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Modern Filipino Cuisine at LoLa Cafe




Before I left for the US, my college friends and I met one evening for a small celebration at LoLa Cafe, near Tomas Morato in Quezon City. I was curious with LoLa Cafe for a long time but I never had the chance to visit before, so I was excited to try their dishes. 




What looks like a small cafe from the outside is actually a spacious restaurant, with a mezzanine level and a bar for cocktails. 

For appetizers, we had the Adobo Truffle Fries (Php 235) and Grilled Caesar Salad (Php 185 for solo, Php 290 for sharing).

Adobo Truffle Fries
Grilled Caesar Salad


The Adobo Truffle Fries is topped with adobo flakes and truffled kesong puti, which was underwhelming as the toppings were too little for the huge bowl of fries. An impressive execution was the Grilled Caesar Salad, with grilled romaine lettuce, ferns, bacon, keso de bola and bagoong dressing. The grilled taste of the caesar salad enhanced the flavor of the salad, which was impressive for me. 

For the mains, we ordered the Roasted Belly Tocino (Php 490), Chicken Inasal (Php 370) and Wagyu Kare-Kare (Php 390).

Roasted Belly Tocino
Chicken Inasal

I love tocino, so I didn't know what to expect with Roasted Belly Tocino. I found it interesting, however, I personally prefer my pork belly garlicky than sweet. The Chicken Inasal was a far cry from the traditional version, but the lemongrass flavor did the dish justice. 

Wagyu Kare-Kare

What really impressed us was the Wagyu Kare-Kare, an upscale version of my all-time favorite Filipino dish using beef wagyu shank. The meat was tender, the kare-kare sauce thick and nutty and the homemade bagoong complements the kare-kare perfectly. 

For dessert, we shared a serving of S'mores (Php 210), which is melted chocolate with chocnuts and toasted marshmallows, served with graham crackers. 

S'mores

We forgot about being adults momentarily and dug in on the S'mores like kids. We enjoyed the warm and sweet S'mores dip with our graham crackers. I wished we asked for more crackers though. 

LoLa Cafe is one of those places should you feel adventurous with Filipino cuisine. I highly recommend the Grilled Caesar Salad, Wagyu Kare-Kare and the S'mores, but will think twice about the Roasted Belly Tocino and Chicken Inasal (especially if you are a fan of the authentic inasal like our group). The prices are reasonable and the service could be improved. I will probably return for the Wagyu Kare-Kare. 

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LoLa Cafe+Bar
99 Scout Lozano Street,
Bgy. Laging Handa, 
Quezon City

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