VGM Foods & Deli

When I opened their door the smell of the Filipino food got me feeling so hungry. I ordered their pork adobo and sinigang which was alright, I forgot to take a pic of it. Just wished I could have gone there earlier when they had pancit available.

VGM is a great spot for a really good Filipino lunch! I’ve been here many times, I thought I had left a review already. The pansit and the pork adobo is great, but my go-​to and my favorite is the BBQ skewer and an order of lumpia! The lumpia (Filipino egg roll) is great and the only place I can think of in Memphis to get it outside of my friend’s house in Munford! VGM is a restaurant and a convenient store. They carry Filipino snacks, sodas, and packaged foods. The food is authentic and the ladies are very friendly. I really like this place, I just wish they were in a better location.

I love everything about this place! From the food and the people, to the atmosphere and the merchandise, everything is great. I’m half-​Filipina and I moved to Memphis just last month, so finding this place was like a welcome home.
The food isn’t as good as what I’m used to having at home, but I think I was spoiled with an amazing family of chefs! Every dish I tried tasted great, and the desserts are to die for. I definitely recommend Ube (purple yam) ice cream and Halo halo (this means «mix mix»).
In Filipino culture, singing (karaōke specifically) is very important! When I ate there last, a Filipino version of the TV show «The Singing Bee» was playing, and that made my visit even more enjoyable and authentic.
I can’t wait to go back! A word of advice: try everything at least once, and then ask what it is later! Expand your horizons!

Having lived in the Philippines for 4 years, i really enjoy their food. Well VGM has made my day. The pancit and lumpia are on point. I will try the pork sticks and odobo next. Thanks VGM for being near me.

First, this is one of those unique places in Memphis that gets 5 stars to start with for serving good food and not having any competition in Filipino cuisine. So the rest of this review is on me to take stars off. Other places I review start at 1 (which really should be 0), and then I add stars.
Obviously, you see that my ratings remain at 5. I just don’t have much of any reason to take off a star.
The food is authentic. There are dishes that I wouldn’t eat; some of the dishes are disgusting, but it’s authentically disgusting. I wouldn’t eat those even in the Philippines! So try everything. Some you’ll like. Some you won’t. Explore! You might even like everything! If you hate everything, then you’re just lame!
What I like to get is the rice noodles, many of the pork dishes (just not the one in the vinegary black sauce whatever it’s called), a few of the chicken dishes are great, the dried/​fried fishes are good but it may be too fishy for the American palate, almost of the vegetable dishes are great, and I love the halo halo! (I’m sure my English teachers would F me on this!)
The owners and the food lady are extremely friendly. I’ve always felt free to chat with them. I always like to ask what’s it the food I’m eating, and they’ve never not tell me!
As for the market itself, it’s rather small. I don’t think I’d be doing much grocery shopping here, but hey it’s the deli that’s awesome!
If there is anything I could criticize about the place, maybe they could use some environmentally friendly plates and utensils. And they need to move closer to my neighborhood! I would totally be there ALL the time if I worked closer or lived closer. It’s not even on my way!

I was flabbergasted when I did a search for «Filipino Food» in Unilocal.This place popped up! The place is inside a market type store, but they have one side of the store designated for the restaurant. Make sure to ask for lumpia (Filipino egg roll), as they make it to order. I also had their pork adobo, pancit (Filipino noodles), and bbq pork on a shish kabob. It was all good! My wife had the coconut beef, rice, and bbq pork on a kabob as well. I liked it all! While the food is high in oil and fat, going here every once in a blue moon is nice, as I am half-​filipino!

Just point at what you want. I was underwhelmed by the laid back pace of service but they are very friendly. I had the skewers which were great. Just like ones I had in National City. We also got chicken adobo and veggies (bitter melon, acorn squash, eggplant, green beans) which were also good. The halo halo here is great. It tasted sweeter to me than ones I had in California. One plate with rice and 3 skewers and another with rice, adobo, and veggies ended up being bout 22 $ with tax. Halo halo is about 6 $.

This is a great place run by a great family. Try the lumpia and the mango ice cream.

I’ve been writing about food long enough to know that what I’m about to do isn’t the best way to start a restaurant review, but in this case, it’s the most honest way: I (mostly) have no idea what I ate at the VGM Market this afternoon, but I loved every single bit of it.
The VGM Market is a small Filipino grocery store with a restaurant and ice cream shop inside. As far as I can tell, it’s Memphis’ only Filipino food outlet.
The friendly woman behind the counter at VGM was completely sympathetic to me being a Filipino food newbie and she patiently explained what all of the hot dishes were: massive hunks of pork belly, noodles, pork and chicken on sticks, vegetables and beef, etc. Everything comes as a combo — you can get a meat, a side and either rice or noodles for about $ 9.
I ordered the chicken adobo (braised and browned chicken wings) and some creamy greens that were like a spicy, coconut milk version of creamed spinach. My friend John ordered two skewers, one of grilled pork and one grilled chicken and noodles, which tasted almost exactly like Chinese fried rice.
After lunch, we checked out the ice cream case, which had about ten flavors of brightly colored ice cream in flavors that I’d never heard of: mais queso, cashew, macapuno, halo halo, etc. After watching the woman behind the counter make a Halo Halo drink for someone else, I ordered it.
She produced a plastic cup with some jellied fruit, coconut and red beans floating in a red liquid at the bottom third of it, added crushed ice, poured condensed milk over it, then added a huge scoop of ice cream (in my case, cashew). She gave me a spoon and told me to mix it up.
It was sort of like a thin milkshake, about the texture of an iced latte. The ice cream, which is imported from the Philippines, has a lot of flavor, but is very light. We figured out that there were jellied strings of coconut, but never determined (even after asking) what the red chunks of fruit were. They kind of tasted like Jello, but had a thicker texture. Despite not knowing exactly what I was drinking, it was amazing — cool and refreshing and perfect for an afternoon as hot as this one.
The VGM market is open for lunch and dinner. There are plenty of tables if you want to eat there, and they take cash and credit cards (though, I don’t think they take American Express). After you eat, check out the grocery section and the to-​go pints of ice cream.

I was surprised to find this gem in Memphis. Being Filipino, it’s nice to have a place to go to that prepares food as you mother would. The location is a little hard to find, as it is in the back of the plaza.
So it’s really an Asian grocery store, and shipping center to the Philippines for «balikbayan» boxes. There’s a few tables to enjoy the hot food items, and the menu alternates depending on when you go. They typically have lumpia (egg rolls) and lechon (roast pig) that is not always on display, so ask for it. Food entrees consist primarily of pork, seafood, and veggies. I like their diniguan aka «chocolate meat»… try it first, before asking how it’s made… and no, there’s no chocolate involved.
Don’t forget dessert, the traditional filipino dessert of leche flan and halo halo are the specials. As far as drinks, the store sells Filipino beers, sodas, and juices. A definite delish!

if you’re looking for filipino items then you found the place. they have lumpia wrappers, longanisa, tocino, bangus or milkfish in the freezers. they also have noodles for pancit and bagoong (shrimp paste) if your looking for those to cook w/​. i even found some filipino juice and pandesal (filipino bread) in the fridge. and a huge section of filipino chips. a bunch of unique canned and jar items. my fav was the ice cream section. $ 1 per scoop. or you can buy a whole tub of them. love the purple stuff… ube ice cream. you gotta try it. so good! they also have a little toiletry section w/​lotions, toners, baby cologne, hair stuff, & skin lighteners. yes skin lighteners. lol. it’s not as big as cordova international farmer’s market… it’s actually pretty small. but it has almost everything if you’re looking for specific filipino items. and if you’re craving filipino, they also cook and have a few cooked filipino dishes and filipino desert to order.

One of the best options in the area if you are looking for ingredients for a Filipino dish! I haven’t tried the deli yet but it smells pretty great. Make sure to pick up some Ube & Coconut ice cream! It’s so good.

There’s a very friendly Filipino couple running this Filipino deli and small market.
The deli itself is tiny, offering homemade options at a reasonable price.
The market featured dried anchovies, mung beans, frozen chicken skewers, canned sweet bananas, shrimp and crab chips, canned squid, banana chips, and noodles.
A nice little place if you’re looking for something different.