This Viral Filipino Buffet Attracts Famously Long Lines And Books Months In Advance — Here’s My Honest Review Of It
Food is a big deal in Filipino culture. No matter the occasion or the number of people at the function, there will always be a spread of food waiting to be enjoyed — usually buffet-style, and usually so much that everyone is welcome to take leftovers home.
In my family, food is how we bond, how we show love, how we celebrate, and sometimes, how we apologize and grieve. If there's one thing that brings Filipinos together (aside from watching Manny Pacquiao boxing matches), it's food.
So, when I started seeing a Filipino buffet — located 90 minutes from me — make the rounds via viral TikToks and restaurant reviews that called it "astounding", I knew I had to check it out.
Mekeni Pinoy's Pride is located in Los Angeles County, California — in Artesia, to be exact. And its breakfast and dinner buffet attracts famously long lines every week.
The breakfast buffet is priced at $22 per person, the dinner buffet costs $35 per person — and reservations for both book out well in advance. I wanted to try the dinner buffet. Below, you'll find my full review of it — including the menu, details and photos of everything I ate, and tips for first-timers.
Mekeni Pinoy’s Pride is located at 18152 Pioneer Blvd, Artesia, CA 90701.
*Note: I was provided this meal and experience free of charge; however, I was under no obligation to give a positive review.
First, though, a bit of background: "Mekeni" comes from one of the eight major Filipino languages, Kapampangan, and roughly translates to "come over."
Though Mekeni offers a traditional dine-in experience, the restaurant pivots into a buffet on weekend mornings and Wednesday nights. I made a reservation a month in advance for the dinner buffet, and because my dad is the one who has taught me the ins and outs of Filipino food and cooking, I brought him along with me. (That, and I hate driving in LA.)
My dad cooks Filipino food nearly every day. Still, considering the Philippines has so many different provinces, each with its own cooking methods, he was so excited to try recipes from Pampanga, billed as the culinary capital of the Philippines.
I was particularly excited to eat at Mekeni because Filipino food buffets are scarce! This was my first time going to one, so I wanted to be surprised by their food selection. I didn't watch a ton of videos or look at the restaurant's menu beforehand, so I was practically going in ~blind~.
First and foremost, the restaurant is much more spacious than it looks from the outside. With fairly high ceilings, tied white curtains, and modern chandeliers, Mekeni had a very chic vibe. The staff was courteous enough to let my dad and me in a bit early to snap some pictures, and I noticed that multiple tables were reserved for big parties later in the evening. What really made my heart flutter, though, was the incredibly wholesome portrait of Filipinos eating around a dinner table and seemingly having nothing short of a good time.
Considering we'd arrived early, the food was still getting set out (and it smelled glorious). In the meantime, my dad and I were served a Mekeni specialty made in-house: lemongrass juice. I didn't know such a thing existed, but I'm not even exaggerating when I say it's one of the best things I've ever drank.
Pardon my French, but hot damn! This drink was so refreshing and light and had the most perfect amount of sweetness. It had a citrusy and floral taste and fragrance to it that was so lovely, and I could not stop drinking it. The fact that this lemongrass juice is 60 miles away from me should be a crime. Long-distance relationships are so hard.
Shortly after I fell in love with the lemongrass juice, it was time to eat! There were 17 savory food items to choose from, along with a small selection of desserts.
Here is the main menu during the buffet service. (More on dessert later.)
• Spaghetti
• Garlic rice
• White rice
• Squid stirfry
• Ampalaya (bitter melon)
• Igado
• Asparagus
• Cebuchon
• Mongolian Beef
• Lumpia
• Crispy chicken skin
• Kare-kare
• Picadillo
• Ginataang lobster
• Fried shrimp
• Mandagarat
• BBQ short ribs
I tried mostly everything, but thanks to a seafood allergy curse, I wasn't able to try dishes like the popular ginataang lobster, squid stirfry, or fried shrimp.
For what it's worth, my dad said the lobster was DELICIOUS.
Thankfully, though, there were tons of other choices I could stack my plate with, including dishes I'd never tried before, like picadillo, and some personal favorites like lumpia.
There was even a little grilling station where you could get Mongolian beef:
And who could forget this absolute banger that is cebuchon (roasted pork belly roll):
Look at that crispy skin. 🤤
Here's what my first plate looked like:
I genuinely don't know why I thought it was a good idea to get both types of rice, knowing it would've made me fuller and faster. Like, girl, you definitely know what white rice tastes like LOL.
OK, so the first thing I wanted to try was the spaghetti. Maybe it's because I grew up eating Filipino-style spaghetti, but I love it so much more than Italian spaghetti because it's slightly sweet and packed with ground beef and hot dogs.
The sweet flavor typically comes from sugar and banana ketchup, but my dad sometimes uses spicy banana ketchup for a little kick.
Here's my first bite:
I don't think anything could ever compare to my ninang's (godmother's) spaghetti, but the spaghetti at Mekeni is pretty darn good.
Sometimes, Filipino spaghetti can be a bit too sweet for my taste (I'm looking at you, Jollibee), but this sauce had the perfect amount. The noodles were evenly coated in the meat sauce and were a nice al dente, and the sweet sauce paired with the salty hotdogs was just so comforting and tasty. I wish I could've gotten more, but I knew I had to save my stomach!
After inhaling the little spaghetti I got, I went around my plate and tried everything else with my two types of rice, saving the cebuchon for last.
Here's what I thought about the picadillo, BBQ short rib, and igado:
• Picadillo — I have never had this dish before, but it looked like giniling, another Filipino dish my dad always makes at home. Giniling translates to "ground meat," so in a way, picadillo is giniling. (Or is giniling picadillo?) Anyway, my dad has never had picadillo either, so he was curious if it would taste like his home cooking. Suffice to say, it wasn't.
I didn't not like it, but the raisins really threw me off. I don't like raisins, period, but I especially didn't like the tart flavor they added to the dish. Though I enjoyed eating the quail eggs, I just wish the tomato-based sauce had been at the forefront of the flavor profile.
• BBQ short rib — When it comes to Filipino barbecue, my favorite is always going to be pork BBQ skewers, simply because BBQ short ribs are a little too tough for me to eat most of the time. My dad makes these at home, too, and, like at Mekeni, barbecuing short ribs just doesn't make for the most tender or juiciest bite.
Despite that, however, the short rib's flavor was good and wonderfully smoky. I dipped it in vinegar and ate it with garlic rice (which was amazing, BTW), and it made the short rib even more delicious.
• Igado — I am not the biggest fan of liver, so I only got a piece of the pork! If I'm being frank, igado doesn't even break my top 20 Filipino foods, so I kind of went in without having any expectations. All that to say, the meat was tender and had a slightly sour taste to it, thanks to the vinegar the recipe calls for. It paired well with the garlic rice, which added more flavor, but there wasn't anything about the dish that would prompt me to want more. My dad loved the igado (and igado in general), but I wouldn't mark it up as my favorite among the other dishes at Mekeni. But again, igado has never been my jam in the first place.
I literally cannot wait to tell y'all about the cebuchon, but before I do, I couldn't go to a Filipino buffet and not try the pork lumpia and crispy chicken skin! I honestly could never tire of lumpia. Like, if I had a trading card, I'd want there to be a statistic for how many lumpia I've eaten in my life because I'm sure it would be very impressive.
Here's what I thought about the crispy chicken skin and lumpia:
• Crispy chicken skin — I firmly believe that crispy chicken skin was specifically made for me. I'm the type of person who rips the skin off fried chicken and saves it for the end so that that's the last texture and flavor in my mouth, so I was nearly jumping with joy when I saw a massive mountain of chicken skin just waiting to get picked and munched on. It did NOT disappoint; how could it?! It was warm, crispy, and so, so crunchy. 10/10, no notes.
• Pork lumpia — If I were to take a guess, I'd say that lumpia is the Filipino dish most non-Filipinos have tried before. Because, well, who doesn't like eggrolls? What differentiates lumpia from other eggrolls, though, is the wrapper. At first glance, lumpia and eggroll wrappers look the same, but in reality, lumpia wrappers are a lot thinner and more delicate because they aren't made with eggs. Hence the name, eggrolls. The thinner wrapper makes for a more airy and crispy roll while still being strong enough to hold its contents.
As for the filling, lumpia is usually stuffed with ground pork, chicken, or shrimp and sometimes mixed with veggies like finely chopped carrots and cabbage. The salty filling paired with the crunchy wrapper and dipped in sweet and sour sauce is the ultimate combo, making it one of the most iconic and popular Filipino foods.
As I mentioned, I've had a lot of lumpia in my life, and honestly? I don't ever recall coming across lumpia I didn't like — and Mekeni kept the streak going. The pork lumpia had a nice crunch, and the filling was so savory and flavorful. I genuinely couldn't get enough (and you'll see the proof once you see my second plate).
Alright, the time has come for me to rave about the Mekeni cebuchon, aka the roasted pork belly roll. First of all, look at her:
LOOK. AT. HER:
The charred skin?! The glistening fattiness?! The juicy white meat?! PLEASE.
Here's my first bite:
That piece of meat was so good that I had to make the stank face. The explosion of flavor in my mouth was cosmic — the crunch from the crispy skin immediately met with the juicy layer of fat, and the tender, moist pork gave me an out-of-body experience.
Then, I dipped my piece of cebuchon in the lechon sauce (traditionally made with water, liver spread, vinegar, spices, and aromatics) and ate it with a spoonful of rice. It was so good that I'm sure my brain had produced enough dopamine to get me through the rest of 2024 (and that's saying a lot).
The only real downside to eating cebuchon is that it's so heavy because of all the fat. I got two pieces of it, thinking I would down it like a champ, but it actually had me feeling quite stuffed. That, and my silly choice to get two types of rice and spaghetti.
There was still more food for me to try, but for the sake of my stomach, I decided to take a small intermission. But don't think I forgot about my lemongrass juice! I was sipping on that the whole time. Speaking of sips, unlimited drinks are included in the buffet price. Near the dessert table, there were dispensers for water and homemade lemonade. Mekeni also offered us beer and wine, but I went ahead and tried the lemonade.
This lemonade was almost as good as the lemongrass juice! I didn't expect much because most lemonade tastes the same to me, but holy smokes?! I asked if it was made with calamansi (a lime-like fruit native to the Philippines) but was told what makes it so good is the agave nectar mixed in.
While my stomach was still on break, the kitchen added to the buffet spread a bowl of chicharong bulaklak, deep-fried pork intestine lining. (If you haven't noticed by now, Filipino food incorporates a lot of pork.)
I don't eat intestines or anything intestine-related, but my dad loves isaw (barbecued chicken or pork intestines), so he lined up for the chicharong bulaklak with vigor in his step. Here's an action shot of him trying it:
Foods like chicharong bulaklak are typically appetizers, and they're often sold in the Philippines as street food. The lining is obviously thoroughly cleaned, and the food gets its name from its shape. "Bulaklak" translates into flower. How cute!
My dad ate this little snack with some vinegar to cut through the fattiness and thought it was so good! He was happy Mekeni had it, considering it's far from a common food item to see around where we live.
OK, at this point, I finally felt like I could get back into the action. For round two, I tried the famous Mekeni beef kare-kare — and got more lumpia and chicken skin.
Here's what my second plate looked like:
Kare-kare (derived from "curry") is an extremely popular dish among Filipinos. I used to work at a Filipino bakery/restaurant, and I cannot tell you how many bowls of kare-kare I filled and served. Funnily enough, this was probably only my second time having kare-kare ever. (For the longest time, I thought I was allergic to it, but then I realized you don't HAVE to eat it with bagoong.)
Kare-kare's rich and thick sauce is made from peanut butter, which gives it that beautiful yellow color. Traditionally, it's made with oxtail, but beef works just fine (and is cheaper). This dish is packed with veggies, usually eggplant, bok choy, sitaw (green beans), and sometimes squash. Together with rice, kare-kare makes for an incredibly filling and satisfying dish.
Eggplant ranks among the top five vegetables (fruits? Whatever it is) of all time, and no one can change my mind. This is a pro-eggplant environment.
Oh, and did I mention that kare-kare takes about three to four hours to make? The meat needs to boil and simmer low and slow for it to get tender, and oh boy, was this meat TENDER.
Cut like butter.
Here's what a perfect bite looks like:
OMG. First of all, the meat was so moist and melt-in-your-mouth. I had a feeling it would be good, but I wasn't prepared for the literal barely-have-to-chew tenderness.
The peanut sauce was absolutely delectable. The peanut butter flavor wasn't overbearing; it was creamy, rich, and just, well, buttery. The green beans added a nice bite, and the mildly sweet flavor from the eggplant rounded out the kare-kare wonderfully.
You might be wondering, OK, Dannica, then why do people eat bagoong with it if it's so good already? Well, my friends, although the kare-kare sauce is deliciously rich, it is also heavy and could weigh your tongue down after a few bites. Since bagoong is salty and briny, it cuts through the buttery flavor and gives the dish lots of umami.
Mama Peng, the creator of Mekeni Pinoy's Pride, told me the restaurant was famous for its kare-kare, and I 100% saw why.
After my second plate, I was fighting for my life because I was so full. But after dealing with the Southern California traffic to experience the buffet (sorry, Papa), I was not going to tap out quite yet. After another mini-break, I went over to the dessert table to see what Mekeni had to offer on the sweeter side of the spectrum.
I got some strawberries to cleanse my palate, but what I was really looking forward to trying was the ginataang bilo-bilo: glutinous rice balls in sweetened coconut milk "broth" mixed with jackfruit. It can also be mixed in with bananas, tapioca pearls, and sometimes sweet potatoes. The Mekeni bilo-bilo appeared to have had jackfruit, tapioca pearls, and yellow yams in it, and it's eaten warm.
Look how amazing this looks:
It's giving dessert soup!
My grandpa loooves bilo-bilo, so I ate this with him in mind. The coconut milk was pleasantly sweet, and the rice balls, having soaked in some of the "broth," were chewy like mochi and bursting with flavor. I LOVE jackfruit, so that was my favorite part of this dessert for sure. After eating so many fried and heavier foods, the coconut dream that is bilo-bilo was really refreshing, despite it also being thick and creamy.
I will say that I was a little disappointed in the dessert selection, just because I was hoping for some turon (sweet banana lumpia), egg pie, or maybe even some bibingka (baked rice cake). Oh, duh, and ube!? But considering there were so many main entrees, I suppose you can't have it all.
Even so, the bilo-bilo was a great way to end my meal (and I downed it with the rest of my lemongrass juice.)
I'm literally still in awe that I ate so much, and I'm happy that I had the chance to try foods I don't typically eat daily! What really made my experience at Mekeni incredible, though, despite the amazing food, was the community the restaurant seemed to foster. Everyone who was eating was treated like family, and as diners left, they would say aloud to the staff things like, "See you again!" or crack an inside joke. It was an incredible sight to see, and I think the warm and welcoming environment really showcased the pivotal role food plays in Filipino culture, especially in forming bonds and relationships — even among strangers.
All in all, if I could describe my experience at Mekeni, it felt like being at a family party. Everyone there became my titos and titas (aunts and uncles), and the food was delicious, fresh, and clearly made with intention and love. Even better, I got to experience the buffet with my dad, who cooks for my siblings and me nearly every day and keeps our house smelling like pork and soy sauce. He's the reason why I know so much about Filipino food and our culture, and honestly, we'd probably drive an hour and a half to eat at Mekeni again because it is so worth it.
If you live in Southern California or are passing through LA County and want some tasty Filipino food, swing by Mekeni Pinoy's Pride in Artesia and see for yourself why people are lining up during the breakfast and dinner buffets. If not, I encourage you to check out local Filipino food spots in your area and try something out there! There's so much Filipino food out there to explore, and I'm sure there's something for everyone.
What's your favorite Filipino food dish? If you've never had Filipino food before, is there anything you'd like to try? Let me know in the comments!
