Fil-Am Oriental Food & Gifts

This family run indie shop has been in business for 25 years. Obviously, I've been under a rock since I've been a Shoreline resident for over 18.5 years. Always a good sign when there's a giant sardine ad on the storefront. I've often wondered where are the Filipinos/Filipino Americans in the north end. Found them - they're all lined up at Fil-Am Oriental Food and Gifts! The Homie and I did nearby Starbucks and Arcane Comics stops on Friday 11/6/20. I wandered in to check for chicharron, perfect for football game snacking. I walked in and was amazed at the available selection of a wide variety of items, plus brightness, cleanliness, and organization observed. Sometimes other Asian stores are a bit lacking in any of these aspects, but not here. Plus masks are required and appropriate social distancing for pandemic precautions are in place. Another bonus, so close to home!This reminded me of several shops I visited with my family growing up in Bremerton/Kitsap County. Nostalgia! But then I started wandering and scrutinizing each aisle...fresh produce, snacks, canned goods, frozen goods, seasonings and condiments, fresh baked goods, and other stuff and things. Need a barong? Need some religious statues? For all I know, they probably ship balikbayan boxes too. Goodness these folks have it all in this classic strip mall hole in the wall. But my eyes honed in and stomach growled when I saw the kare kare in the hot food case. Thank goodness I had steamed rice at home at the ready. Omg, tender oxtail, copious sitaw, bok choy, and eggplant in a savory peanut sauce accompanied with a small amount of bagoong. Yes, in addition purchased two kinds of chicharron. The Homie was so happy to try boba in a can and find Asian Ovaltine and peanut polvoron. The friendly guy working the register gave me a pro tip and said to come back tomorrow when his mom has more Filipino cuisine available. They open at 11am, but best time is at 12:30pm. So guess who was back again promptly on Saturday 11/7/20...yes, this person who didn't have breakfast or lunch yet. Grabbed some ube bread from Delite and Valerio to have a taste comparison. And eyes on the prize, I immediately lined up on social distancing dots on the floor. Tempted to buy mungo guisado in the refrigerated case, but waited patiently in line. The woman in front of me seemed to shop while at the register, however, the same friendly guy at the front counter wasn't freaked out at the growing line in the store. Focused customer service clearly is the norm. I had plenty of time to ogle the hot food case which during my second visit contained dinuguan, lumpia, fried fish and pancit. I also bought fresh puto! The elderly couple behind me were impatiently wanting me to move forward and later thrilled to know there was balut available. Yes, the available Filipino cuisine here is that eagerly awaited. The dinuguan, puto, pancit, and ube bread varieties were spot on. Filipino cuisine here is homemade with extra care and love. I am so appreciative of this indie culinary gem so close to home. Goodness knows with how my 2020 has been going, this is just as good as a reassuring hug letting me know all is good in the world.

Kind owners, great variety, their food smelled delicious. We enjoy coming to pick up Filipino treats every so often.

The best pork adobo! Reminds me 9f my Mom's. I came by later in the day, not a lot to choose from in the hot case, but I was generously dished a serving of adobo and rice. The store seems to be adequately stocked with the Filipino essentials. Nice family run store.

I kept coming here for the lumpia but time & time would miss out on it. First time I didn't realize that they only sell the hot lumpia on Saturdays. 2nd time it was a Saturday but a lady had come in early that morning & bought them all to take to a picnic. 3rd time finally worked out. They make great lumpia, nice hot & greasy. They are pretty large & sell for $0.79 each so I bought 3, which I promptly ate before leaving the parking lot. I hear it's best to come in before lunchtime as many times they sell out. They sell a bunch of other foods as well & have a few other "hot" items but none that really float my boat other than the lumpia. Parking is easy to find in the lot and usually there is a few open spots right outside the store. This is in the same lot as the Shari's but closer to the SouthEast side of the lot. I kind of wished they had a bench or some chairs outside in case you want to munch on the hot foods before leaving. It's definitely a cute little mom n pop type grocery store but with more ethnic type food & of course a ton of junk food. Sometimes you have to wait a bit to get service since the owners seem to know a lot of their customers and like to talk and catch up with them, but it seems like they get a LOT of repeat customers which is a very positive sign. If you didn't know it was here, it would be easy to miss but once you know it's there, it's hard to forgot it :)

Hands down, my favorite Filipino market! I grew up in Shoreline, so I've been coming to Fil-Am my entire life. The owners are familiar and so welcoming to my family and I, and after all these years, they remain so hard working and so dependable to the community that comes in and out of their store. They have fresh and hot Filipino food ready to take home, treats and snacks that gives you a taste of the Philippines. Fil-Am has been a major part of me getting more familiarized with my culture as that's where we used to rent all our VHS to DVD Filipino movies, that's where we bought our Magic Mic, that's where we used to get our calling cards to connect to family back in the Philippines and when I didn't have cable, that's where I'd watch Wowowee while waiting for my parents as they shop :P I love recommending Fil-Am to friends when they ask where to get good Filipino food and snacks ;)

This small yet established family run store carries more than snacks and spices. They also sell airline tickets to the Philippines, phone cards, and formal wear (barongs). Produce can be found in the front of the shop and frozen food section is in the back. There's a decent variety of snacks, mixes, and sauces. Baked goods and other Filipino pastries can be found near the front counter. I like coming to Fil-Am for items such as ube extract (purple yam) and pandan flavorings. I've also purchased halo-halo and bibingka mixes. The spice selection is also decent.The shop owners are always friendly. They tend to learn your name after a few visits. Prices are reasonable and the convenience of not having to drive long distances for Filipino goods is always a plus. If you are using a debit card, make sure your purchases are $10 or more. They do charge a small fee for any card purchases less than $10.

They make one of the best halo halo I've ever had. The owner seems like a sweet and caring lady. All staffs wear masks and they practice great hygiene protocol.

It's been awhile since the last time I stopped by here. It was years ago when I needed a catholic religious item and I was able to find it in this store. I completely forgot about this store until I drove by from the nearby Joann. The lady owner was very nice and asked me what she could help me find but I was just really looking around. There was another woman cooking at the back kitchen. I never tried their hot meal items, so I waited patiently for the Bistek to be ready. While waiting I walked around the store, they have some gem items authentic from the Philippines which are probably hard to find nowadays.I got the Large bowl of Bistek for about $12.. and my gosh, for the price, you get hefty amount of beef. For the flavor, I gotta be honest that it didn't really blew me away. But it's definitely value for your bucks in this economy. Would I stop by again? Hell yes, I'd definitely come back and sample their other stuff. Support small businesses!

I love fil-am. If they weren't in business I literally wouldn't know how to feed my family lol. Paksiw is life. Bisteak is heavenly.

Clean, great stock of Filipino ingredients/sauces, snacks, fresh baked goods, hot food (lumpia + ulam), and friendly owners. This market is worth driving from the east side to. I'm so glad to be able to access Filipino groceries so my daughter will know the culture's delicious food. They have all veggies and ingredients needed to make sinigang and other Filipino staples. Felt very nostalgic with all my childhood snacks!