Hidden Gem: Maria’s Kitchen and Grill

While Maria Bomba and her wife April Garcia have been providing Calgarians with delicious Filipino takeout and delivery from a commercial kitchen for years, they finally opened their own storefront in an unassuming strip mall in Penbrooke Meadows. What started as a passion for making lechon for family and friends in their home kitchen has become a full-fledged Filipino food hub with not only their famous lechon (the Filipino version of porchetta), but also turo-turo (buffet), frozen goods available in-store and in other Filipino groceries throughout the city, all-day breakfast, sweets and more. Opened on Dec. 10, 2023, Maria’s Kitchen and Grill is bright and cheerful, designed by Maria herself as she’s also a trained architect.

“My father always said, ‘No one will need you to design a house three times a day, but everyone needs to eat three times a day.’ I fought with him, but he’s laughing at me now,” she says, chuckling. Her father ran a food stall near a school in their home province of Iloilo, Philippines. Today, Maria sells her dad’s famous corned beef recipe, packaged as Daddy George’s Corned Beef. In fact, all of their frozen and packaged foods are named for Maria’s and April’s family members.

We loved the lechon. Marinated for two days and baked for five hours, it’s crispy, juicy and delicious with Maria’s flavourful liver sauce and tangy pickled mango. The sizzling pork breakfast (sisisilog) was also delicious with an egg made to order and choice of rice. A very pleasant surprise was an absolutely delicious clear pork soup, or sinigang, which is overflowing with rich pork umami balanced with wonderfully tangy vinegar that will have us coming back for more.

Oh, and the ube macapuno cake from Sweet Cakes by Vernz in Midnapore was not only gorgeous (purple!), but really delicious. We’ll definitely be headed Vernz’s way for a future issue.

Maria’s Kitchen and Grill | 4, 1704 61st St. S.E. | 587.496.0336 | @mariaskitchengrill