For Active Members ONLY - Let’s Celebrate "Friendsgiving" with a Feast at Perla!

THIS EVENT WILL ONLY BE FOR THOSE WHO HAVE ATTENDED OTHER MEETUPS WITH OUR GROUP IN THE PAST!!

Let's celebrate "Friendsgiving" and enjoy a traditional Kamayan feast at Perla. It’s a BYOB, pre fixe menu ($50 pp - approx. $64 pp after tax and tip) Since this is a BYOB and it is "family style" we will be splitting the bill. Please try to bring exact cash! This is one not to be missed - it's really good!

Kamayan means “by hand.” This communal meal is traditionally served on banana leaves and enjoyed without utensils. However**, you can use a fork** if you insist, but it’s a wonderful opportunity to experience something “innate and ancestral” to Filipino culture.

Here’s what's on the preset menu: http://www.perlaphilly.com/

SINANGAG jasmine rice, garlic
CHICKEN INASAL meyer lemon and soy marinade
FRIED PORK lechon kawali or crispy pata
LUMPIA ground pork, carrots, onions, ginger
FISH whole fried Pompano
PINAKBET eggplant, long beans, bokchoy
DESSERT chocolate coconut budino

*From Philadelphia Magazine:

Perla is one of the most unique dining experiences in the city.
Every Wednesday and Sunday, the tables at this Filipino BYOB in East Passyunk are pushed together and covered with banana leaves, and the quiet couples you normally see here are replaced with big, animated groups of friends eating with their hands from communal piles of food. First, a layer of fried rice is spooned onto the table in a formation that looks like one of those perfectly symmetrical mountain ranges from a Wes Anderson movie. Next, vegetables - brussels sprouts, carrots, bok choy, onions, and peppers. And then a whole fried fish, pieces of crispy pork belly, spring rolls, and lemony whole chickens are stacked on top of the rice and vegetable wall. Finally, a few different sauces are scattered around the table, so you can mix and match to create what seems like an infinite number of combinations out of everything in front of you.

And it’s these combinations that make the feast so delicious. One minute it may be a piece of crispy pork belly dipped into a vinegary and sweet dressing, and the next you’re pouring a spicy, harissa-like red sauce over a bite of chicken breast and bok choy. It’s like a choose-your-own-adventure book, except all of the endings to the kamayan feast are happy ones in which you end up very full, likely with your hands covered in olive oil and rogue rice grains.

This is when Perla really shines, and despite feeling a bit uncomfortable at first, eating with your hands from a giant pile of food forms a bond between everyone around the table.

Hope to see you there!!