The Rich Taste and Sights of Cafe Juanita (Pasig City)

Telling a story about food, or travel in general, is relatively easy. Simply regurgitate the taste, smell, sights and the rest of the sensory experience (won’t attempt to list down the five senses, as you might have more), and that’s pretty much it. Food, even to non-experts, is food. No one can argue about what you experienced. However, there are times when there’s just too much to digest — the experience, that is — and finding a point from which to start is a chore. Such is our difficulty with Cafe Juanita.

It was getting dark on a lazy Sunday afternoon. No traffic (how we wished every day traffic in Metro Manila is like this). We had a few bites of Bizu‘s best in the lobby of St. Luke’s Medical Center in Fort Bonifacio. If you ever want to get sick, and there’s surely a lot who, at some point, suddenly feel the urge to get sick, St. Luke’s would be the place. It definitely beats many hotels in the Metro and we almost forgot it’s a hospital when we were there to visit a friend. Anyway, Bizu served as the appetizer. We had to find the main course.

We decided to try Charlie’s Burger. It’s along the way (not exactly, but any great food or place is “along the way”, even all the way to Pagudpud or Donsol). We’ve said that the photos of the burger are dull, and we felt we have to make it right this time. We also had to introduce our friend, Jane, to Charlie, the burger.

For some unknown reason, however, we landed in Cafe Juanita, which is a minute or two away from Charlie’s Burger. Cafe Juanita is along West Capitol Drive, just a few meters from the rotunda in front of the Pasig Provincial Capitol. 19 West Capitol Drive, Barrio Kapitolyo, Pasig City, to be exact. The street intersects the East Capitol Drive, which means this map would still be of help.

The reason is not really unknown – it just sounds better when you say it’s the great unknown. The real reason is the bagnet. We’ve tried the bagnet at the Flying Pig and we’ve gone all the way to Ilocos to try the original bagnet (Ilocos is also “along the way”), but the first time I encountered bagnet was at the old Cafe Juanita, just a stone’s throw from the current location. The old Cafe Juanita has been transformed into an Asian street food hub (or is it Asian food street hub?).

Through the years, and for reasons I don’t know (there’s the great unknown again), the Cafe Juanita bagnet stuck to my brain, or taste buds. Again, the the reason is really known — the bagnet tastes really good.

So when we saw Cafe Juanita on our way to Charlie’s Burger, an irresistible force made us swerve towards Cafe Juanita, forgetting the burger. Good decision, we made. Great food, we found at Cafe Juanita. Good work, my young padawan.

But before we can enjoy the food, we had to order. And before we can order, we had to enter the restaurant. It was around 4:40 p.m. and the door was locked. We were hungry. Whhhhyyyyyyy!!!! (with arms outstretched, fists clenched, looking up the sky). The security personnel guarding the parking area (no problem with parking here) must have read out senseless thoughts. He approached and directed us towards a side door.

Ah, the ways of the dark force. Mysterious.

The main restaurant, where the heavy stuff is served, opens at 5:30 p.m. Those who don’t know what time the main restaurant opens, like us, may order light dishes and dessert at the smaller side restaurant. Don’t be fooled when we say “smaller” and “side” restaurant. The food here will blow your brains to a galaxy far, far away.

Because we were on exploration mode and because we thought we need all the sugar for energy in tackling the main course, we tried three dessert items. If there’s reverse psychology, this is reverse meal. Dessert before the main course.

Hmmm. Let’s see. We love turon. Anyone who doesn’t know turon is not a Filipino. But a Mini Turon? That, we have to try. Next, the mango crepe. We love mango crepe, one favorite being Cafe Breton‘s La Pinay. A Samurai Mango Crepe? Sounds interesting. Cassava cake, another favorite Filipino dessert. It’s tricky adding “special” to the name. Filipinos know casava cake well and falling short of “special” would be a disaster. So the Special Cassava Cake goes in the order.

There’s a lot of interesting and colorful decors to look at, so waiting for the food is no problem. There’s an “antique” frame and statue of some saint. The rest, we really don’t know what they’re called, though we noticed the price tags — many of the decors are apparently for sale. Nice.

The Special Cassava Cake arrived first, and fast. It’s soft, with lots of cheese on top, drenched with latik — caramelized sugar with coconut milk. The Special Cassava Cake (rate/review) has a full, round flavor that hugs the tongue, like a Swedish massage that gently soothes the taste buds. Tastes great. Not too thick. Not too sweet. If you know what umay is, you’ll forget what it means here.

The Samurai Mango Crepe tastes good (rate/review it). Then came the Mini Turon (rate/review it). It had to be fried so it naturally arrived last, though we might as well say they’re saving the best for last. It’s just like the regular turon, though smaller (it’s “mini”, after all) and is served with ice cream topped with chocolate. The sesame seeds, spread over the turon, give more texture to the bite. The soft crunch releases the caramelized sugar which coats the turon, leading to the little sliced banana inside. It tastes great, but that’s not the surprising part. Once you start chewing, a wild buzz of flavor begins to emerge. It’s hard to figure out the strange, albeit welcome, taste that tries to surface from the flood of sweetness. Mild ginger. Yes, ginger. Sounds way off, but the mix tastes absolutely great.

And while I was shaking my head from disbelief that I’d actually like ginger with turon, a man began knocking on the side door. Nobody, including the waiters, paid attention to him. Another customer who doesn’t know where to enter, we thought. He turned out to be the “chief cook”, he later revealed, trying to check if the side door was already closed. It was time to open the main restaurant.

The “chief cook”, we don’t know if we wants his name to be mentioned here, is the owner. A warm fellow who appears to be hands-on in running the restaurant. Before excusing himself after a brief conversation, not wanting to unduly disturb our dining experience, he ordered the Sticky Toffee Pudding. For us, on the house. Dessert on the works while we’re waiting for the main course. Dessert first, dessert last.

If food haven is made up of solid-colored tapestries and assorted decors, approaching a French baroque look, then Cafe Juanita is it. Warm lights set a formal tone. Lights in shades of blue, green, red and gold provide the playful element.

Cataloging all the items here would probably take weeks. A huge lamp shade here and there. A beautiful set of Japanese dolls items lay perched on top of the sliding door which leads to the mini-garden. Tucked in a corner, on top of the grand piano, is an award for best restaurant in 2010.

I guess too much talk about dessert leaves us exhausted to talk about the main course – Bagnet Salad, Bicol Laing and Kare-Kare ni Juanita. The Bicol Laing (rate/review it), better than our search for laing while in Bicol. The Bagnet Salad (rate/review it), deceptively healthy with the “salad” part, is definitely sinful. More sinful is the kare-kare, a must-try (rate/review it).

Time and again, we’ve said that writing here is no chore. It shouldn’t be. Talking about the sights and sounds of the Philippines is a hobby. No rush. No deadlines. No pressures. And that’s why it took so long for us to come around and write something about our experience in Cafe Juanita (rate/review it). We had to let the experience settle down, broken down into manageable pieces. Sensory overload. There’s no fear of forgetting the details, though, as the food and ambiance in Cafe Juanita is rich and distinct. Not that we mind forgetting, for we definitely want to go back.

Related Posts:

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• Kinunot at Kawnkita Restaurant (Donsol, Sorsogon)
• The Poqui-Poqui and Bagnet of Ilocos
• Sumptuous Buffet at Mario’s