Author: Rochelle Sy Chua

It all started with a tweet, “Any suggestions for a restaurant to try out in Tomas Morato, QC area?”.  A tweep suggested that we try out H Cuisine which is just near Tomas Morato circle and is around the corner of the first street.  She added that we should order their famous beef belly.

I followed her advice and texted my girl friends that we’d be having lunch at H Cuisine.  They all agreed and coincidentally, all of us never tried the restaurant.  We were all excited to try H Cuisine out!  I mean, why would they name their Angus Beef Belly with ‘Most Awesome’?  That’s totally a very strong statement and I’m not sure anyone would like to add the ‘Most Awesome’ words to their menu or even as their restaurant tagline if it wasn’t any good.

My first impression when I arrived at the restaurant was the challenge of finding a parking space.  Good thing we ate on a weekend.  The warehouse in front of the restaurant was closed so we were allowed to park in the driveway.

H Cuisine is a small restaurant.  I was actually expecting a fine dining type of place but apparently, H Cuisine is just a simple cozy restaurant with two floors.  The second floor is mostly for big groups and private functions/parties.  We stayed on the first floor.  There was a family who reserved the second floor so I didn’t bother going up to take pictures.

By looking at the articles, photos and chalkboard hanging on the walls of the restaurant, it was pretty obvious that H Cuisine’s Most Awesome Beef Belly is their pride and glory.

The chalkboard got my attention.  Apparently, H Cuisine also sells their Angus Beef Belly frozen for customers to bring home and prepare.  One kilogram pack can serve 6-8 people and cost about Php 1,300.  The Angus beef belly was pre-sliced already and include the demiglace gravy (500mL) and reheating instructions.  I guess with so much fat in that meat, there’ll be no need for oil to cook/heat it.

Chef Hannah Herrera-Bagatsing was the person behind H Cuisine.  I heard that H cuisine is a well-known caterer that became so successful that they ended up opening a restaurant.

Stef and I ordered food already and didn’t wait for everyone to arrive.  Good thing that when our orders came, our other friends arrived so it was good timing for us 😛

• H Cuisine Beverages

I always try to drink fresh juices as much as possible.  I do want to lose weight but I can’t change drastically so I do baby steps starting with healthy drinks!  I ordered H Cuisine’s fresh dalandan juice (Php 88) while my other friends ordered big raspberry iced tea (Php 78).  I love that they served it in big glasses.

• Loaded Taco Salad (Php 188)

When the taco salad was served to us, my immediate reaction was, “wow!”.  Wow in the sense that it was truly loaded!  There were lettuce, nachos, salsa, beef, grated cheese and aioli in it.  It tasted delicious and I really liked it.  I think we were satisfied with H Cuisine’s loaded taco salad considering that we finished it immediately after it was served.  I think it won’t taste as good if we left it for over 30minutes in the table – the sauce could have soaked the tacos completely and without the crunchiness, the salad won’t be that delectable.

• Pumpkin Soup (Php 108)

My friend ordered the soup of the day which was pumpkin soup.  It was served hot with garlic bread.  It seemed that this is one of the bestsellers in H Cuisine as it was homemade (fresh ingredients & no artificial flavors perhaps).

• Tofu Steak with Sweet Shitake Sauce (Php 168)

I ordered tofu just for the sake of it.  I love tofu and whenever I see that item in any restaurant’s menu, I will always order.  H Cuisine’s was cooked Japanese style- soft tofu and katsuoboshi on top served with sweet mushroom sauce.   I felt it was nothing special though.

• Oven Braised Herbed Chicken (Php 188)

I was too anxious on the angus beef belly that I failed to taste our order of oven braised chicken!  When I finally remembered it, the plate was already empty, hahaha!  The order came with a cup of H. Rice (Php 48), which can be ordered separately too.  The meat was poured with roasted garlic sauce.  It definitely looked yummy!  I’ll see if I get to try it the next time I go to H Cuisine.

• Most Awesome Angus Beef Belly (Php 428)

The server put a tea light candle on the table which basically meant that our order of most awesome angus beef belly was coming!  I was too excited, wondering how it might taste like.  The candle was meant to keep the Angus beef belly warm which I totally understand because beef belly are full of fats.  When it gets cold, it won’t be a good sight to see & to eat (i.e., greasy)!

Beef Belly on the table and my eyes just went big!  H Cuisine’s beef belly was definitely mouth-watering!  I immediately took one piece and ate it.  The meat was soft, tender and super flavorful.  I didn’t bother eating the side dishes (string beans, corn and carrots).  The Angus beef belly was more than enough for me to enjoy and finish.  The gravy was a perfect match and I asked for additional sauce!  Boy, we even ordered the same dish again as it wasn’t enough for the 5 of us.  Actually, I think our friend Janella wasn’t able to try it as we finished both orders before she arrived.

After having tried H Cuisine’s most awesome angus beef belly, I now believe that the dish does indeed deserve that title.  I, however, think that it won’t taste as good if we didn’t eat it with the gravy.  It was a perfect combination.

The secret they say was how chef Hannah cooked the dish.  She marinated the beef belly and slow-roasted it for 12 hours!  Wow!  Those long hours must be worth it as we customers, are completely satisfied with the food.  The dish can be ordered single with rice (Php 288) or sharing for 2-3pax without rice (Php 428).

• Decadent Chocolate Cake (Php 88)

I’m not a fan of chocolates so I won’t say anything to describe it.  You be the judge.  Look at the photo! 🙂

We all had a good first impression of H Cuisine.  For me, it was really all about their Angus Beef Belly.  I now understand what the letter ‘H’ in ‘H Cuisine’ is… H = Home of the Most Awesome Angus Beef Belly.

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H Cuisine
64 Scout Rallos St. Near Tomas Morato Quezon City, Quezon City, Philippines
+63-2-4130347

My mom loves to dine at Cafe Monaco.  I remember when she was still here in the Philippines, she would go there every single week just to have her share of Kimchichige, pita pockets or daing na bangus.  Since she was so addicted to the food, I was influenced and ended up loving Cafe Monaco too!

It wasn’t too long till I became friends with the owner of the restaurant.  She’s Sofia, a Korean who moved here in Manila and she’s definitely a charmer.  In fact, I see her mingling with her customers every single time.  It felt like all her customers are already her friends.  I guess that’s one of the secrets why Cafe Monaco is very successful in Banawe avenue.  Topnotch customer service plus the warmness and the hospitality of the owner herself!  Of course, the food was delicious too!  (more on that later).

I wasn’t surprised when Cafe Monaco opened its second branch at Ortigas Avenue in San Juan.  The Banawe branch is nearer to my house, but I wanted to check out the Ortigas branch anyway, at least to support the owner.

The Ortigas branch is definitely bigger than the Banawe branch (approximately twice as much space!).  Business is doing good as I saw several people dining at the restaurant when we visited.  However, I think a lot of people still don’t know about the new branch so here I am, sharing the good news!  If you live in San Juan area, you don’t have to drive to Banawe avenue anymore when you’re craving for Cafe Monaco’s specialties 🙂

I noticed something on the wall when we were dining at Cafe Monaco in Ortigas.  I didn’t see it in their other branch but I was curious what it was so I asked Sofia.  She told me that it’s a verse in the Bible..  Psalm 23:1 which says, “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.”

I really feel happy whenever I see establishments showing signs that God is in their lives.  Coincidentally, I was with my friends from the church then 😛

While we waited for our orders to arrive, we were given Kimchi and radish as appetizer.  Kimchi, a favorite Korean food, is a vegetable made with napa cabbage fermented in ginger, garlic, scallions and chili pepper.  I’m not really fond of Kimchi but I loved the radish!

We were eight in our group.  We had been planning to dine at Cafe Monaco.  I really wanted to blog about it so we tried to order differently.  Every single item we ordered tasted so good, just as expected!  There’s really no difference on the menu between the two branches of Cafe Monaco.  It’s just the location so take your pick.

• Mushroom Soup (Php 170)

My church friends were raving about the mushroom soup since we’re on the rightmost side of our long table, I decided to share it with them.  I must agree that it was flavorful yet a bit spicy.  The good thing was this.  The spiciness was just right (at least for me).  I have in mind that when rainy days come, I would drop by Cafe Monaco to order the mushroom soup.

• Kimchichige (Php 170)

Kimchichigue is my mom’s favorite!  This is always part of her order whenever she would visit Cafe Monaco.  I can’t eat it though as it’s just too spicy for my taste.  I remember when I tried it out before, I was sweating like crazy! hahaha!  I guess that was the point 😛

• Bibimpop (Php 140)

Bibimpop is another Cafe Monaco bestseller!  Everyone just loved to order this!  Well, why not?  The price is only Php140 for a huge serving of this beautiful Korean signature dish.  In order to enjoy Bibimpop, you have to mix the ingredients altogether.  If you’re afraid of spicy food, then you have to request in advance for the chili paste to be served separately.

• Daing na Bangus (Php 210)

The first time I tried the bangus in Cafe Monaco, I was shocked as to how big the fish was!  You cannot eat this by yourself!  I think the fish was from Dagupan (I’m not sure).  This was sooooo good!  If I’m hungry, I would definitely order this alone without rice.  I dip the fish in vinegar but Cafe Monaco also serves mayonnaise with it.

• Curry Beef Rice (Php 150)

• Gyu Nikuyakidon (Php 150)

Bibimpop is Cafe Monaco’s bestseller.  For me though, when it comes to rice toppings, my fave has got to be Gyu Nikuyakidon.  It’s basically beef with egg and rice.  I love the sweet flavor of the beef, so tasty!

• Fruit Shakes (Php 65)

I never fail to order fruit shakes in Cafe Monaco because I saw how they prepared it.  They were generous with the servings and I don’t feel like drinking water with their fruit shakes.  You have to be a bit patient though if you’re in a big group or if there are a lot of people ordering shakes.  They only have one blending machine but not to worry, it’ll worth the wait 🙂

• Halo Halo (Php 150)

The most unique Halo Halo has got to be the one by Cafe Monaco.  Theirs is a combination of different fruits with red bean, chocolate powder and ice cream.  If I have to choose between the numerous types of Halo Halo available here in Metro Manila, my choice would be Cafe Monaco’s version.  Delicious, refreshing and uber fresh!

Cafe Monaco for me, is like a hidden gem in the Metro.  Not a lot of people know about it but once they discover the restaurant, they would definitely go back often.

I’ve been a loyal customer of Cafe Monaco since year 2002.  I never blogged about it until now.  I have to stop keeping secrets and inform people about this restaurant that serves good food and a place I always frequent to.

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Cafe Monaco
368 Sekai Center, Ortigas Center, San Juan City, Philippines