Kusina Food & Thought: Bringing Filipino Flavour to PEI

Picture this: you walk into Charlottetown’s Founders’ Food Hall & Market, stroll around and see the souvenir shops, the fudge store (made from potatoes, no less), the French patisserie with its fancy displays, and then you see it—the word “Kusina” (kitchen) on a food kiosk.

Then the aroma of pork sisig hits you.

Kusina Food & Thought, located at 6 Prince Street inside the Founders’ Food Hall & Market, is an award-winning Filipino restaurant owned and operated by partners Bar Bareng and Beng Trinidad.

While the brick-and-mortar location may be relatively new—they opened in December 2024—the owners have been sharpening their cooking game since 2020, debuting at festivals and fairs as a pop-up vendor.

“Nagsimula kami as a pop-up. Active kami sa activities sa Charlottetown, every big event, nag-join kami,” said Trinidad.

(We started as a pop-up. We joined every big event and activity in Charlottetown.)

It was challenging at first: they had to set up tables and bring all their cooking equipment to events, until they finally secured a space inside Founders Food Hall.

Their bestseller remains the pork belly sisig.

“Even Canadians love and know the dish. We emphasize that it’s ‘pork belly’ that we use,” said Trinidad.

During their first summer in their new location, Kusina offered a limited-time halo-halo dessert to their customers.

 

“Everything is homemade. We don’t buy (and use) the bottled ingredients. We prepared everything,” said Trinidad.

Because it was so labour-intensive, the owners offered it only in the summertime.

Life at Founders Food Hall & Market

Founders Food Hall and Market is a gathering place—Charlottetown’s food hall meets artisan market.

More than a food court, it’s a vibrant ecosystem: local chefs, small producers, boutique retailers, and foodies come together under one roof.

You’ll find vendors selling craft coffee, potato fudge, gourmet pastries, jewelry, PEI souvenirs, and more.

Visitors wander, sample, chat, share.

Kusina’s presence in that hall enriches the mix, adding Filipino culture and flavour to PEI’s food mosaic.

Because of the hall’s open layout, communal tables, and frequent events, Kusina isn’t secluded—it’s part of the conversation.

The Filipino Community in Charlottetown

Though small in numbers compared to larger cities, the Filipino community in Prince Edward Island is growing, and Kusina is becoming a cultural anchor.

It’s not just about food—it’s about belonging and identity.

In a place where you might not always find sisig, adobo or halo-halo on menus, Kusina becomes a home base: a place to gather, to reminisce, to introduce friends to flavours of the Philippines.

For non-Filipinos, it’s a doorway into a vibrant culinary heritage—through rice meals topped with crispy lechon, sizzling pork belly sisig, and refreshing halo-halo.