Saboroso Bistro feels homey and tranquil from the moment you walk through the door.

Located in a commercial strip at 782 Eagleson Road in Kanata, it’s the kind of space that makes you forget, at least for a little while, that you’re sitting in a strip plaza. There are long wooden benches with stools, plenty of soft ambient light and an indoor garden tucked into one corner.

My friend Axel, who is visiting from Fredericton, tagged along for this outing. He studied forestry, so naturally he noticed the plants almost immediately. There’s a monstera and a bird of paradise among the greenery, along with plenty of other little touches that make the restaurant feel more like a comfortable home than a commercial space.

On one wall is artwork featuring Doraemon, while another has simple pots arranged against the wall. The whole place is clean, warm and inviting.

On this particular evening, it’s quiet, with a family sitting nearby drinking bubble tea.

I’m here to try the food and learn more about Saboroso, and the first dish arrives about 15 minutes after we order.

I dig into the sisig and immediately notice the pork.

The pieces are wonderfully tender, soft and deliciously oily in exactly the right way. The texture is almost like pulled pork, with the meat breaking apart easily as you eat it. There’s also something about it that reminds me of the tenderness of beef brisket in a smoked meat sandwich.

But the sisig really comes together when you start combining everything.

The pork with the tomatoes, egg, rice and peppers creates a great mix of flavours and textures. There’s citrus, sourness and a fantastic pepper heat that builds without overwhelming the dish. Every bite has a little bit of everything, and the richness of the pork works particularly well with the acidity.

After the meal, I sit down with Hero, one of the co-owners of Saboroso, for a conversation about how the restaurant came to be.

Danielle, his wife and co-owner, isn’t with us that evening, but much of the story involves her. Saboroso opened in March 2025, but the idea for the restaurant started somewhat unexpectedly.

After Danielle gave birth to their second son, Hero said she got bored during the summer and suggested setting up a tent at the ByWard Market as a pop-up. Hero had worked in restaurants before.

One of Hero’s friends started ordering food from them, and then the orders began spreading by word of mouth.

Soon, Hero found himself wondering how they had gone from planning to sell barbecue skewers at a pop-up to taking on catering orders.

“I just thought we were going to sell barbecue skewers. Why are we doing catering orders?”

They didn’t realize at first just how much attention the pop-up was getting.

“It kept growing and growing.”

They needed a licensed commercial kitchen, so they found one on March Road and began accepting food orders there.

Then came a catering order for 150 people.

At that point, the operation was essentially Hero, Danielle and her dad.

Meanwhile, customers kept asking when they were going to open their own restaurant. People wanted to know where this couple had come from and where they could find their food.

Running a commercial kitchen was expensive, particularly because of the minimum booking times, so they started looking for a permanent space where an owner would be open to sharing the premises.

Eventually, they found the space on Eagleson Road.

Saboroso was born.

Since opening, Hero says the response has been very good, but he also understands why some Filipino restaurant owners might be hesitant to take the leap into a sit-down restaurant.

Restaurants are unpredictable. You never know whether a day will be busy or slow, and that uncertainty is one of the reasons Saboroso continues to do pop-ups, catering and festivals alongside the restaurant.

They’ve catered for the Filipino Embassy and have had opportunities to bring their food into other spaces around Ottawa.

Hero believes there is a lot of Filipino talent and food in the city, but that the community has sometimes lacked the confidence to put itself forward.

“Filipino food is underrated.”

The Philippines has a huge range of regional flavours, and the food of Iloilo has its own identity. That’s what Hero and Danielle want to bring to the table.

When I ask Hero what the secret behind the food is, his answer is surprisingly simple.

“Love.”

He elaborates by saying that ingredients and technique are only part of the equation. For him, consistency is just as important.

“The secret is not ingredients or what you put. The number one is love. Number two is consistency. If you’re consistent, people will love your food and people will come back.”

Saboroso means “flavourful” in Ilonggo, and the name seems particularly fitting for what they’re trying to accomplish.

There’s also a larger vision.

Hero says that five or 10 years from now, he hopes they can have their own events space. He sees a need for Filipino-owned event spaces in Ottawa, both in the city and outside it, where Filipino food and culture can be showcased to a wider audience.

There’s still a lot of work to do because many people simply don’t know enough about Filipino cuisine.

Saboroso has already had opportunities to change that.

They catered at an art gallery where they were challenged to represent Filipino cuisine alongside other cuisines. They’ve also had the opportunity to demonstrate their food through Le Cordon Bleu.

For Hero, those opportunities are about more than just putting food on a table. They’re a chance to represent the Philippines.

“You can do everything with food.”

That idea comes through in the way he talks about Saboroso. Food is a way of representing where you come from. It’s a way of introducing people to regional flavours, creating community and giving people something to be proud of.

There’s also something satisfying about seeing a restaurant that began with a summer pop-up tent become a permanent home.

Saboroso is still young, but there’s already a clear sense of purpose behind it. The food is delicious and homey, the prices are very reasonable, with dishes coming in at just under $20, and there’s a genuine desire to showcase something that Ottawa hasn’t seen enough of.

It’s good to finally see more Filipino food being represented in Ottawa, particularly food that is willing to go beyond the broad idea of Filipino cuisine and highlight the flavours of a specific region.

For a city that still has plenty of room to discover and celebrate Filipino food, restaurants like Saboroso are an important part of that growing picture.

And judging by the sisig, it’s a very tasty picture.