Spoon & Pork - Los Angeles, California

Raymond M.

I was today years old when I first tried a Filipino restaurant! @spoonandporkla was wow! Who knew you can make nigiri with some well-seasoned, cooked pork!? I followed that with a crispy pork shank, ginger rice, and a mango beer! Yum!!!

Zach L.

I’ve been coming to this restaurant for many months because I truly appreciated their food and creative dishes. However, my recent visit was a big letdown, and unfortunately, it will be my last.

Right when I walked in, there was a strong unpleasant smell inside the restaurant—almost like urine—which immediately set a bad tone. The tables were uneven and not properly cleaned, which only added to the discomfort.

What really sealed the experience was the service. An older waiter, who came off as sassy and dismissive, barely paid attention to customers. When I pointed out that my chicken inasal was still raw and showed visible blood, he simply told me it was already cooked. After I insisted, he offered a refund but walked away without a word of apology or concern.

To top it off, the food wasn’t even close to the quality I’ve enjoyed in the past. It’s clear that something has changed—perhaps due to rising ingredient costs—but the drop in quality is obvious.

It’s disappointing to see a once-favorite spot fall so far. I won’t be coming back.

The W. M.

The building is old, the service was good, and I’m going to be dreaming about the beef adobo. Don’t tell my mom. Definitely my favorite dish. If you like beer try all the Engkanto’s offered. I now have a brewery to visit in the PI.

Dom K.

Spoon and Pork charges way more than they deliver, and only does half the job to create a good experience. They ride a line between fancy and family style where I didn't feel like either of those aspects really shined.
The interior has a take-out counter in front and then a few dine-in seats. They're pretty small and they don't have enough space for the family-style dining that they run with. The tables also felt a little sticky.
We started with the lechon nigiri and shrooms salpicao. The nigiri comes with two pieces, we just went at the first too fast. The flavor is great, especially with the little kick from the sauce on top. The meat is pretty soft and you can bite through easily. The mushrooms are also very tasty. The sauce is very sweet and almost too much, but I don't NEED rice with this dish. I think "market mushrooms" is pretty pretentious for normal mushrooms.
We moved on to sabaw over white rice, annatto rice, and lechon kawali. The sabaw is tasteful, mainly tomato and a blend of supporting spices. The lechon was good. It had a lightly crunchy skin side and the rest was nice and soft. I don’t think it’s worth the price though and it’s definitely not enough to share. The pickled red lettuce isn’t very good. The pickling is missing a bit of a kick.

Maureen P.

Food is delicious and service is exceptional! One of the best restaurants in LA! Try the brussel sprouts and patatas bravas, you won’t regret it!

Link L.

Fusion Filipino restaurant with natural wine and Filipino beer selection. After trying many under-delivered fusion Filipino restaurants, Spoon and Pork easily takes the crowd to have the best executed fusion style dishes. We had the sinigang, grilled chicken, adobo chicken wings, pork belly, and garlic rice, and none of them disappointed.

Sinigang's soup was rich and flavorful while the topping in the soup was cooked separately so they are not over cooked. The ribs came with a real nicely grilled flavored. The pork belly had crispy skin as expected and the fat to meat ratio was really good. The adobo chicken wings sauce was thick and sticky and not too salty nor sour, we kept the sauce for dipping Even after the wings were devoured.

We are glad we took another chance in another fusion Filipino restaurant and we'll keep S&P on our rotation.

Darlene Y.

The highlight of the meal was the Lechon Kawali with the pickled red cabbage. What a great combination! One of the best I've had, but missing that traditional sauce.

Also ordered the Sisig which was okay and the Adobo pork belly which unfortunately, was a huge miss. I understand that this is a modern take on Filipino comfort food and I appreciate that, but the sauce brought the whole dish down. It was way too thin and lacked that depth of flavor that it should have being slow cooked with the pork belly.

A sidenote that did not factor in the rating, but I wish there were more dessert options since Filipino desserts are amazing! Would love to see a unique take on leche flan, turon, cassava cake, biko; that would be fun!

My K. N.

This spot has great potential and I love their take on Filipino cuisine. There were two issues. The singing was served luke warm and the lechon kawali was not crispy enough. My personal preference for soup is piping hot no matter what the weather is outside. I love lechon kawali and have had different variations. The skin should be crispy as the fat should be as well. We were also disappointed that Kare Kare was unavailable that evening.

The two of us dined in and shared the following dishes.

Calamansi Mint Beverage - Made in house with honey. Refreshingly good and sweet.

Pork Belly Nigiri - This was packed with adobo flavor.

Tapa - fried beef dish with a sweet l, savory & acidic base from the cane vinegar.

Lechon Kawali - Crispy pork. It was not fried crispy enough so the fatty pork was not as tasty.

Pork Ribs Sinigang - The ribs fell off the bone. The veggies were too crisp. The turnip made the soup bitter. Otherwise, the flavors would have been better balanced with the tamarind broth.

Overall, each dish complimented one another well on flavor profiles. I would like to come back to try the Kare Kare.