The Weekly Eater

By Nadine Kam
Star-Bulletin

This story is excerpted from March 28's column.

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-- Food
-- Service
-- Atmosphere
-- Value

Critics were the first to heap accolades on practitioners of the art of mixing and matching various ethnic cuisines. It was fresh, exciting, revolutionary.

The came the spawn. At the hands of lesser imitators, magic turned to mush. Not good. In a Newsweek "My Turn" column that mentions Hawaii's restaurants, writer Regina Schrambling says: "The saddest effect of all this cross-pollination is that the result is not exciting exoticism at the table but a dreary sameness."

We've seen mix-and-match European, American, Chinese, Vietnamese, Thai and Japanese cuisines. About the only cuisine left unscathed is Filipino cookery. Or is it?

What detractors of fusion cuisine have failed to note, is that culinary "purity" is a myth. Food styles, like fashion, are always in flux. Hopefully, only the best trends will survive the end of the century.

And Filipino food, as unadulterated as it seems, bears the marks of centuries of contact with Chinese traders and 333 years of Spanish rule. This bit of history is gloriously brought to the table at Celing's Filipino Restaurant in Waimalu. It's strictly a formica table afffair, but for about $7 per person, four people could eat very well.

First timers might want to start out with Celing's Mixed Plate Special, offering a choice of four out of 14 items for $6.25, plus rice. Selections range from Mongo Beans ($6.25 a la carte) mashed with garlic to form a hummus-like paste, to the crisp-skinned pork, Lechon Kawali ($6.75 a la carte).

Leftover lechon also shows up in Sari-Sari ($6.25), but luckily it's not the main attraction of this soup that could be the envy of many a grocery produce section. Its verdant array of greens includes squash, long beans, onions, eggplant and ong choy.

Generally, those who dislike

Filipino food are reviled by patis, the fish sauce, or bagoong, the pungent shrimp paste, that goes into many of the dishes. Here, a light hand uses just enough of the caramel-colored essence to give their dishes character, without giving those with Western palates the opportunity to hold their noses.

Pancit ($6.25), a staple of rice noodles, was similarly given light treatment so that the noodles where almost fluffy. Given the threadlike quality of the fine noodles, it's more common to find them flattened by liquids and oils.

Shrimp (with shells on) Sarciado ($8), doused with a scrambled egg, tomato, cabbage and onion mixture was so tasty, the shrimp was almost unnecessary.

For dessert there is Banana Lumpia ($1.85) or Halo-Halo ($3), sort of a cross between shave ice and a trifle, here made with canned fruit from the Philippines, layered with beans, ice and condensed milk.

But look out. If you'll notice, breakfast offerings include Fried Rice Omelettes ($5.25) ... not unusual for Hawaii right? But these are made Celing's way, with chunks of chicken adobo. Hmm ... primordial fusion?

Celing's Filipino Restaurant

Waimalu Shopping Center
98-020 Kamehameha Highway
Hours: 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily
Prices: About $28 for dinner for four
Call: 487-5583

- excellent;
- very good, exceeds expectations;
- average;
- below average.