Kafe Batwan: Flavorful Ingenuity
Craving for some sumptuous and ingenious Filipino fare? Kafe Batwan perfectly fits the bill. The restaurant presents modern and innovative yet authentic and familiar Filipino food with a strong local identity.
The restaurant’s name is inspired by ‘batwan’, a native fruit in the Visayas region that is used to give kansi (a popular local meaty soup) its distinct sour flavor.
Kafe Batwan is located at the Joya Lofts and Tower in Rockwell Center Makati City.
Guests are in for a satisfying and relaxing dining experience with the restaurant’s cozy wooden theme and gourmet Filipino menu. Its design is modern, airy and chic with a hint of the rustic and native. Adding to its pleasing aesthetics are the various local delicacies on display that can be purchased.
At the helm of Kafe Batwan are celebrity Chef JP Anglo and his sister Tracie Anglo Dizon. The siblings tandem is behind the success of the Sarsa Group.
“Kafe Batwan is a new concept that puts our national cuisine in a worldly café setting”, Chef JP shares. Indeed, Kafe Batwan is a contemporary Filipino Café serving creative Filipino dishes with playful renditions and incomparable innovations.
Madrid Fusion Super Batchoy
Its local ramen version, Madrid Fusion Super Batchoy (P480) is a tasty 12-hour soup stock with kurobuta pork for the charsiu, soft-boiled egg and crisp tuna skin. This celebrated masterpiece is recommended heartily among soup lovers and the same dish was presented at this year’s Madrid Fusion Manila.
Inasal Paa
Another top-rated main dish offering is the Inasal Paa (P 235) served with the classic seasoning of soy sinamak (soy sauce with spices) and atsara (local pickle) on the side.
Kansi Corned Beef
Open as early as 7am, it also offers hearty breakfasts such as its Kansi Corned Beef (P 375), a shrank corned beef meat with soft and creamy scrambled egg and garlic coconut rice.
Kansi Panada
Twice-Cooked Liempo
Sizzling Budbod
There’s more to try in their rich menu: The appetizer/snack Kansi Panada (P 280), crisp golden empanadas (meat pie) stuffed with flavorful shreds of kansi meat served with house gravy. Their popular sandwich Twice-Cooked Liempo (P320) is lightly grilled filled with pork meat, ginamos na gata, kesong puti, grilled tomatoes and roasted peppers served with light cassava fries and house made aioli dipping sauce. Experience the sweet taste of Sizzling Budbud (P250) topped with ube butter and coco pandan coffee cream, a one-of-a-kind dessert offering that has a velvety texture and balanced taste of sweetness.
Kafe Batwan represents the modern concept of a Filipino restaurant that showcases familiar flavors in more creative interpretations. Experience the fineness of Filipino kitchen ingenuity at Kafe Batwan.
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Article and photos by Adrian Pempena
Edited by Ingrid Soriano
