Food Porn Set in Cafe Juanita

Probably every Filipino food blogger out there has written about Cafe Juanita.  Seems to be a requirement entry for every aspiring food critic out there and I can’t blame them.  The setting is perfect. Winner of the Best Filipino Restaurant in the Manila’s Best Kept Restaurant Secrets Award¹? Check! Hole-in-the-wall hidden?  (Sort of) Check! Picked by travel books? Check!  Some colleagues have been bugging me about this place for years and it just so happens that one of my relatives made reservations and brought me here.

First of all, the decor is probably as famous as the menu.  I know some people who actually come to Cafe Juanita for the ambience rather than the food².  I have to admit: it doesn’t fail to disappoint.  Tons of old stuff, collectibles to complement that old feel to it.

Now, we visited on a Sunday and they have a special buffet offering just on Sundays.  The food isn’t that special, just the usual suspects for a Filipino buffet (Lechon, Chicken Inasal, Squid, Pancit).  However, the price is actually not bad considering the buffets nowadays.

But, we ordered their ala carte menu instead of the buffet, which almost everyone seemed to be partaking. Now, Cafe Juanita is primarily a Filipino restaurant.  But venture into their menu and you’ll see some other Asian and Western dishes.  We took the Filipino route, but there were some dishes that looked interesting for another visit.

First dish was a Beef Rendang.  OK, so it was not entirely Filipino! Beef Rendang is a Malaysian dish, which is their equivalent of a Thai or Indian Curry.  Cafe Juanita’s version came with a Bagoong Rice and some spiced potatoes.  Beef was a bit tough for me, definitely got caught in between some teeth.  Spiced potatoes were a nice touch though.

But except for that one dish, everything else was pretty much Filipino. Not a taro kind of person, but I liked their Laing Bicolano³.  The Laguna Fish⁴ was cooked nice, not too oily, but not too much meat on them.  The dipping sauce was good enough to ask for more.

And you have to get Crispy Pata, don’t you? Crispy, fatty, scrumptious pork leg, which pretty much made my day.  I love this, but I don’t see me paying 600 bucks when we can make this at home.

Cafe Juanita is famous for two things: First its kare-kare, aptly named “Kare-Kare ni Juanita.⁵”  What makes Cafe Juanita’s version so special?  I honestly have no idea. What I can tell you is that the bagoong was pretty good and was more memorable than the other kare-kare dishes I’ve had.  And that they don’t scrimp on the meat.

And the second is their Classic Halo-Halo. Nothing special, came with red beans and flan. A bit expensive, if you ask me.  Would’ve ordered their (other) famous Toffee Pudding, but they were out.

Overall, place has a great feel to it.  Service was semi-terrible⁶.  As for the food, if this weren’t for the hype, I would probably rate this place higher.  But with the awards and accolades, you half expect to be blown away, which I wasn’t.  I might go back again to try the Western dishes, but then again, maybe not.

Food Porn Set in Cafe Juanita 2011-05-11

robably every Filipino food blogger out there has written about Cafe Juanita.  Seems to be a requirement entry for every aspiring food critic out there and I can’t blame them.  The setting is perfect. Winner of the Best Filipino Restaurant in the Manila’s Best Kept Restaurant Secrets Award? Check! Hole-in-the-wall hidden?  (Sort of) Check! Picked …