It is very rare for me to dine in Filipino restaurant especially this kind of dining place are either hard to find the area I usually hang out or it is very expensive. Luckily with the Sooo Pinoy campaign of Unilever Food Solutions, in their advocacy on culinary tourism that promotes different Filipino dishes for tourist and locals, I had the chance to try the Adarna Food & Culture in Kalayaan Avenue in Quezon City.
Like we all know, the name Adarna came from the novel of Ibong Adarna which is very much familiar to those who are in high school. It is a magical bird that has a beautiful singing voice and changes the lives of everyone in the Kingdom of Berbania. With a distinctive name that became part every Filipino, Adarna Food & Culture owners Beth Angsioco and Chef Giney Villar takes that as challenge to focus on Filipino based culinary along with the ambiance of restaurant.
The restaurant offers a combination of rich heritage refreshed in every corners, walls and centerpiece of Adarna with a comfy regional home cooking enhanced to cater the younger diners who is fascinated with burgers and pasta than the Filipino dishes. I love the plates it reminds me of town fiestas we visited in Bulacan and Pangasinan during my younger days with my family. Along with weaved table placemats that very regional, every table centerpiece and wall decors shows the iconic Adarna bird.
Seafood Special – for seafood lovers, a dish of mixed scallops, shrimps and fish can be comforting on dinner with family or friends. Savor the sweetness with spicy-sour kick of tomato-olive oil sauce perfectly sautéed in onions, green peace, green and red pepper and parsley to bring out that aroma and distinctive taste of the fish and shrimp.
Adobong Batangas – we all love adobo, that sour salty taste of pork chunks in steamy rice brings heaven on earth on a stressful afternoon. But this time instead of vinegar, they used dried kamias, the Batangueno way to bring that special taste of mild vinegary taste in every layers of the pork meat complimenting with other spices.
Bicol Express the Adarna Way – Filipino dishes is known with distinctive taste, it can be sweet, sour, salty or spicy depending which region we are. The famous Bicol Express where chopped siling panigang and ground pork is cooked with coconut milk and siling labuyo to make it very spicy, this Adarna enhanced the preparation instead of sautéing all the ingredients in coconut milk with chopped siling labuyo, they stuffed the siling panigang with ground pork and rolled it in breading and fry it to cooked the meat. After that they pour the cooked mixture of coconut milk, chili and other spices for a beautiful presentation but the taste and spicy kick of our favorite Bicol Express is still there.
Kesong Puti and Langka Fry – this dessert is a balance of sweetness and salty where kesong puti coated with caramel and has caramelized langka fillings on it. It reminds of the caramel puffs but this one has more inside it that really excites me in every bite. It is a worth it dessert for those who wanted to take that “umay” away.
They have two function rooms to handle from 30-50 guests; Room of the Stars and Room of the Carnival Queens.
Room of the Stars – it contains different photos of the actors and actresses during the golden era of Philippine cinema. I am referring to the days where Premiere Production, Sampaguita Pictures, LVN Studio, and Lebran Production created Susan Roces, Eddie Romero, Dolphy, Vilma Santos, Nora Aunor, Amalia Fuentes, German Moreno, Daisy Romualdez, Mona Lisa, Fernando Poe Sr., Nida Blanca and so many more.
Room of the Carnival Queens – before Ms. Philippines, Mutya ng Pilipinas, Binibining Pilipinas and other beauty pageants there was Carnival Queens that tested the beauty and brains of Filipinas during the time of American period before World War II. Most of the winners became wives of influential and political personalities that time including Pura Villanueva (wife of Teodoro M. Kalaw), and Virginia Llamas (wife Carlos P. Romulo). Socorro Henson was the last Carnival Queen and Anita Agoncillo Noble is the first Ms. Philippines.
Every corners of Adarna shows us how rich the Filipino culture is, it is colorful because of the entertainment industry from pageants, cinemas, comics, and others. Our literature and history in forms of antiques, news papers, books and paintings, Adarna shows more than the delicious food they offer, it is a 30 minute to two hours visit of our rich heritage.
Adarna Food & Culture
Address: 119 Kalayaan Avenue, 1101 Quezon City, Philippines
Phone: (632)9268712; (+63917)9618113
Operation Hours: Mon - Sat: 11:30 - 22:30, Sun: 11:30-22:00
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Sooo Pinoy is a culinary tourism advocacy of Unilever Food Solutions on making Filipinos appreciate their rich heritage and resources, and the delicious food here in the Philippines made by passion and love. Visit http://Facebook.com/SoooPinoy and share what makes your favorite food and restaurant so Pinoy.
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