Though I am fond of the thoughtful Cuban-Filipino tasting menu that Lawrence Letrero and Raquel Quadreny (pictured above) have created for their flagship Bayan Ko, I absolutely crush on the nearby diner spinoff. In the morning, I order the silogs (Filipino breakfast plates), with their iconically perfect collection of garlic rice, a fried egg, a fresh tomato and cucumber salad, and protein. I love the sweet and bursty longanisa sausages and adore the baby bangus, small butterflied milkfish. The menu, with its joyful mixing of cultures, is anything but predictable, so you may need to sneak bites of your tablemates’ ropa vieja burrito and ube pancakes. Lunch introduces cola-glazed chicken thigh skewers, sticky and snarfable, as well as a fine pork belly adobo, melting soft and zingy with black pepper and vinegar. Dinner means coconut mussels, cocktails, and platters of lechon. This restaurant reminds you that trendy all-day cafés don’t hold a candle to a boisterous diner, always alive with a happy hum.

Price: $$
Address: 1820 W. Montrose Ave.
Website: bayankodiner.com