Food: Romulo Cafe

It was my first time visiting Romulo Cafe, although it's just an arm's length away from where I work. It is owned by Carlos P. Romulo's granddaughter, Sandie Squillantini.

It was a weeknight, and the family reserved one of their bigger rooms at the back. The place oozes of brocade walls and painted floor tiles. Beautiful!

I took a photo of Allie in the empty room next to ours. How cute can this little girl get?

Chicharon. Freshly popped chicharon with pinakurat vinegar. We were so hungry when the food came, so this chicharon serving in our table lasted only for a few seconds. Even Allie loved it. Yes, especially with the pinakurat vinegar. No, she didn't find it too spicy.

[Yes, that's a glass of chilled champagne on the side.]

Pomelo Salad. Green salad with pomelo, salted eggs and Baguio strawberry vinaigrette. I first had a pomelo salad (the Thai version) when my sister brought some from Davao. Romulo Cafe's is different. It has wedges of salted eggs and strawberry vinaigrette. It was very flavorful -- sweet, salty and tangy all at the same time.

Crispy Crablets. I love everything shellfish. I can eat these crispy crablets with vinegar dipping any time of the day.

Smoked Bangus Pate w/ Pandesal Chips. Topped with hollandaise sauce. Here's another merienda favorite. There's no fishy taste at all, and the pandesal chips were toasted to perfection.

Tenderloin Bistek Tagalog. We also had their version of bistek tagalog. It was topped with deep fried onion rings. The meat was very tender. But I've had better.

Bangus Belly on Banana Leaf. Served with their special sisig sauce.

Ginataang Sigarilyas with Tinapa. I only tried this because it's ginataan, meaning it was cooked in coconut milk. It was love. I guess anything with coconut milk is heaven for me.

The General's Chicken. One whole baked chicken rubbed with special herbs and smothered with garlic. This one was just so-so. I was expecting something close to General Tso's Chicken. My mistake. Haha.

Tito Greg's Kare-Kare. This is another must-have when you go visit Romulo Cafe. Kare-kare is usually ox tail simmered until tender with peanut sauce, topped with green veggies. They give you a side of shrimp paste, or bagoong. I used to not eat kare-kare, but now, it's one of my favorite dishes.


We didn't order any dessert anymore because my cousin brought a yummy fondant cake (sorry no picture because the server cut it immediately) topped with macarons. It was made by her pastry chef friend.

Romulo Cafe is located at the corner of Scout Tuason and Dr. Lazcano Streets in South Triangle, Quezon City.