Chibugan Filipino Cuisine (Closed)
4728 S.E. 29th St.
Oklahoma City, OK
Chibugan in Del City
There have been many articles on the Internet about people’s opinion that Filipino cuisine is one of the best, yet there are extremely few restaurants in the United States in proportion to the number of Filipino people living here. I have watched both Bhing’s Cafe and Evelyn’s Asian Table close, and with both I was convinced that more people would like Filipino food if they tried it. Fortunately there is now another opportunity to try it at Chibugan in Del City (which I was first alerted about in 2016 but I was able to make my first visit in 2018).
I was encouraged when I saw the amount of business the restaurant is doing, and I think they made a wise business choice by locating near Tinker Air Force Base (military bases traditionally attract small mom and pop Asian restaurants nearby because many of the personnel have been to these countries and tried the food). It might seem as if this is a prime example of a niche cuisine that would not attract a large segment of Americans, but I come back to my statement that this will change once people try the food.
With the previous restaurants I visited the biggest hurdle was trying to figure out the menu. I mainly followed the suggestions of the owners and got good results, but I know that this will continue to be an issue with many people. Chibugan has what some people call a “streamlined” menu with additional daily specials posted on the wall, and you can see pictures of the items. Although I still had questions, the staff was very helpful in explaining everything.
Like any cuisine, Filipino food has a large number of styles of food, and at Chibugan you can get what you want from a light lunch to a very substantial meat dinner. The default for Filipino food is that it is not spicy, and mostly it is like other Asian food but with a few twists (for instance I tried one dish that had a large amount of celery).
My experience was that I asked questions about the dishes that looked interesting, and they explained it to the point that I was satisfied that I had made a good choice. I give ratings to restaurants based not only on my own experience, but also on what I think it will be for other people. I felt very comfortable that even those who have no experience with Filipino food will have a good idea about what they are ordering here.
The Food
Chicken rice soup
With any order you get a complimentary Chicken and Rice Soup. This was a very delicious indication of how the rest of the meal would be.
Pansit bihon
I ordered two dishes with the idea that I could take some home and have somewhat of a variety of items to report. I turned out that these dishes really could not have been more different. The Pansit Bihon was a very light dish that I would say makes a very good lunch. It was a little like Chinese chow mein but it had a strong celery taste and the lime you put on top makes it taste very tropical. In any case I thought it was very good, and I happen to like this type of healthy but flavorful food.
Pork ribs adobo
At the opposite end of the scale was Pork Ribs Adobo which was a very substantial meat dish. It had much more flavor that I had expected, but even more surprising was the way the meat fell off the bones in a way that was just right. Much of the flavor came from the sauce and from the seasonings cooked into the meat. I thought this was a very good example of Asian slow cooked meats.
The dish is topped with Asian red chiles, but if you leave these alone the dish is not spicy.
All plates come with Lumpia on the side (the Southeast Asian version of an egg roll).
Also available are canned Philippine fruit drinks in a variety of flavors that I thought was a perfect touch with the meal.
In short, I was very happy with my two meals here (I took the pansit home for lunch the next day).
Previous Post from Mar. 23, 2016:
Chibugan Restaurant in Del City, OK (near Tinker Air Force Base in the Oklahoma City metropolitan area) will be open soon, and as far as I know will be the only Filipino restaurant in the metro.
Chibugan’s interior
It looks as if it is almost ready to go, but they have not yet announced an opening date. Those in the area, though, may want to keep a lookout for it.
Filipino decorations on the wall
Thanks very much to Arlene Clifton for providing the photos and for giving us a heads up that Filipino food will soon be available in the Oklahoma City area.
RATING: 25
Cuisine: Filipino
Cost: $$
Hours: Closed Sun. & Mon.
Accessible: Yes
Smoking: No smoking
Most Recent Visit: Aug. 17, 2018
Number of Visits: 1
Best Items: Pork Ribs Adobo, Pansit Bihon
Asian Food Details
| Tea: | N/A |
| MSG: | No |
| Buffet: | No |
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Pork Ribs Adobo |
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Pansit Bihon |
|
Chicken Soup |
can we find out when the place is going to be open? i’ll be glad to share it on my fb page.
The last word I got is that final touches are being done and they are awaiting OSDH inspection. I think we should hear some news about it very soon.
I heard Chibugan will open tomorrow, would like to know if they are. Maraming Salamat po.
Chibugan naaaaa…. yay
Today was the grand opening. Fid was awesome and authentic. I have pics going up in yelp.
Thanks very much for your report. It sounds as if they had a successful grand opening! I just found their Facebook page and posted a link to it.
We eat there today very nice
We went there yesterday but they said they run out of food, opening day they run out of food? they said we have to wait till 7 pm to order. all the empty tables
but they said its already reserved, not a very good first impression.
Must be really crowded, running out of food is not a very good opening day start.
Hello, we didn’t anticipate the huge crowd and we do apologize. We are correcting the issues and will try to accommodate our customers to have a good experience to our resto.
Poor service they give us a menu but they don’t take our order Waiting almost an hr until we call them. The people on the next table arrived later but they were attended emmediately. Ano to? Palakasan system?
I apologize for the inconvenience. It was an oversight on our end. We are working our best to fix our ordering system. Wala po sa bokabularyo namin ang palakasan. Pasensya na po ulit kung matagal po ang hinintay ninyo.
Been excited to have a Filipino restaurant here,we have to go to Dallas to go a Filipino restaurant. Was excited to tell my wife cause she’s from Guatemala. She love our food too.N
I’m excited to hear about a Filipino restaurant opening near AR.
Do you serve Pinoy delicacies like suman, biko, puto, etc? Do you carry Goldie locks products too?
Do you have a web site where we can check out the menu?
Thanks!
Chibugan’s Facebook page has menus and information about the food they serve:
https://www.facebook.com/Chibugan-251119901897353/?ref=py_c
The menus seem to change week by week so you might check to see if they have what you are looking for.
I just heard this with one of our guest. I did not even know na meron na pala. Thank you Chibugan for bringing this in Oklahoma. I can’t wait to visit you tomorrow. Naglalaway na si ako:)
I ordered dinner tonight. I am sorry but I am really disappointed. The pork barbecue was really dry and could have been cooked hours ago. It tasted awful and stingy. The dinuguan was the worst dinuguan I tasted in my entire life. The vinegar was not cooked and it was just full of fat. I would like to support this establishment because this is the only Filipino restaurant we have but please put some pride in your cooking. It is not my attitude to give bad remarks and I really would like this restaurant to succeed, but please do your part.
I ate at Chibugan today for the first time and I can’t wait to go back. I ordered the barbecue chicken, pancit, lumpia, and halo halo. Everything was delicious, the service was lovely. I am from Olongapo City and I have waited for years for a Filipino restaurant to open up in the metro. Great experience all around.
When you work the whole and cooking our Filipino dishes, the way we wanted it is not that easy but having a Resto in town is more likey to have. Some of the food may not cook or taste best but good enough to fill up your longing for Filipino delicacies. If some does not like their cooking, then do it your way than saying something that is uncalled for. I may not like some dishes but I am sure that eating food that I grow up with makes me feel proud as a Filipino. We cannot hide the fact that we do still want to eat Filipino foods wherever we go.
– correction “when you are working the whole week” and “
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