Payag
“We ordered grilled tuna belly, baked tahong, gambas ajilio , karekare, and Lechon kawali.”
“Sisig was not crispy enough, and though the boneless crispy pata was good I still missed the bone and all it's lovely parts.”
“For desserts we got avocado cheesecake & turon or sweet fried banana egg roll with vanilla ice cream on the side.”
Payag
Takes Reservations: Yes
Delivery: Yes
Take-out: Yes
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Bike Parking: Yes
Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
Good for Kids: Yes
Good for Groups: Yes
Happy Hour: Yes
Waiter Service: Yes
Caters: Yes
Price range.
$$ Price range $11-30
8 reviews
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My friends and I stumbled over here for post-octopus–I mean, post-Sik Gaek–dessert and drinks. What is it about Southeast Asian flavors after East Asian flavors that just hits the spot? Maybe it's because octopus does not figure into the equation. Sorry, I digress…
We got:
Coconut Lychee Martini: Tropical, fruity goodness. Doctors recommend two servings per day
Kalamansi Margarita: An essential part of a balanced alcohol diet
Pinay Shake: You gotta get your calcium somehow, right?
Payag Dessert Trio (Maja Blanca, Jackfruit Toron, Buko Pandan): Nutritionists say you should eat the rainbow when it comes to produce. I believe that extends to desserts too. Eat the rainbow. The delicious, moist, sweet, creamy, decadent rainbow….
Avocado Cheesecake: Avocados are a superfood that taste extra delicious in cheese form. Antioxidants, baby
Did you try the sisig? It's usually a snack to enjoy with a good beer. Pork snout, liver and ear served on a sizzling plate with kalamansi (equivalent to lime) and an egg over easy.
The food here is very good, as was the service. The fried chicken here was very tasty (crispy/ crunchy om the outside, juicy and moist inside) and is served with banana ketchup on the side.
I highly recommend trying the avocado shake. It is one of those drinks you either love or hate.
I had family visiting and we decided to try Filipino cuisine. The restaurant has a nice setting, and on Saturday night, there was a live band. The music is good but the sound was too loud.
Calamansi juice: It's like a lemonade.
Baked tahong: Oven baked New Zealand mussels in half shell topped with parsley garlic butter and sprinkled with cheddard and pepper Jack cheese. A little dry.
Escabeche sa payag: Fish garnished with thinly sliced ginger, sweet pepper, cucumber and house made sweet and sour sauce topped with pineapple slices. It's sweet and sour crispy fish, very easy to eat with the sauce.
Tuna belly: Yellow fine tuna belly marinated in Calamansi, garlic soy sauce and extra virgin olive oil. Tuna is better eaten raw, once it's cooked, it become dry. However, the crispy skin was good.
The food doesn't come with rice.
Cassava cake: Cassava, coconut flakes on a coconut streusel. This was my favorite item from the meal. The cake is served warm. I like warm desserts! The toasted coconut crust was crunchy.
I like the restaurant for the ambiance and atmosphere more than the food.
One of the Filipino restaurants who offers live entertainment . Last night , the children of one of our close friends entertained us for a cover charge of $10 as it was a scheduled event. If no scheduled event, free admission , still , they have in house entertainers. It was packed last night. Nice place , nice staff , had trouble looking for parking though. They have nice party place downstairs. Perfect for special event.
I tried the place calamari for my appetizer and langkatini(jackfruit) for my drinks. Their sauce for calamari was superb. Did not like much my martini- jackfruit is not suited with the alcohol(for me).
Over all experience , above average , will come back again
Payag means nipa hut or a small cottage. This place reminds me of my country– Philippines! Where most of the bars and restaurants have live bands while enjoying delicious filipino food.
I went to this restaurants because they have great live bands with a cover charge of $10 but totally worth it & enjoy every bite of my favorite food in the world. Filipino food of course!
Tonight we came for dinner. We got the squid adobo, crispy pata– deep fried pork trotters or knockles serve with soy sauce vinegar on the side. Sinuglaw– grilled pork belly & fish ceviche mix together with tomato, cucumber, onion, chili & vinegar. Ohhh yum!! Everything taste legit & delicious. For desserts we got avocado cheesecake & turon or sweet fried banana egg roll with vanilla ice cream on the side. Heavenly!
This type of restaurant is good for groups & family style. They serve big bowl of delicious soup too which I higly recommend especially the bulalo– beef shank & marrow bones with corn & vegestables! Trust me its delicious! 😉
Nice ambiance, big space & great service!
If you asked me what my favorite restaurant in New York is, it would be this one. The food was delicious, the menu was unlike others I've seen, and the service was exceptional, thanks to an electronic buzzer I could press that'd prompt the server to come over immediately!
I ordered the Kare-Kare ($16), a meat stew made of peanut sauce and a variety of ingredients: protein (beef, oxtail, tripe), vegetables baby bok choy, string beans, and eggplant) with a scoop of white rice. The slight sweetness of the peanut sauce complemented the other ingredients well. I liked that the Kare-Kare left my stomach filled without leaving me groggy, like eating fries and a burger would.
For dessert, I ordered the ube (purple yam) waffle, topped with whipped cream, strawberry slices and blueberries. and this was a perfect finish to my meal. Although I thought the dark purple color of the waffle looked weird, I didn't mind it after I took the first bite of my waffle and realized that it tasted like any other waffle I've tried. The fruits were fresh, and the whipped cream was dense and light without being too decadent, with the texture of whipped cream cheese. This dish satisfied my sweet cravings without being too decadent, since I normally like to end my meals with something sugary to eat.
The server was very kind and responsive to my requests for extra napkins. I liked that there was a buzzer at every table, so that the servers can know when to come to my table. Also, the menus here don't just list food, but they include introductory info about the cuisine and music from the Philippines, which shows that the restaurant is mindful of people who try this kind of food for the first time. Both the buzzer and menu show a smart user / customer experience setup!
The place looks nice…food, too. But how the food doesnt taste great.
I ordered several dishes so i can compare each one. I ordered pork belly, sisig, beef tagalog, lumpia, pacit, halo halo, coconut lychee shake w tapioca pearls and a coffee mocha.
The only dish i enjoyed was the pork belly with rice. The pork was cooked and tender and the skin was crispy. No complaints there.
The sisig was soggy and i hated feeling the cartilage when i chewed. Beef tagalog had a strange after taste–salty then tangy. The lumpia was mediocre–i have made better. The pancit had an unusual mix if veggies in it. It didnt taste bad, but it wasnt great either. The halo halo was alright as well. The coconut lychee was good but was made with a mix. The balls were super hard. The coffee mocha was alright. Cant really mess up instant coffee.
Service is great since there's a call bell on the table. The place looks nice and is clean. The service is great because of the call bell. If these werent factored in, i would have given a 1 star.
I hope they make the food better here, otherwise i dont see it doing well.
My mother in law and I ate here for brunch together since she's been wanting to try the food. I never knew this was here in queens since I'm used to being around 69th street area.
I really liked the ambiance and setting of the place since it had a lot of modern and culture designs mixed together. I liked the table how it looked like bamboo and the wall decor too.
We ordered 4 dishes- kare-kare, mahi-mahi soup, tuna belly I think grilled; that was mom in laws dish which I didn't get to try. Oh and I ordered first lumpia shanghai since it's my ultimate favorite appetizer. The lumpia shanghai from here was not good at all, it wasn't as tasty as the other lumpia shanghai's have had from my moms home cooked version or even from Renee's kitchenette. My dish was the kare-kare which is oxtail with vegetables in a peanut sauce. It wasn't great, very soupy and had to use more shrimp paste for more flavor and I usually hold back on the shrimp paste since it's too salty.
I really wanted to like this place but if it weren't for the ambiance and setting, i wouldn't return but I will try this place again and order something else. The service was great but the food I ordered was not up to par. I'm sad about the lumpia shanghai since that's my favorite filipino egg rolls ever!