ROSEVILLE — Imagine traveling to travel to the Philippines without hopping on a flight. It’s possible.
One local restaurant is bringing authentic cuisine to Placer County.
“Mabuhay” is a Filipino greeting that also means “live.” For Maylani Monterola, her new restaurant Adoboink is all about creating a space for people to feel the liveliness of the Filipino culture — specifically, the food.
Adoboink started as a catering business back in 2019, but the customers wanted more. The demand for salty and sweet flavors was so high that Monterola and her husband opened their first brick-and-mortar on Lead Hill Boulevard in Roseville over the summer.
“In the beginning, we were scared like, ‘How are we going to do this? Can we make it?’ But I’ve seen a lot of people are very supportive. Filipinos, non-Filipinos — all of them are embracing the culture,” Monterola said. “We’ve noticed small families, big families, also couples started coming in, younger generation, older generation.”
In the Filipino culture, there’s no meal without the presence of your loved ones.
“We always eat together — breakfast, lunch and dinner,” Monterola said.
Adoboink offers traditional dishes like adobo with pork, chicken and lumpia.
“We also have our own concept of lumpia here. We call it the Oompa Lumpia,” Monterola said. “That’s where traditional and the new meets in between.”
However, it’s the new breakfast menu that really hits home for Monterola. Growing up in the Philippines, she recalled what a normal morning looked like with her family.
“We would wake up in the morning, breakfast is set up on the table, always with garlic fries and meat,” she said. “We are big breakfast eaters, also with egg.”
That traditional breakfast cuisine is now pulling in the early bird crowd.
“People can try it and have the feel of being back in the Philippines when they wake up in the morning and breakfast is ready.”
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