Better than pump cheese (well, maybe it’s a tie)

We were at a gas station in the Georgetown area of Seattle, which is the industrial area by Boeing Field. It was around lunchtime, and I needed a snack. My husband mentioned that when he had gone in to pay for gas, he had seen “something interesting made with chicken” in the quickie mart’s hot case. Intrigued, I went to investigate.

Inside the mart’s hot case were all of the usual suspects: corndogs, deep fried burritos, chicken strips. Then I saw what my husband had been talking about. I asked the clerk what it was, and I was incredibly surprised when she said it was chicken kaldereta.

Kaldereta is Filipino comfort food at its finest. It’s a tomato-based stew made with potatoes, bell peppers, carrots, olives and liver paste. I’m Filipino American and have savored many steaming bowls of rice smothered with kaldereta.

I was skeptical whether the chicken dish in the hot case was actually kaldereta. But I knew when I heard the clerk talking to another quickie mart employee in Tagalog, I knew it was authentic.

I love finding good food in unexpected places.

Check it out for yourself at the Georgetown Shell, 6200 Corson Ave. S., Seattle 98108. Hot lunches served from 10am-3pm.