Have you eaten? Our culinary adventure to No Worries Filipino Vegetarian Restaurant in Oakland

With No Worries Founder and Chef Jay-Ar Pugao

On October 1st, we paid a much anticipated visit to No Worries Filipino vegetarian restaurant in Oakland, CA.  It was grand opening day for No Worries, and for us, this was not going to be an ordinary lunch break.  We had been waiting for No Worries to open for months, as we were quite eager to experience our favorite dishes from childhood, vegetarian-style.  We were also excited at the prospect of a new lunch spot in downtown Oakland.  We had such a great experience (turned out that we were their first customers of the day), we wanted to share it with you.  Here's what we thought!

Beverly:
Since I walked passed it back on a sun-shiny afternoon in June, I've waited for No Worries to open its doors. I remember the first thought that came to mind when their sign caught my eye, "Filipino (yes!) vegetarian (whaaa?!) cuisine." I couldn't believe it. Now all I had to do was wait for their grand opening. June, July, August, and September passed by and I started to get worried, "will my Filipino vegetarian cuisine cravings ever be satisfied?" No worries though (pun intended), we were some of the very first customers when they finally opened in October - Filipino American History Month. Good timing eh ehh?

Upon entering the restaurant, you're greeted by art work from local Oakland artists on the wall, as well as multiple Philippine flags. R&B music plays on the speakers while young hosts see you to your seat. For less than $8, you can get a four-item lunch, with ulam/dish choices ranging from pancit, lumpia, and adobo, to ones less-known like tocho and giniling. Additional ulam choices are added for dinner.

After eating there multiple times since, my general impression of the food remains the same: I for sure will go back but the hardest folk they'll have to win over are Fil-Ams who are not vegetarian. It's a trip and a treat to eat the food I grew up with in the new, vegetarian form they offer and it couldn't have come at a better time since this year marked my return to a vegetarian diet.

Michelle:
Vegan Filipino food...blasphemous!  That’s what I thought when I found out that No Worries Filipino Vegan Cuisine was set to open up a block from where I worked. I tried to wrap my mind around the fact that someone dared to dream of a restaurant that served all of my favorite childhood dishes… sans meat. I am a Filipino cuisine purist, who every now and then, religiously pours over my cookbook bible that my friends from the PI sent me to relish in beefy meaty goodness. How on earth could anyone successfully pull of taking out the main ingredient of items like bistek (beef steak sautéed w onions) or giniling (ground beef with veggies – think lumpia insides)? The beef flavors the dish. The dish revolves around the beef! Like my hubby would say “que loco!”

Many of my co-workers, both vegetarian and meat lovers, Filipino and non-Filipino, all decided to make a day of going to No Worries grand opening at the beginning of last month. Many of us wanted to support an innovative idea and watch it flourish. We were also curious how someone could create vegetarian cuisine from a predominantly meat-loving culture. I have to say after eating a 4-item dish (yes I was feeling a bit piggy that day), I must give the owner, Chef Pugao, credit for his healthy and tasty renditions of my favorites, pancit (noodles), adobo, and mungo (mung bean soup). As vegetarian/vegan food, it’s not bad.

But, as Bev mentioned, it would take a lot to convert someone like me (one who grew up on traditional Filipino food) to fully accept the concept. And sadly, I am not completely convinced. True, Filipino food is high in cholesterol, fat, and sugar causing many Filipinos to have high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and diabetes; but I can’t shake the fact that instead of beef in my bistek, there was tofu made to look like steak strips all in the name of healthy eating. Don’t get me wrong. I am not completely cutting No Worries out of my life. I am just reluctant to accept it as a place of fine Filipino cuisine. I will definitely return. However, I will still defer to Goldilocks to get my traditional cuisine fix, or my trusty cookbook bible whenever the mood strikes.

GSM's lunch plate!

 Grace-Sonia:
 "Filipino vegetarian food...at last!" I thought to myself as my four item plate was placed in front of me.  Four items?!?  I skipped breakfast on purpose because I wanted to try as much as I could.  It was a tough decision, because there were so many choices on the lunch menu at such a reasonable price, but I settled for all my childhood favorites: adobo, lumpia, pancit, and afritada.  It was all good!  My favorite was the lumpia, but the afritada with rice was a close second.  Having this Filipino vegetarian lunch with my colleagues was a special experience.  Eating like this was a treat, and I had special people around to share this moment with me. 

I've since been back to No Worries a couple of times with other sets of friends.  I enjoy telling them the genesis of the idea for the restaurant.  It all began after No Worries' Founder and Chef Jay-Ar's mother survived a heart attack and was encouraged to eat a vegetarian diet by her doctor.  This inspired him to start experimenting with flavors, and using ingredients like tofu and wheat gluten to substitute for meat products in order to continue making the traditional food his mother liked.  In the Filipino culture, making/sharing/serving food is an expression of love.  Chef Jay-Ar's love for his mom is the reason why we're able to enjoy this new experiment in vegan/vegetarian Filipino cuisine.  Love is how many of us get introduced to Filipino food.  If you're lucky enough to be Filipino, chicken adobo and rice is probably among the first of the solid food you ate as a child.  If you're fortunate enough to have Filipino friends, chances are that someone made you a plate at your pal's mom's house after school or at a birthday party.  And thanks to No Worries, vegans and vegetarians who have never tried Filipino food will have the opportunity.  Sure, there isn't any meat in these dishes.  But if enjoying a meal at No Worries is not an authentic Filipino experience, I don't know what is.