Red Ribbon Again.

I have lots to say about Red Ribbon and their cakes, which you can read about here on Serious Eats. I am not going to get into the cakes, their flavors, or my favorite brazo de mercedes, because today I am going to talk about empanadas. I had already discovered, early on in the project, that Filipino empanadas are somewhat different from their Latin American counterparts in that there is a sweet element to these savory patties. I ordered one (if you buy five you get the sixth free, and I can't say I wasn't tempted) and an ube-tapioca drink, and went on my merry way. My ube (purple yam) was sweet and a little starchy, icy cold with chewy tapioca here and there. And a beautiful color. Drinking my ube shake on the walk home.
Red Ribbon's empanadas, while they have a somewhat mass-produced sort of look to them, are quite good. A sweet-salty, flaky crust encases a chunky chicken filling with a few plump black raisins here and there for added sweetness. But it made me realize that I need to try more empanadas from more Filipino places. So far I've only had Fritzie's and RR. I need to eat more empanadas to compare and contrast. Purely in the name of research, of course. Not because I like them or anything.