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Though spicier Southeast Asian cuisines get all the love, often-stewed and salty-sour Filipino food has its particular homey appeal. Engeline’s, in a pocket of Irish-dominated Woodside, warms its contemporary brick walls and glossy dark wood with wraparound pink lighting, recessed into the ceiling; televisions broadcast variety shows in Tagalog. Classic soy-and-vinegar-braised chicken adobo is so effortlessly delicious that it’s no wonder it’s the national dish of the Philippines. Crispy lechon kawali, bite-size strips of unctuous pork belly, get even better when dipped into the accompanying sweet and tangy sauce made from humble bread crumbs and liver. Vegans, beware: Even the vegetable dishes contain pork; nubs of lechon flavor pinakbet, a hearty Pinoy ratatouille of calabaza, long beans, bitter melon, eggplant, and okra. A bakery case displays both American and Filipino pastries, but the startlingly purple chiffon cakes, buns, and cookies made from ube, a violet yam, stop the show. — Krista Garcia

Chicken adobo, $7.50; lechon kawali, $8.95; pinakbet, $8.95