The Adobo Filipino Food Truck is in Beecroft St, Coombs. Photo: Kazuri Photography.
The sun is beginning to dip in Beecroft St, Coombs, and it casts final swathes of brilliance across the little food truck parked up along the edge of the road. This is Adobo Filipino Food Truck, a food truck serving the rich, comforting flavors of the Philippines to Canberra.
Officially launched in November 2022, the idea began years earlier when owner Rossel Buan Mariano cooked for friends and Filipino colleagues in Sydney and delighted them with the taste of home.
Rossel grew up in Pampanga, acknowledged to be the culinary capital of the Philippines. She says she learned all the authentic recipes in family kitchens.
Every dish on her food truck menu reflects that heritage, offering Canberrans a taste of true Filipino cuisine.
The menu gives you the chance to experience the breadth of Filipino flavours, from the classic dishes to unique street food to the backyard and street food staple: skewers!
Bring your adventurous tastebuds with you for this. An outside-the-box dish may just be your new favourite food.
Rossel serves up all manner of Filipino street food and staples. Photo: Kazuri Photography.
Of course, Rossel has Adobo, which her food truck is named for.
“Filipino Adobo is widely regarded as the unofficial national dish of the Philippines,” she says.
“It is a cherished braised stew featuring meat or vegetables simmered in a zesty, savory sauce of vinegar, soy sauce, garlic, peppercorns, and bay leaves, yielding a rich, complex flavor profile often served with rice.”
Rossel cooks adobo in all its forms, most commonly pork and chicken. Occasionally, a special version featuring chicken liver, hearts, and giblets appears on the specials board.
Barbecue skewers are another highlight, marinated in a signature Filipino blend of sweet, salty, and smoky flavors with soy sauce, sugar, and caramel notes.
The specials change all the time. Rossel delights her regulars with a huge variety of dishes. It is best to check her socials to see what she is cooking.
Sisig is the defining dish of Rossel’s hometown of Pampanga. Photo: Kazuri Photography.
We try Sisig, the defining dish of Rossel’s hometown of Pampanga; one she learned to make from her dad. Twice cooked, she incorporates pork jowl, ears, belly, leg and liver, finely chopping it and grilling it up into a heady deliciousness, seasoned with onions, chilis, garlic and calamansi (Filipino citrus). It tastes exotic and we enjoy how the rich flavours soak into the rice.
Rossel’s famous pork adobo has chunks of tender pork in a redolent sauce.
Then there’s Kwek Kwek, a festive street food skewer of hard-boiled quail eggs, battered and fried to a vibrant orange crisp. The batter is thick yet crunchy on the outside, and the quail eggs within are still tender. The vinegar dip steals the show; sour but balanced, perfumed with red onion notes.
If Rossel sells it, I’d buy it.
Skewer time! Photo: Kazuri Photography.
We cool off with a rockmelon palamig drink made from shredded rockmelon, sugar, and water. Even at room temperature, it’s refreshing.
The intestine skewers are amazing and the moment I taste the first bite, it is instantly my favourite dish. I love how the sweet marinade has caramelised and become smoky over the grill. I love the tender juiciness of the meat. Perfect in every way!
Adobo Filipino Food Truck is located at Beecroft St in Coombs. It is open most days from 4:30 pm to 8 pm (earlier in winter) and regularly appears at local events and school fairs. Contact Rossel on Facebook if you would like her to take her deliciousness to your event. Follow Adobo Filipino Food Truck on Facebook to keep up with all the menu items Rossell is cooking on the day.
