Dinner at Cafe Juanita

At the heart of Kapitolyo, Pasig is Cafe Juanita -- Filipino food at its finest. We dined at the new Cafe Juanita, very elegent with its East Asian decors and endless antique pieces. The old place, as we were informed, is only opened when the new place is already full. So we need not worry of not getting any tables here.


First on our table is the catfish with green mango salad. The catfish on top is fried and needs to be broken down and mixed with the tangy green mango. The dish was deliciously crunchy and sour that will stimulate your appetite at the start of the meal.


I wasn't really a fan of Laing when I was a kid because my sister and my mom told me that it was leaves that was chewed by the pigs before it was cooked (how mean). Anyway, I love Cafe Juanita's Laing because the gata was so creamy and I love anything cooked in gata.


I love the Laing paired with their garlic rice (see picture below).


The next one is new to me, Corned beef and Chorizo Sinigang. Like the usual sinigang, it had lots of veggies in it. Before it was even served to us, our server brought us a sample of the soup to have us taste it so they can adjust the flavor. This was a nice touch so that we didn't have to complain when the dish gets to our table. When we sampled the soup, it lacked the sourness. We were trying to get the attention of the waiter to tell him our finding but he was already carrying the Sinigang dish and putting it on our table and told us "pinaasim na po yan, ma'am". Wow, they're either mindreaders or just really good. LOL.


Lastly, a dish that will make us even younger (as the saying goes), their famous Bagnet. This crispy and oh so delicious bagnet is served on a bed of red and green tomatoes that were tossed in bagoong. This dish was perfect, no complaints.


To end the meal, we had to sample their bestseller desserts. This is the Sticky Toffee Pudding that I've heard so much about. It was served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on the side (no doubt, they use Big Scoop) and was drizzled with caramel sauce. A sweet ending to a fine meal.


We also had their special cassava cake. A very smooth and creamy cassava cake that's warmed just right so that the cheese on top will also melt in your mouth. Mmmm, so good!


This is definitely a place worth coming back to. Wonderful food and great ambiance. =)