Goodbye Ma Sarap, Your Flavors Will Never Be Forgotten

UNDSCVRD Crowd favorite ceases operation because of COVID-19

Photo by Mogli Maureal

On June 5th, 2020, Mark Antonio announced via Instagram that Ma Sarap Food Truck would cease operations after a strong 4 year run providing delicious Filipino classics all over the Bay Area and Sacramento. Ma’Sarap joined the UNDSCVRD network in the later half of Season 2 and quickly rose to the ranks of the Top 3 food vendors.

The Ma Sarap journey began with his mom, Phylisis, who is the face of the brand. While working at Kaiser Permanente her colleagues and friends contacted her regularly to cater their private events and the business was born. Her son Mark picked up the torch and started a food truck in 2016.

Ma Sarap was always a crowd pleaser serving carefully crafted classics like Chicken Adobo and my personal favorite, their heavenly Lechon Kawali. Soft and moist roasted pork belly, with perfectly crispy pork skin on top. Never fatty and never dry, it was a taste of heaven.

Under Mark’s watch, the business pushed the envelope. Ma Sarap’s “Super Lumpia” was a 16 inch monster that was more burrito than egg roll. Mark also debuted an amazing “Smoked Brisket” Adobo as a one-off special at Undiscovered’s Filipino Heritage month in 2019. 

Behind the curtain, the Ma Sarap team worked hard and played hard. They would bounce from festival to festival throughout the summer season like a band of bon vivants pounding shots between shifts. 

With COVID-19 ravaging the food industry and eliminating large scale events like UNDSCVRD and other festivals that made up the main revenue driver for a food truck business, Mark made the difficult decision to take a step back from the business and close Ma Sarap. Sadly, we lose another trailblazing business to the pandemic. Our thoughts and prayers are with Mark and the whole Ma Sarap team. 


Written by Desi Danganan.