My first time eating Filipino food? Apparently so! I thought I’d tried almost every cuisine on offer and if I hadn’t, I feel like I’d know what to expect – but even that part I got wrong. Romulo Cafe is a relatively new (around 2 years) Filipino restaurant on Kensington High Street run by Rowena Romulo as a family business and with head chef Jeremy Villanueva looking after the kitchen. With a promise to bring a taste of the Philippines to London, this restaurant not only does that, but brings colour, delicious food and a culinary experience of dishes and flavours which I’ve personally never eaten before.
Before we went on our food exploration, we settled in with a couple of cocktails. Technically they were both stunning creations which tasted beautiful, but presentation needed a little fine tweaking. First out was the ‘Pinoy Mai Tai‘ and from my first sip, I wanted another one. A blend of Don Papa Rum, Disaronno Amaretto, Grand Marnier and pineapple juice. This Tiki mug creation was as delicious as it was fun. I couldn’t quite push the lime down into my full glass which meant for a rather messy affair, but otherwise I loved the concept.
Equally as delicious was the ‘Smokey & Stormy‘. Another perfectly crafted drink, this time made up of Woodfood Reserve, St. Germain Elderflour and Grand Marnier. It’s then served table-side with some smoke for flavour and the drink itself is contained in a leather-bound hip flask for pouring. Presentation here was fine, but the slate serving plate was a little old-school and so personally I’d replace with a real wooden plate/board to reflect the drinks aromas, following the theme through from serving board to drink.
When it comes to the food, the presentation couldn’t be any more perfect. In fact ever single dish that arrived, we couldn’t wait to tuck in. All visually very pretty and the smell of each dish was so enticing. Our first dish turned out to be our favourite too – Sizzling Chicken Inasal Sisig. A traditional Filipino dish, using chicken instead of pork. The dish is served in a sizzling, cast iron pan filled with diced chicken thighs marinated in annatto, ginger, green chilli, garlic, and lemongrass. The moment I took my first bite, I fell completely in love.
We followed with little home-made Filipino buns of goodness, filled with juicy, slow-cooked British beef rib, a caramelised honey chilli onion glaze and Queso de Bola cheese. They look good and they taste even better.
If I had to pick my least favourite dish, and even then it was still very good it would be this kalamansi-cured tuna ceviche. The tuna was of excellent quality, but for me this was more of a salad and less of a ceviche. I much prefer my ceviche drowning in the kalamansi citrus sauce, soaking up the juices. It was a nice change, but I still prefer the ceviche London is so used to.
Continuing with seafood, I couldn’t resist the char-grilled squid. This beautifully cooked squid was stuffed with tomato, cheese, onion, garlic and annatto oil – served on a bed of squid ink rice. There were so many flavours and textures to this plate of food that I can’t imagine anyone ever eating it, to not fall in love with it. I really loved the mango salsa round the edges of the plate too, taking a little weight out of the dish and making it even fresher and lighter.
Love pork belly? Me too and Romulo Cafe know exactly how to cook it. The Dingley Dell Pork Belly Adobo is slow-cooked with soy, garlic and rice vinegar – served with a trio of different potatoes. The belly quite literally melted in the mouth and the skin so crisp it cracked and crunched in the mouth.
The most surprising dish for me was this bowl of young jackfruit and coconut stew. I’ve really only ever had this fruit crispy and as a garnish – but never again. The jackfruit flesh is so juicy and it’s mixed with chilli and ginger stewed in a coconut cream with annatto oil.
I wasn’t sure what to expect when it came to desserts at Romulo Cafe, but I never expected them to be this good. This glorious looking creation above named ‘Sans Rival‘ is a traditional Filipino dessert made with dulce de leche buttercream, cashews and a chewy & sweet meringue. Words can’t even begin to describe just how good it was. You’ll simply have to find out for yourself.
If that wasn’t already good enough, I tucked into what is now one of my top five 2018 cheesecakes. It tasted like the best vanilla cheesecake you’ll likely to ever eat – but given a touch of sweetness and a deep purple colour from purple yam. If it’s on the menu, order it.
As you can probably tell, we loved Romulo Cafe. It was such an exciting meal and I only hope more Filipino restaurants will be opening up across the capital in the near future. A little more refinement in the cocktails and service could be touched upon, but the food is the star of the show and no matter what, you’ll have a fantastic time here – exploring dishes and flavours you might never have experienced before.
NB: My meal was complimentary. All views are as always, my own. My views are not influenced by anyone other than my own palate and slightly poor eyesight.
All the food sounds nice but that cheesecake! Wow!