HALINÁ Modern Filipino Kitchen + Bar

Across Burrard Inlet from the North Shore, at 2439 E Hastings St in Vancouver's Hastings-Sunrise neighbourhood, Halina is a modern Filipino restaurant where the bar does as much of the work as the kitchen. It trades as HALINÁ Modern Filipino Kitchen + Bar, and the drinks list draws on the same ingredients as the food: calamansi, ube, pandan and lemongrass.

The menu describes the Kalabaw as a Filipino twist on the Moscow Mule and the GinPom as the restaurant's take on the Philippines' party drink, and the Ube Margarita is made with house-made ube syrup. Slushy cocktails include a calamansi margarita. The wine list carries A LâQUE, which the menu describes as made in Canada by Filipino creators from BC apples, Red Horse and San Miguel cover Filipino beer, and the zero-alcohol list runs to a pandan fizz and a calamansi mojito without the rum.

Much of the main menu is meant for sharing. Its salo-salo section, Tagalog for a shared meal, covers sizzling sisig, crispy pata, a beef bone marrow broth and platters of liempo and chicken inasal sized for three or four, and dinner mains include a salmon sinigang in blueberry broth and a braised lamb shank caldereta. The Mango Kilig dessert comes served in a coconut shell. Everything is listed on the online menu, prices included.

Weekend brunch runs from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Hours are 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. Monday to Thursday, 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. on Friday, 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. on Saturday and 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Sunday. Tables can be reserved online through Toast. The restaurant points visitors to a free two-hour community parking lot at Kamloops Street and Franklin Street, and to pay street parking that runs until 10 p.m. The phone number is 778-504-0970 and the email address is [email protected].