A New Taste at the Shore: Kamayan Grill in Neptune City

Kamayan Grill
Neptune city
2040 Route 33
732-361-5264

Open: Lunch and dinner, daily

Price: $ BYO

Style: Small, casual restaurant and market in a strip mall, serving traditional Filipino dishes. The dining area is tiny yet functional, with black tables and chairs and a wall-mounted television. A Philippine flag hangs in the window.

The Scoop: In the Philippines, the traditional way of eating is kamayan style, meaning “with hands.” (Don’t worry, Kamayan Grill provides utensils.) The restaurant opened in 2015, serving food turo-turo style, meaning “point-point,” which is what you do when choosing dishes from the steam table.

The Menu: Selections vary daily, but prices never change. Your first main dish, served in a cup, costs $7.25; you get a second main for a dollar more. Mains come with your choice of rice or pancit (noodles) and a water or soda. The meal pictured consists of goat caldereta (top), a thick, hearty stew made with carrots, potatoes and tomato sauce, and chicken adobo (bottom). Other popular items are curry chicken, skewered barbecue chicken, pork or tilapia sinigang (a sour and savory stew), tortang eggplant (eggplant omelet) and monggo mung beans (sautéed mung beans). For dessert, try a piece of cassava cake or turon, in which slices of ripe banana are coated with brown sugar, rolled up in an eggroll wrapper and deep fried.

Heads Up: Check the Grill’s Facebook page for the day’s menu.