Philippines Supermarket Island Pacific Opens First Orange County Store – Orange County Register

Philippines grocery store Island Pacific Seafood Market has made its debut in Lake Forest, a first for the chain in Orange County.

The store had its soft opening on September 9th. An opening ceremony and ribbon cutting will take place on October 7th at 9am, with a cultural performance scheduled for 6pm

Shoppers can expect a wide variety of seafood, meat, and products inspired by Filipino and Asian cuisines. Think long beans, bok choy, Thai chilies, condiments and sauces.

Yelp reviews were mostly positive a month after the store opened. “Everything stocked and neatly organized,” wrote one Riverside shopper.

The San Honore Bakery is to the right of the store entrance and has “lots of fresh bread, chicken empanadas, pancakes, and Taho drinks,” noted Yelp reviewer Winny. “All were delicious.”

Empanadas were $2.25 each and the Taho drink was $5.95. A half-dozen cheesecakes cost nine dollars, she wrote.

Others were impressed with the variety of hot dishes served at the on-site Philhouse restaurant. “The skewers are the biggest. Biggest meat, also best quality. Plus the sauce is GREAT!” wrote Ken from Aliso Viejo.

“We absolutely love this place… and that’s because of the wonderful people AND the absolutely amazing FOOD,” he wrote.

Artwork by Long Beach-based muralist Bodeck Luna and Filipino cultural artist Kristian Kabuay adorn the walls.

The Walnut-based supermarket chain has 18 stores in California and Nevada. The supermarket was founded in March 2000 by Nino Jeff Lim with Panorama City as the first location. Additional locations in Southern California are in Cerritos and Long Beach.