Mystery Diner: Harley-K brings taste of the Philippines to Bureau County

Harley-K, Wyanet’s newest restaurant, tucked into a small, tidy Main Street space, offers an authentic and welcome taste of the Philippines.

The restaurant features a full American breakfast menu and limited but complete menu for lunch, but what sets it apart is its full line of signature Filipino dishes, something of a local rarity.

I treated a gang of friends and family to a taste test of several of the restaurant’s offerings, some familiar, but many new to me, and can report the food is fresh, tasty, plentiful, inexpensive and crave-worthy.

A few of the recipes – adobo, a meat dish braised in a vinegary sauce, lumpia, small meat egg rolls, and curry – were familiar to me, but much of the menu at Harley-K was a brand-new experience, so the group of us opted to order a handful of items to share family style.

We started with an order of Jackie Chan rolls, or lumpia, which is a small, ground pork roll that mixes the taste of an egg roll with the size and wrapper of a spring roll. The rolls were flaky and perfectly fried, with a well-seasoned interior, and are a highly recommended starter.

We sampled the chicken adobo, chunks of chicken thighs braised in a vinegary-soy-flavored broth, which was perfectly tangy and savory.

We also ordered pork sinagang, featuring large chunks of pork stewed in a tamarind (a sour fruit) broth with greens and okra. Several Filipino dishes highlight stewed meats in highly flavored broths, which make them a perfect foil to sticky rice.

Beef kaldereta was another new dish, but had familiar Sunday dinner flavors, consisting of beef roast in a gravy of tomatoes, coconut milk and spices with carrots, potatoes and bell pepper chunks. This would be a great intro to someone wanting to try Filipino flavors without going too far outside their comfort zone.

Pork pancit rounded out the entrees we sampled. This one is a Chinese-inspired noodle dish made of thin rice noodles with ground pork and veggies in a garlicky soy sauce. Similar in taste and texture to Mei Fun, this was a winner.

No dinner among friends can go without dessert, so we ordered the banana lumpia, which is made up of quartered bananas wrapped in spring roll wrappers, fried until creamy and caramelized, then dipped in caramel sauce. This was the perfect sweet bite to end a meal that featured a lot of tangy and umami flavors.

If you go to Harley-K for the Filipino dishes, expect to pay $13 or $15 for entrees, all of which are enough for a generous serving with leftovers. Breakfast options are plentiful and inexpensive, as well.

The diner is open from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m., except Wednesdays.

• The Mystery Diner is an employee of Shaw Media. The diner’s identity is not revealed to the restaurant staff before or during the meal. The Mystery Diner visits a different restaurant and then reports on the experience. If the Mystery Diner cannot recommend the establishment, we will not publish a review.

IF YOU GO

WHAT: Harley-K

WHERE: 115 E. Main St., Wyanet

PHONE: 779-239-9840

INFORMATION: Facebook at tinyurl.com/2fcnbnbh