Romulo Café
Romulo Café has been receiving raves ever since it opened last year and this makes other people become more curious on why this seemingly ordinary restaurant that serves Filipino food, which already are familiar to our taste buds, has been gaining much attention.
Romulo Café is not even located in the main street of Tomas Morato yet people flock to this new place like crazy (make sure you made a reservation before going). You have to turn right when you reach Alfredo’s, get past Katre and Icings, go straight till you reach the corner of Scout Lazcano. You might even miss it if you’re not looking closely because Romulo Café can appear to be just like an old house painted in mostly gray, white and black with just a small signage. So, again, open your effin’ eeeeyyeessss.
The interior of Romulo Café is another reason why people love going to this place (again and again). People who come to dine are mostly, as I observed, group of moms, barkadas, alumni stuff, and families. Once inside, your mood will shift to chill-mode ‘coz of its sofa seats, low tables, dim lights and highly accommodating staff.
Here are some of Romulo’s most popular dishes:
Tito Greg’s Kare Kare (P350)
Kare Kare
(This picture doesn’t do justice for this dish!!)
The meat(which I believe was beef) was very tender and the sauce was creamy with a delicious taste of peanut butter. (Warning: Ordering this entrée may result to too much carbo intake!!!) In other words, Tito Greg will make you eat more rice than you usually do.
Tito Greg’s Kare Kare can serve up to 4-5 people which make this dish very reasonable.
Boneless Crispy Pata Binagoongan (P595)
Crispy Pata
Crispy Pata
I love this entree because it is boneless, thus it saves you time and gives you convenience of enjoying the crispy pata! (I’m just effin’ lazy) The pork was soft and the pork skin had the right crunch…I also liked the binagoongan toppings which consists of tomatoes and eggplant as it adds flavor to the dish. In fact, the toppings alone can serve as a dish already!
Lola Virginia’s Chicken Relleno (P550)
Chicken Relleno
I have always been a fan of relleno whether it’s Milkfish or Chicken. What I especially like about Romulo’s relleno is its garlicky flavor. I’m a big fan of garlic! The chicken was tender and juicy as well. Some people say there’s nothing really special about this dish but I still think it’s worth a try!
Flying Tilapia with 3 sauces (P290)
Fly Tilapia, Fly!!
No, its not an exotic animal butchered to satisfy the limitless human hunger. It’s a Tilapia. Its the fish your yaya cooks for you everyday. Its also the fish that Peter (Apostle) catches when he was a fisherman right before Jesus made him His disciple. Just a fun fact.
The fish was quite big and again, it was very crispy. This was served with three sauces: Sweet chili garlic sauce, honey bagoong, pickled ampalay and soy vinegar sauce. Out of the three sauces, I prefer the honey bagoong. And with an extra tip for the waiter, you can ask for some bagoong to take home with you 😉
Other dishes:
Ginataang Sigarillas with Tinapa (P150)
Sigarillas
Since I’m a gata lover I decided to give this a try. It wasn’t bad but it wasn’t as good as ABE’s gising gising.
Beef Bulalo (P330)
I felt that the soup wasn’t salty enough but the flavor makes up for it. I was also expecting that there would be bone marrow in the soup but we found none!
Sinigang na Salmon sa Miso (P295)
Sour level is good. But it is always by preference. So go ahead and try it and you be the judge. All I can say is that their salmon was fresh and is great with Miso!
Desserts:
Choco Lava rock:
(No, photo again. So sorry.. Next time, we’ll try to resist and take the damn picture)
We all loved this.. The chocolate was just sooo goooddd it will leave you wanting more! It was oozing with awesomeness. (Barney Stinson mooooddeeee!!)
Leche Flan:
Not good. I didn’t like it because it wasn’t as smooth and as soft traditional leche flans were.
**Note: They have very good sansrival also, but are always out of stock. This dessert is a must try as well.
Overall, I think that Romulo Café is not overrated. It is gaining attention because of its high quality food, and their cozy, homey, ambiance is something you wouldn’t normally find in QC where restaurants are highly commercialized. Its ambiance was able to speak to its guests telling them to sit back, relax and enjoy the effin’ good food!
Here are some photos of the place:
There are also function rooms available. As for the photo above, in order to get the room, it requires you to consume P12,000.00 worth of food and drinks.
Tidbit: Romulo Café is named as such because the owner is the great granddaughter of Carlos P. Romulo. She was able to infuse traditional Filipino dishes with her family’s own secret recipes.
Effin’ Rating:
FFFF
4 Fs for Romulo ‘coz of the chill mood that their resto gives and the food that will surely make you gain weight! I also believe that they need to come up with more classic Filipino dishes to add up on their menu as people will always be looking for new stuff to try out.
Romulo Cafe
32 Scout Tuason corner Dr. Lazcano
Tomas Morato, Quezon City
63 2 3327275
(Get an effin’ reservation if you don’t wanna be sittin’ ducks for about an hour or so)
Owner: Sandie Squillantini
(Grand Daughter of Carlos P. Romulo)
Effin' Good Food 