â Lucky for me, my sis doesn't like the fatty part of the fish which is THE BEST PART. Â
All of our meals came with garlic fried rice, I just felt like mine wsan't garlicky enough although my wife had garlic taste in her mouth after the meal, so maybe I just have a higher garlic threshold? Â
Overall, I liked what I ate and I would come back to try other things like the famous marinated skirt steak, but I would hope for less awkwardness the next time around.
Filipino food is a matter of preference. Â Who makes the best pancit? Â "my mom" Â or "my Tita Baby". Â All a difference of opinion and that's how I feel about Uncle Mike's too
Us pinoys may or may not like
-garlicky rice
-runny, sunny-side- up eggs
-Charred/ carmelized longanisa or tocino Â
Again, a matter or preference! I agree that their garlic fried rice isn't "garlicky" enough like Dad makes it at home, but you could always ask for them to put make it extra garlicky (VAMPIRES BE GONE!!!!). Â I wasn't pleased though that the rice itself didn't have that sticky consistency texture when made at home. Â The longanisa was charred perfectly to a perfect caramelization. Â The eggs were cooked with the yolk not being too underdone and raw, and not that hard yellow you see similar to a hard boiled egg.
Now, the pleasers about this place were the sides you don't normally see or get at other Filipino breakfast spots in Chicago. Â With my order came
Sawsawan- a Filipino salsa with onion, tomatoes, fish sauce and cilantro. Â Perfect acidity to cut the fat content of the longanisa
Champarado- chocolate rice porridge. Â Nice thick consistency and what I really enjoyed about this dish was that there were long slices of a tapioca-like substance. Â Definitely added to the texture of this normally oatmeal-textured dish. Chocolate flavoring itself was not too sweet. Â This was served warm.
Ginitaan- a hodge podge of different yams and yellies in a cream sauce. Can be served cold or warm, mine was given to me warm and it was ooooh ooooh goodness.
By the way, when Uncle Mike is here, his rice is cooked to perfection.
Breakfast so good, it makes you want to punch the dude that invented IHOP right in the dick.
My first foray into Filipino breakfast was satisfying as hell. I've always been more of a Steak and Eggs rather than pancake/waffle/french toast type of breakfast guy (read: I require cooked flesh of beast in the morning), so the combo breakfast of pork and more pork (Tocino and Longaniza) was right up my alley. Both are deliciously cured, just the right sweetness. Combine that with the vinegar-y pico de gallo and breath destroying garlic rice, and you have a breakfast of the gods. Only rating 4 stars because the eggs weren't really up to the level of the rest (maybe my fault for getting scrambled), and because the space is a bit cramped inside. And because this place is only open until 3pm. Seriously, if this place was open for late night eats, I would wake up smelling like garlic way, way more
Really good Filipino breakfast.
Service is quick. The longaniza was delicious. The flavor mixed with the garlic rice and the pico de galo was awesome. That brown thing that comes along with your food (seems like re-fried beans, but it's not) might be an acquired taste, but it was interesting to try.
good portion size, good prices, good coffee.
The reason I'm giving this place four stars is only because of the space itself. Â I found it a little crowded, but it is a dinner and I believe this is just my personal preference. I have an eye for aesthetics, and I thought they could improve the layout of the place a little. Clearly they broke some wall to have access to the back room , and the reform is still unfinished, but there were people eating at the back room anyways. But you know what they say - as long as the food is good, why look at the small stuff?
Btw I don't know if anyone says that. I just made it up.
There's regular breakfast, and then there's Filipino breakfast. Uncle Mike's Place serves both! This was just a quick walk from where we were staying, so before we began our exploring on Sunday, we decided to check it out. A quick glance at the menu for the Filipino breakfast, and I knew that was the menu I would be ordering from. Ryan ordered the Pork Chop plate. I ordered the Tocino [cured pork shoulder] and Longanisa [sweet sausage] plate.
Needless to say, it was a LOT of food. We love to share, so the plates were passed across the table several times. Since we were on the road, it was exactly what we needed to get our day started right - hearty breakfasts!
Hands down the best filipino breakfast I've had that my family didn't cook. It beats all the NY joints--Krystals, Ihawan, Perlas, Renes, etc etc.
The staff is quick, but friendly and the food is plentiful and delish. Â Your order comes with a side of champorado, and sometimes, lugaw if you're lucky. Today, they were out of lugaw by 2pm--apparently, it's a hit!
Mark B. and I got a side of mashed camote and a small soup that tastes like nilaga, on the house because we showed interest in the food (and I'm sure I looked like I hadn't been fed in days). The camote was a big serving for a side. It was not too sweet and cinammon-y, which I treated as a nice dessert. The soup was a modified nilaga, with more veggies, and the serving was very small--it was only for us to try!
I'm sure the hit is the tocino and longanisa combo.. and i was so torn between that and the bangus! Luckily, the staff was sympathetic and allowed me to have a bangus and tocino combo. This combo comes with garlic fried rice, eggs cooked the way you want it, a bit of champorado and unlimited sawsawan! I suggest getting the eggs sunnyside up so you can break it down on the rice.
The sawsawan was simply a hodge podge of tomato, onion, cilantro, patis and vinegar.... but ughhhh I could eat just that that over rice any day--SO GOOD!!
Will definitely come back!
The 5 best restaurants in the 2015 Denver Restaurant Week
3,607 Views | Category: Denver
The complete list of 2015 Denver Restaurant Week businesses
1,970 Views | Category: Denver
The tourists' guide to Portillos: 5 must have dishes
3,306 Views | Category: Chicago
Pho = Pronounced "fuh" not "foe" for pho-king sake
2,905 Views | Category: Denver
Indulgery selected to exhibit at Collision Conference
2,983 Views | Category: Press Releases
Not Logged In
BUSINESSES
Local Businesses
Near Me
My Favorites
SOCIAL
Blog & News
MY ACCOUNT
Login
Register
Contact Us
Add Your Business
