text: Went Friday to take advantage of the special lechon (roasted pig).    \nI found the cafe cozy- nice, dark wood furniture and dark wood blinds.  Definitely more welcoming than the restaurants in Chandler!  I found the high counter a little daunting- I, being only 5 feet tall, had to either hoist myself up on the counter with my elbows to peer down, or had to crouch down to have a look under the counter, and have a look through the sneeze-guard.  Their labeling system needs improvement: I vote for adhesive labels that go on the sneeze-guard so that patrons can easily identify the food on the buffet line.  I'm sorry, but no matter how often Karey and Purine say they like to cook the food to order, food laid out in huge trays and placed in \"turo-turo\" style ISN'T food cooked-to-order!\n\nHere is a list of the food I tried that day:\n\n1. Lechon, large order $6.99- includes corn tortilla (I subbed flour) and  choice of Spanish or Filipino garlic rice.  (I chose Filipino, of course!) http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/kareys-kitchen-phoenix?select=SHZJN-BYDlPa74nDjqH2xg#SHZJN-BYDlPa74nDjqH2xg\n\n2. 3-entree combo of Dinuguan (\"chocolate stew\"), Beef Mechado, and Pork Adobo $- includes garlic rice.  http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/kareys-kitchen-phoenix?select=Pcxd22BrQ9Ixjgm13149fQ#Pcxd22BrQ9Ixjgm13149fQ\n\n3. Lumpia shanghai (fried Filipino pork eggrolls)- small order includes 8 pcs. of pork- and onion-filled mini-eggrolls that are fried.  http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/kareys-kitchen-phoenix?select=HyJX4evw0Ogej34RgcptkQ#HyJX4evw0Ogej34RgcptkQ\n\n4. Halo-halo $4.50- frozen dessert consisting of sweet beans, coconut strings, coco jellies, ube (taro-based pudding), coconut milk, choice of ice cream, and shaved ice.  http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/kareys-kitchen-phoenix?select=cphMBWm29BPKoaBidq9QCA#cphMBWm29BPKoaBidq9QCA\n\n5. Pan of cassava $8- Cassava is a root, much like a sweet potato or yam that is pounded or ground into flour and then mixed with cream, butter, eggyolks, and sugar and baked/steamed into a cake-like dessert dish.  Somewhat cakey and much thicker than an egg-custard pie... A little help here, Joel?  \n\n6.  To-go containers of Pork adobo and Dinuguan, each $3\n\nI found all the entrees and eggrolls, save the mechado (meat was a little tough), very tender and very tasty (loved the dinuguan!).  However, they're ALL very greasy, unfortunately!  I'll never ever order the fried eggrolls again... Everytime I ate them, they came back to haunt me, and all due to the high grease and salt content.  A coworker came for her first visit (with her husband and stepdaughter. as well) after I had left, and told me that she found the eggrolls VERY salty, as well as the other dishes she tried there, but couldn't bring herself to tell the owners because they were all so very friendly and sweet.  Karen, Rey, and Purine, as well as Michael, were all very friendly and accomodating, this is true.\n\nI would order the dinuguan and pork adobo again, but I won't eat any of it until I'm able to place them in the fridge so that their sauces may gel up and I can skim off the HUGE amount of fat, reheat, and then place them back into the fridge again so that I may re-skim the fat one more time.  Only then would I be able to enjoy these dishes.  They are very tasty, but I have to be careful...  Or I could enjoy them fresh, but without much of the sauce.\n\nWhat my coworker and I definitely agreed on was that we'd both come back just to have the halo-halo again!  This dessert, similar to the Vietnamese Che ba mau, tasted like it was made from fresh ingredients, instead of from a bottled mix of beans, coco strings and jello.  I liked the ice cream they used, too.  You have your choice of either ube, vanilla, or mango.  I'll definitely have to come back and try a bowl of the two Filipino flavors...  As a special, Karen had prepared ginataan, a warm dessert consisting of plantains, jackfruit, coco strings, taro, and something akin to yams, cooked in coconut milk and sugar.  This looked and smelled so very good, but I couldn't try it due to food allergies.  I wonder if Joel had a sample?  I know he enjoyed the cassava... I did, likewise.\n\nAs for the lechon, I'm sad to report that the skin wasn't crispy at all, and I detected a chemical flavor every time I tried the skin.  It tasted much like what a disinfectant might taste like.  A faint hint, but still there, nonetheless.  The pork meat didn't wow me, either.  A big part of the enjoyment of lechon is the Mang Tomas Lechon sauce, which you can buy at Lee Lee supermarket in Chandler (or at Mekong in Mesa).  Awesome sauce, just ask Joel!  I'll have to try the leftover lechon soon with the sauce (I stayed away from it bec. I wasn't sure of the ingredients at the time).\n\nI will definitely be back to try their daily specials.  I do hope that Karen and the others strive to lessen the grease content of their dishes...