Cafe Adriatico: Cafe With A History

I hear a lot of good reviews about Cafe Adriatico in Malate. It became part of our history, culture and tradition. Of course, it is where the name, Cafe Adriatico, and its group, LJC Group, started and flourished to what it is today. A lot of branches and a lot of restaurants are now owned by its founder. As what they tell us in their website, “If the history of Philippine restaurants were to be written down, Café Adriatico will be mentioned quite often. It was considered to have been the restaurant that started the bistro culture in the country.” 

However, the reviews I hear about the main branch is different from the reviews I read about the other branches. Sadly, I was able to experience it firsthand as I am a frequent visitor of SM Mall of Asia.

Aside from the disappointing service, the food isn’t as satisfactory as what I read from the Malate branch’s feedbacks. Perhaps, I just expected more. I don’t know.

Spanish Corn Soup

The Spanish Corn Soup doesn’t look like the one I am picturing. I thought I’ll have a soup with small cubes of veggies aside from carrots. If not, the liquid should be a little bit thicker than this. It has chicken but the meat weren’t really that felt. Mom’s most memorable dish in the cafe is the French Onion Soup. But sadly, it’s not in a positive way. She’s very fond of soup since it soothes her tummy. But the flavor of onion in this broth is so overpowering that it makes her wanna throw the liquid. They’re not even caramelized.

Nacho Salad

The idea is almost perfect. It’s like a salad with a crunch. The Nacho Salad got everything you see in both nachos and salad from tortilla chips, ground beef, olives and grated cheese to lettuce, onion, jalapeño and tomato so I’m wondering why they miss to put either a salad dressing or a nacho sauce for some moisture. That’s important! While I want it for having fresh vegetables, I dislike it for containing dry chips. But it was able to redeem itself through the savory ground meat.

Crunchy Calamari

Crunchy Calamari is like Cafe Adriatico’s version of drunken shrimp. This is a great option as bar chow as it goes well with beers, especially when you dip it on the accompanying vinegar sauce. I won’t recommend it though as a viand for rice because you won’t be satisfied with the amount of shrimp flesh you’ll be getting on this platter. Nevertheless, I like the way they seasoned the shrimp. It’s salty. It’s fresh. It’s like a taste of sea.

Seafood Linguini

Fortunately, they gave us an exceptional pasta experience with their Seafood Linguini. First of all, the sauce is purely tomato and tangy like how I wanted it to be. Its amount is proportional to the quantity of pasta and seafood toppings. The tanginess blends well with the fresh lingering flavors of fish fillet, squid and shrimp. The linguini pasta is tender yet firm. The garlic bread slices with it are crispy and addicting as well.

Fillet of Sole Toscana

They just delivered pure sogginess from fish to linguini noodles. I guess, the olive oil was too much. Their Fillet of Sole Toscana is so far from the promotion photos. I am tricked! The photo has slight pinkness on thin fillets so I thought that it was seared beautifully. What I got is almost deep-fried. There’s a crust but no crunch. I should have ordered the salmon instead. It’s a good thing that the flavors are somehow appealing. I could still feel the freshness of sole and tomatoes.

Kesong Puti with Pan de Sal and Chocolate Eh!

I was torn between their Quesong Puti Tostado and Kesong Puti with Pan de Sal and Chocolate Eh! I want the bread toasted but I also want to try the hot chocolate. I chose the latter because I can toast the bread at home. After all, its packaging for take-out can’t do justice to the presentation of the food so I rearranged it. I wonder if they bake their own pan de sal because it’s so soft. I enjoy eating it with the Laguna cheese. The hot chocolate is rich and absolutely yummy. However, is the serving really this small?

Spanish Omelette

Their Spanish Omelette is different from what I expected. I thought it was this deep round omelette with potatoes because that’s the Spanish Omelette I know. What we have here is the usual omelette filled with lots of tomato, bell pepper, mushroom slices and some sort of meatloaf cut into strips. It’s actually big for an omelette and it can serve two. I like that it is not dry but I’m hoping to sense some cheesiness inside. I think, it would go well with the tomatoes. After all, I think that cheese is still in the cope of being Spanish.

Red Velvet Cake

My first cake experience in Cafe Adriatico gave me a bad impression, which makes me doubtful to buy some other cakes from them. The Red Velvet cake slice we got is really dry. I just finished it because a slice is costly. It’s just a plain two-decker red-colored cake smothered with simple and thin frosting. Actually, even its appearance already tells me that it isn’t appetizing. Because of the brightness, they make it obvious that the color is fake. I can’t think of anything special on the fillings and frosting.