As you guys know, I’m originally from the Philippines so from time to time I do get the odd homesickness, even though I’ve now been living in the UK for over 17 years. But you know what makes me happy? Food – like, real good food. So as you can imagine, the moment I heard about Romulo Cafe, I had to go try it out P R O N T O.
The Restaurant
Romulo Cafe will be found in Kensington High Street, London, making it such a great spot to experience the taste of Philippine cuisine. To those of you who have not tried Filipino food before, it’s a delicious amalgamation of Spanish, American, Malay and Chinese culinary traditions.
The restaurant itself is a transformed Georgian town house which has been designed to reflect the homey feel of a traditional Filipino home. There are four main dining areas:
- General’s Bar
- Ambassador’s Lounge
- Diplomat’s Dining Room
- Space for private dining or parties in the CPR library
The ambience inside the restaurant is very relaxed so you can really just sit back and enjoy great food with great company. The service was prompt and all staff were incredibly attentive and helpful. Romulo Cafe is aspiring to be the destination restaurant for Filipino food in London and from my experience there, I have no doubt that they’re well on track to getting to that goal.
The Food
Right, I’m trying to brace myself here to write this next part as I’m salivating already over the thought of all this food. *Drools* Kay, here we go…
This beauty right here is tuna kilawin. It’s basically fresh fish ceviche which has been deliciously marinated in cane vinegar with red onions, radish, peppers and cucumbers.
My gosh this is just beautiful. This is fresh vegetable lumpia and it is IS LIFE. In tagalog, we call this ‘lumpiang sariwa’ which consists of vegetables encased in fresh spring roll wrapper with a sprinkling of roasted garlic peanuts and a drizzle of peanut sauce. Yum!
As part of our mains, we ordered pansit bihon guisado which is thin rice noodles sautéed in garlic, onions and soy sauce with chicken, shrimp and vegetables. Filipinos love pansit and often cook this when celebrating birthdays as they believe that it symoblises a long and healthy life.
Of course, a full on Filipino meal will not be complete without rice. So the one we ordered was adobo rice topped with fried garlic (yep, we’re obsessed with adding garlic in everything we can).
And as for our highlight, we also ordered binagoongan boneless crispy pata which is a crispy pork leg with tomato shrimp sauce, spicy vinegar and soy sauce with lime.
As for dessert, my mum and I were so full at this point that we decided to only order one to share. I chose to go for a mango float and boy oh boy, it was truly something special. MM mm mm! The mango float consists of alternating layers of graham crackers and whipped cream, topped with fresh mangoes and mango ice cream. DROOL!
To wrap up
My mum and I were literally on food cloud 9 and although some may say that Romulo Cafe’s price range is a little bit more on the steeper side in comparison to other Filipino restaurants in London, you can genuinely taste the quality with every bite of your meal. The food is 100% superb.
Romulo Cafe was such a delight to visit and we thoroughly enjoyed our time, especially the food, so we’ll definitely be coming back. I’ve compiled some key info below for you lovelies in case you’d like to give Romulo cafe a visit.
Address: Romulo Café London, 343 Kensington High Street. London W8 6NW
Telephone: 020 3141 6390
Reservations here
Menus here
