My Favorite Filipino Restaurant

If someone were to ask me today what my current favorite Filipino restaurant is, I would say it is “The Little Pinoy” in . . .  Geneva.  Yes, that’s Geneva, Switzerland.  I didn’t expect to find a Filipino restaurant there, so the Little Pinoy was a really pleasant surprise.  It’s owned and run by a  Cebuana named Aida Casagranda, a talented chef who has adapted many typical Filipino dishes to suit more European tastes. 

Now normally, I prefer authentic to adapted, no matter what the cuisine, but Aida does a really good job tweaking old favorites like lechon kawali.  She uses pork with much less fat and spikes it with a little pepper, I think.  It doesn’t taste exactly like lechon kawali, but it’s really good.  Truth is, I prefer Aida’s recipe.  Oh, and she serves it with haricot vert, those small green beans we normally associate with French cuisine.

We ate there twice. She offers a buffet for 17 Swiss Francs (eat all you can), which is the best deal in Geneva.  Every dish was tweaked by Aida and we enjoyed them all.  I haven’t enjoyed San Miguel beer with great meals like Aida’s in a long time.  Some red wine would have gone very well with most of her dishes as well.

If you’re visiting Geneva, you can find The Little Pinoy on Rue Chaponniere 16 not too far from Gare Cornavin, the main train station.  We’ll be back.