Renee's Kitchenette & Grill

The 7 train rattles overhead every few minutes, and nobody inside looks up. Renee's has been cooking under the Roosevelt Avenue el since 1992, which makes it one of the elders of Little Manila — the strip of Filipino bakeries, remittance shops and turo-turo counters that runs through the high 60s. The room is small and homely, the cooking is Kapampangan, from Pampanga, the province Filipinos tend to credit with the country's best food.

Order the sisig, which arrives sizzling and crackling on a hot plate, then a pot of sinigang na baboy, pork in a tamarind broth sour enough to wake you up, and kare-kare, oxtail in a thick peanut sauce with a dab of fermented shrimp paste on the side. The grilled barbecue skewers and lumpiang shanghai are there for anyone who wants something simpler. Portions are built for sharing, and the prices belong to another decade.