Good_Things_Magazine_AprilMay_2017

B

eneath a black

and white

striped awning, a

gorgeously garish

pink neon sign announces

tonight’s dinner destination.

Despite that decidedly 80s

Miami aesthetic, we’re in

Kensington not Florida and,

just to mess with our minds a

lile more, we’re here to eat

Filipino food – a bombastic

blend of native and foreign

influences which includes

Spanish, East Asian and

Malaysian accents.

Romulo Café’s moniker

comes from the surname

of the family who founded

the venue in memory of

General Carlos P. Romulo

• the Philippines’ longest-
  serving Secretary of Foreign
  Affairs, and the first and only
  Filipino to win a Pulitzer
  Prize. This branch is the
  well-loved Manila chain’s
  first London outpost, and it’s
  a lile bit of a corker.
  Sepia-tinged family
  photographs lend the black
  and white-wallpapered,

forest green-painted

dining room the feel of a

stylish family home; an

impression only reinforced

by hospitality that’s correctly

yet wholly inadequately

described as ‘warm’.

Cocktails deliver on both

the flavour and frivolity

fronts. A berry-laden

number named for notorious

Filipino shoe-hoarder

Imelda Marcos is served in a

stileo; LB’s ‘Batangus Bad

Boy’ is poured from smoking

bole to tumbler. We sip

them as we nibble at various

items on ‘The General’s

Combo Plaer’ – a generous

a•glomeration of pork and

chicken skewers, fish spring

rolls, tempura prawns and a

duck-stuffed steamed bun.

As the table is cleared

to make way for mains,

LB refuses to give up the

accompanying dish of

spiced dipping vinegar

that’s captured his heart and

seared his tastebuds. It’s an

excellent decision. Dunking

chunks of the crispest pork

I’ve ever had the pleasure

of encountering into the

fierce, fabulous liquid proves

a highlight in a meal where

the sole disappointment is

that we can’t eat absolutely

everything on the menu.

Despite vast portions, we

make admirable inroads into

honey-and-chilli-glazed beef

shortribs that manage to be

at once sweet and super-

savoury, and the rice-noodle-

and-mixed-seafood pancit

palabok that our waitress

describes at the Philippines’

answer to spag bol.

Desserts are largely

unfamiliar (as well as just

plain large). Imagine viewing

an Eton Mess whilst high on

hallucinogenic substances,

and you’ll be close to the

aesthetic of multi-coloured,

-flavoured and -textured

halo halo. Coconut pudding

is studded with parmesan

crisps, served with cheese

and sweetcorn ice-cream. We

suspend our disbelief, dive

in, and emerge convinced –

if a shade over-full.

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THE VERDICT

Showcasing a cuisine

that’s the perfect blend

of the familiar and the

exotic, attracting the firm

fan and the uninitiated

alike, this Manila thriller

deserves a lot of love

from London.

★ ★ ★ ★

Dalston bar Pamela is hosting

vegan pop-up Club Mexicana’s

residency. We wash down to-

fish tacos with peerless jalapeno

vodka, kiwi and coconut water

Des Barres cocktails.

A home-cooked, toad-in-the-

hole-centric lunch reveals food

photographer Tom Bowles to

be a whizz in the kitchen... plum

crumble confirms the fact.

A hangry dash from central

Manchester to Altrincham is

rewarded by pizzas from Honest

Crust – get chilli oil on the side.

London street food trader

Prawnography proves

that simple is best; dressing

crisp French fries with rich,

herb-spiked crab meat.

Hunks of Basque morcilla marks

East London’s Sagardi ‘Server of

Best Black Pudding In The World’.

Romulo Café

343 Kensington High Street,

London W8 6NW

romulocafe.co.uk

THE GANNET’S

Romulo’s first

UK outpost is a

lile bit of

a corker

Image: Marte Lundby Rekaa

Dispatches_DPS_MATT ZP_v3CATHY ZP.indd 25 01/04/2017 23:03