Cafe Juanita: Pinoy dishes at a Sunday lunch buffet

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It is not often that my family eats out. Last Sunday was one of those rare days that our daughter and her boyfriend went along with us after we checked out her almost finished condominium unit. Cafe Juanita is quite near our house and we wanted to eat there for the longest time. The outside facade looked interesting. It was only 11:00 AM but it seems the parking was already full.

The entrance is inviting already with its Asian decor.

I had no inkling on Cafe Juanita menu but the entrance decors prepared me for a relaxing lunch affair with my family.

I am entranced.

These East Asian decors greet you as you enter the door.

The first floor was full so the waiters led us to the second floor. The place reminds me of the early sixties architecture.

The waiter told us the buffet cost 539 pesos plus. This was the only time I knew that Cafe Juanita offered Pinoy food.

Sorry for the blurry photos. The visit to Cafe Juanita was an unplanned lunch so I didn’t bring my camera. I used my iphone and Samsung Note to take shots. The photos do not do justice to the beautiful mix of Asian and Filipino decors. We took a moment to scrutinize each section of the second floor before heading off to the first floor where the buffet is located.

This is how it looks as I go down the stairs.

There is a small room at the corner where the buffet tables are laid.

There is a wide array of Pinoy dishes from tortang talong, kare-kare, dinuguan, okoy, Chicken Inasal, embutido, lumpia, bangus, fried tilapia, laing, and lots more. There is Sinigang soup too.

There must have been 12 dishes or more. Pinoy green salad is also available such as talbos na kamote, okra , ampalaya with salted eggs and sidings.

I chose the green mango salad with cilantro.

What struck me is the food plating. Pinoy food is known to be of dull brown colors like adobo or dinuguan . Cafe Juanita uses green pandan leaves or siling haba for a nice touch of color.

Dinuguan does not look drab anymore. I take a little portion just to taste.

I took very little but my husband wanted to get his money worth by filling up his plate.

I tell my husband to pause so I can take a photo of our table. He looks a bit annoyed for destroying his eating mood.

What is Pinoy dining without washing down the food with buko juice?

And to top it all, Pinoy dessert. Guinataan is my all time favorite. The resto has a separate bowl for coconut cream in case you want to add more to your guinataan.

The mintamis na saba is so good too.

Aside from the Pinoy favorite kakanin, there is halo-halo too.

Everything is all here in this Pinoy food lunch buffet. It is definitely worth the 539 pesos. Balikbayans will be in for a treat with Cafe Juanita. Everytime my balikbayan relatives visit, it is always Kamayan.

Now, there are two Pinoy restaurants to visit: Adarna Food Culture and Cafe Juanita.

Cafe Juanita is located beside Shunji Matsuo Japanese Hair Salon.

Contact information:

Cafe Juanita, Pasig
2 United St. cor. West Capitol Drive, Barrio Kapitolyo
Pasig City, Metro Manila
Philippines
(02) 632-0357

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