An Introduction for the new year
It’s time for a re-introduction! Read on for what Baon Kainan means and what our cart is all about.
Baon is a tagalog expression for taking food on a journey
It’s a tagalog phrase that conveys that we’re a Filipino takeout eatery. “Baon” is a term describing food you take on a journey like to work, school or anywhere you’re going. Often people at work may ask “anong baon mo?” or “What’s your baon?” meaning what’s your lunch today? Kainan simply means eatery.
How to pronounce Baon Kainan
Baon: two syllables. BAH (like a sheep) oun (like Noah Calhoun 😍)
Kainan: three syllables. KAH (like a bird) ee (like Eeyore) naan (like the flat bread)
The pandemic brought clarity of where we wanted to be in life and spend our time.
At a time when things were uncertain we turned to what kept us grounded and what comforted us. Filipino food. Me being full Filipino and Ethan being half Filipino, half Chinese (hence our Chinese last name), our heritage’s cuisine was at the core of who we were: welcoming, abundant and comforting.
We chose this food because it was our story on a plate and a story that ought to be told. Filipino food isn’t the cuisine top of mind for most people.
OG Baon Seattle circa 2020.
Many people still don’t know what Filipino food is even though Filipinos have been in the states for centuries.
Of all the US restaurants, 12% serve Asian food and of that, 71% make up Chinese, Japanese or Thai food. Only 1% serve Filipino food. Filipinos are the second largest self-reported Asian ancestry group in the United States. We wanted to help push the Filipino food narrative so it was important to do this cuisine and also do it our way.
We serve Filipino-American food. 🇵🇭🇵🇭🇵🇭🇵🇭
While we are Filipino, we grew up here in the states. We only visited the Philippines a few times on family trips and that was during our adult years. When we cook we go off of what our mothers cooked for us and what they resourced from the local grocery stores in the US towns they lived at the time. So while our Filipino dishes are our own, we start with the classics and add our take on it purely based on what we grew up on, Ethan’s training across the years at various restaurants and what we like to eat ourselves.
Our menu is filled with the classics with our take on it.
We serve chicken adobo, pancit palabok, lumpia and a rotating menu of specials throughout the year. You can find our menu here and our hours here. We’re located at 1027 NE Alberta Street inside the Alberta Carts pod.