Barkada’s ABQ – Albuquerque, New Mexico

As a self-confessed mama’s boy away from home for the first time, my transition to being on my own could have been much tougher.  Thankfully I was “adopted” by Air Force veterans and the spouses they had married during tours of Vietnam, Korea and The Philippines.  Those spouses were largely responsible for my introduction to Asian cuisine, none of which I had ever had as a sheltered bumpkin  growing up in secluded Peñasco.  I wanted to try it all.  In some cases, I would try foods (such as rancid kimchi and stomach-turning balut) my friends (some of whom had seen combat) were afraid to try.  My willingness to try virtually everything endeared me to my friends’ spouses though my friends complained I was making them look wimpy.

Although all Asian food seemed exotic in comparison with the beans, tortillas, and chile diet of my youth, I did experience one cuisine which was more relatable because it had the qualities of home cooking, the type of which my mom’s prepared for her family. That cuisine was Filipino.  Norma would greet me to the family home with a traditional Filipino greeting of “Kain tayo!”.  That greeting doesn’t translate to “welcome to our home,” but to “Let’s eat!”  In Filipino culture, that means the same thing.  I was to learn that Filipinos have a deep sense of community and belonging  They have a compulsion to sharing their food.

Larryl Lynch (publisher of Albuquerque The Magazine) and I experienced a sense of belonging the moment we were greeted by Cindy Recile, owner-chef of Barkada’s ABQ, the city’s only Filipino dining opportunity.  Barkada’s is not a restaurant where you can sit down and enjoy a meal in a homey environment.  You’ve got to use Grubhub, Doordash, UberEats or Barkada’s website to order food which can be delivered or picked up.  Better still, the next time you have a family gathering ask Cindy to cater it for you.  Barkadas is open Tuesday through Thursdays from 12:00pm to 6:00pm though during the weekend you can also find Cindy at various markets and pop-ups across the city.

Cindy is a whirling dervish with a perpetual smile.  If likeability, passion and outstanding cuisine bode future success, the radiant Cindy will thrive and grow her little operation.   Barkadas translates from Filipino to “friends” or “group of friends,” an apropos appellation considering spending time with her is akin to visiting a friend.  She chose the name Barkadas because cooking in the Filipino culture is often a community event in which friends cook together to feed one another.  She related the practice of making lumpia (fried Filipino eggrolls) to Hispanics in New Mexico getting together to make dozens of tamales or to bag freshly roasted chile.  Because the Spanish ruled over The Philippines for 333 years and colonized New Mexico, Cindy sees a lot of cultural, culinary and language similarities between her family homeland and her adopted home of Albuquerque.  Her logo incorporates aspects of the Phillipine flag and the Zia flag of the Land of Enchantment.

Cindy is pragmatic about Barkada’s growth, taking a “watch and see” approach.  Ultimately she hopes to take Filipino cuisine to the denizens of the Duke City and operate out of a food truck.  After moving to New Mexico three years ago, she observed the lack of diversity in Asian restaurants.  Unlike her hometown of Manhattan, the Duke City does not have a Filipino restaurant.  She launched Barkadas on August 24th not just to serve the Filipino community, but to introduce her homeland’s cuisine to the masses.

Although Barkadas does not have seating for diners, Cindy graciously set up a table so that Larryl and I could enjoy a meal and get to know about her and her operation.  First to grace our table was lumpia, the most recognizable of all Filipino foods.  Lumpia is the Filipino version of a fried eggroll.  Cindy offers lumpia in three varieties.  New to her menu is green chile lumpia which includes New Mexico’s sacrosanct official state vegetable as well as Mexican cheese.  The green chile lumpia has a piquancy fire-eating New Mexicans will love.  She also offers lumpia made with beef, but her signature lumpia is made with minced shrimp, pork, cabbage, water chestnuts and garlic in a rice wrapper and fried.  Her lumpia was reminiscent of the lumpia I enjoyed so much with my adopted Filipino family in Massachusetts.  Cindy serves it with a light vinegary sauce punctuated with Thai bird peppers.  You’ll fall in love with the lumpia.

Cindy served us a melange of menu items that showcase just how diverse and delicious Filipino food is.  On the biggest styrofoam container Larryl and I had ever seen, she served us hearty portions of chicken adobo (chicken thighs and drumsticks cooked in soy and vinegar and served with garlic rice and bak choy), Filipino picadillo (ground beef with potatoes, carrots and peas served with white rice and a fried egg) and iced passion fruit tea sweetened with honey.   Everything was absolutely delicious.  The chicken adobo is likely the best I’ve ever had (with apologies to Norma).  It’s an exemplar of Filipino home cooking at its very finest.  If you’ve frequented Mexican restaurants (Papa Nachos comes to mind) in Albuquerque, you’re probably acquainted with picadillo.  Cindy’s version is comfort food at its finest, a filling, rich and soul-warming treat.

For dessert, Cindy’s partner (and boyfriend)  bakes ube cookies.  Though often referred to as purple sweet potatoes, ube are yams with a dark, rough-looking skin. Ground into a powder, ube is then used in Filipino desserts characterized by their bright purple color.  Among those desserts is ube cookies, delightfully delicious and dense cookies with a crunchy (not like potato chips; more like bread) exterior.  They’re gooey and moist on the inside which is studded with white chocolate chips.  Unfortunately, there were no cookies available for Larryl and me so we had to enjoy more lumpia for dessert.  Cindy’s boyfriend is from Mora, essentially “on the other side of the mountain” from Peñasco.  Like Larryl’s hometown of Thoreau, Mora has been a long-time rival of Peñasco’s basketball teams.  (Larryl will be happy I didn’t mention Peñasco having thumped Thoreau in a state championship basketball game many years ago.)

Barkadas and its ebullient founder exemplify the Filipino spirit of Kain Tayo.  Not only will you be served outstanding home cooking, you’ll be served by someone who’s passionate about her culture and bringing her homeland’s food to New Mexico.  Barkadas ABQ is located on the northwest corner of 4th Street and Bellamah.  Look for the sandwich board (pictured above) in front of the building.

Barkadas ABQ
1601 4th Street, N.W.
Albuquerque, New Mexico
(505) 738-3505
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LATEST VISIT:  12 September 2024
# OF VISITS: 1
RATING: N/R
COST: $$
BEST BET: Shrimp and Pork Lumpia, Beef Lumpia, Green Chile Lumpia, Chicken Adobo, Filipino Picadillo, Passionfruit Iced Tea, Garlic Rice
REVIEW #1416