Cafe de Bonifacio: Revolutionizing Filipino Cuisine

Note: This restaurant is already closed. 

I was recently invited by Openrice to try this Filipino restaurant set to make our local cuisine world-class: Cafe de Bonifacio.

Cafe de Bonifacio, named after Gat Andres Bonifacio, opened less than a year ago and serves traditional Filipino dishes with a twist. As mentioned by Mr. Freddie Wenceslao, one of the owners, they want to bring Filipino cuisine to the international food scene. With the help of Chef Ojie Reloj, I bet they are bound to succeed. 

Appetizer

As I arrived I've noticed the free appetizer (which I think is fish crackers with pesto) is already served. I love the pesto on it.

Lumpiang Hubad in Pastry Cups

We were also served Lumpiang Hubad in Pastry Cups (Php 120), which are stir-fried veggies with special sauce in cute pastry cups. It looks a bit like nachos, which I really found impressive. I like the crunchiness of this dish. This is really a must-try.

Salad

Another interesting dish is the Ensaladang Talong (Php 120).

Ensaladang Talong

Ensaladang Talong has onions, tomatoes with a special salad dressing with sliced salted egg on top. I don't really eat eggplant but this dish is so good you'll forget you're eating an eggplant. It is wonderfully presented too.

Main Dishes

We were served the following dishes: Sinigang na Tadyang na Baka (Php 385), Crispy Pata ni Ka Ojie (Php 618) and Crispy to the Bone Hito ni Ka Freddie (Php 358).

Sinigang na Tadyang na Baka

Crispy Pata ni Ka Ojie

Crispy to the Bone Hito ni Ka Freddie

Instead of the usual pork, Cafe de Bonifacio used short beef ribs for the Sinigang na Tadyang na Baka. The sourness is just right and the beef goes well with it.

Named after Chef Ojie, the Crispy Pata skin is so crispy yet the insides are so tender and delicious that you wouldn't sauce to go with it. It's good on its own. It was supposed to be good for 3 persons, but the serving is so huge.

Named after Mr. Freddie Wenceslao, Crispy to the Bone Hito ni Ka Freddie is filleted catfish served with Ensaladang Talong, Okra, and Pinakurat, a local spicy vinegar dip. This is one dish that we enjoyed eating, the fillet was already cut into bite-sized pieces that you can easily pop into your mouth.

Healthy Beverages

I was able to try two of their bestselling beverages: Mango and Basil Coolers (Php 95) and Ginumis (Php 110)

Mango and Basil Coolers

Ginumis

The Mango and Basil Coolers have green mangoes with fresh basil leaves. I'm not into green mangoes but I loved this one. Ginumis is a medley of sago and gulaman with coconut cream. It's a great alternative to halo-halo with an added sweetness of the coconut cream.

Desserts

To cap our wonderful meal, we were served Pinoy-style roti or flatbread. We had Ube and Macapuno Roti (with 1 scoop of ice cream, Php 170) and Mango and Latik Roti (with 1 scoop of ice cream, Php 170). We also had Turon de Gregoria (with 1 scoop of ice cream, Php 150)

Ube and Macapuno Roti

Mango and Latik Roti

Turon de Gregoria

I love the contrast of the hot macapuno and ice cream in the Ube and Macapuno Roti. But if you really want something sweet, Mango and Latik Roti is really recommended. Turon de Gregoria is a turon plated napoleon style with a scoop of ice cream. I love how it was plated, it was just beautiful!

Cafe de Bonifacio offers world-class authentic Filipino dishes at reasonable prices. The service was great and the food is really awesome! I see myself going back to try their other dishes.

Thanks to Cafe de Bonifacio for having us.

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Cafe de Bonifacio
Level 5 (cinema-level)
The Podium
ADB Avenue,
Ortigas Center
Pasig City
Contact No. 6361407
http://www.cafedebonifacio.com
http://www.facebook.com/cafedebonifacio