Living abroad or traveling overseas make’s one crave for something familiar. It could be as simple as vanilla ice cream that brings back memories of summer spent biking with friends.

Dining at Max’s Restaurant satisfies every Overseas Filipino Worker’s need to have something from home. Several Filipino restaurants have opened here in Dubai, but this franchise has a special place in the hearts of Pinoy.

Why? Probably, 5 out of 10 Filipino family have once in their life celebrated a special occassion with Max’s restaurant. Our family for one has held a baptism, birthday, wedding and reunion with them.

We are frequent guest’s of Max’s restaurant, for this particular dinner though we enjoyed it as a media guest.

These two are the perfect choice to start the familiar comfort we are longing for  – buko pandan shake and sago’t gulaman. Buko pandan is a creamy coconut drink scented and lightly flavored with pandan, not overly sweet.  I use to gulp down 3 glasses of buko pandan when I was pregnant with LittleMiss. Sago at gulaman is a childhood favorite that is made from brown sugar, water, adorned with tapioca balls and jelly.

Pinaputok na Tyan ng Bangus is a grilled milkfish belly stuffed with tomatoes, onions, garlic and wrapped in banana leaves. This is LittleMiss’ favorite and we (she and I) can eat this everyday.

Sisig is a constant request of Daddy, tonight he chose a healthier version Sizzling Tofu. Vegetarian’s will enjoy this dish, it surely didn’t make us miss the sinful version.

A Filipino celebration is never complete without a noodle dish, this is another of Daddy’s favorite Pancit Canton. I have several times tried to re-create my MIL’s pancit dish, managed to only got it right once. He didn’t not complain and ate it with much gusto.

Sinigang dish is something my boy’s crave for weekly, they only get to have Sinigang na Hipon once a month. They were generous with the shrimp, I think more than 5 pieces were inside.

We ordered a whole Spring Chicken with sweet potato fries, this is one dish that I must insist you order when you dine here. Max’s restaurant is after all the house that fried chicken built. It was my task to mix the special sauce made from banana ketchup, worcestershire and hot sauce. Yes, a banana ketchup.

We end the night with a Dessert Platter, a choice that would let you satisfy your cravings when you are confused on what to order. The plate consists of buko pandan, leche flan with ice cream, and ube decadence. It was our first time to have the ube decadence, it is similar to panna cotta. Both buko pandan and leche flan hit the sweet spot and not overwhelming.

There are a several restaurant serving Filipino food and if  it is your first time to try our cuisine, I strongly suggest you dine at Max’s Restaurant. They made sure that every dish in the menu is prepared the same way back home.

Max’s Restaurant Locations:

• Dubai: Spinneys Building, Karama – 04 325 7797
• Sharjah: City Centre, Sharjah – 06 539 0098
• Abu Dhabi: Corniche Apartments – 02 628 1234
• Al Ain: Ground floor, Al Ain Building – 03 737 0789