Kabila Filipino Bistro

Lily Husni

4.0

As a Filipino, cuisines made and originated in the Philippines has a special spot in my heart and on my taste buds. Every now and then, I crave to taste different variety of Filipino cuisine. May it be cooked traditionally or with a twist, Filipino food is always on my website-A-List.Few weeks ago, when I was in Makati City, my palate suddenly crave for Filipino cuisine. My sister, who was with me that day, and I searched along Greenbelt for restaurants or Café that offers my cravings. After searching the area and food reviews online, we later on found ourselves in Kabila Filipino Bistro.Kabila serves dishes that can be savored in the different region, cities and island of the Philippines. Kabila’s menu was intricately put together to make sure that each guest can enjoy the variety of flavorful dishes found in the Philippines.My sister and I started our Filipino cuisine banquet by ordering Bagnet Binagoongan, Adobo sa Pula, BBQ sa Kabila, Tinola Rice and M Café’s Leche Flan Turon.Bagnet BinagoonganBagnet Binagoongan has tender and juicy Bagnet with crunchy skin, shredded green mangoes, native eggplant, tomatoes and shrimp paste broth.What I love about this dish is, it is not salty considering that one of its main ingredient is bagoong or shrimp paste. Instead, of being salty, this dish has a rich tomato flavor that blends well with the bagoong. This dish is definitely a MUST TRY!Bagnet Binagoongan is good for 2-3 person and costs Php 395.Adobo sa PulaAdobo sa Pula consists of spicy boneless chicken, classic adobo sauce and banana.Adobo sa Pula has the perfect harmony of the sweetness of banana and classic adobo sauce’s sour sand salty flavor. The chicken meat on the other hand is so tender and flavorful.Adobo sa Pula is good for 2-3 person and costs Php 395.BBQ sa KabilaGuests can choose from pork, tiger prawn, chicken skin skewers and gindara for BBQ sa Kabila. During our visit we choose pork bbq. Pork bbq sa kabila is served with the tradition pork bbq street food on a charcoal grill. The pork bbq is a bit salty but you can drizzle some calamansi or apply some sauce to harmonize its flavor.Pork Bbq Skewers ( 5 sticks) costs Php 295, while Tiger Prawns is Php 475, Chicken Skin Skewers is Php 195 and 200g of Gindara costs Php 375.Tinola RiceTinola rice has the oily texture and gingery flavor of Tinola’s broth. It is good for sharing and costs Php 195.Leche Flan TuronLeche Flan Turon is served with five turon in creamy Leche Flan filling and Chocnut chocolate dip. Chocnut is a peanut milk chocolate and is one of our (and most Filipinos) favorite chocolate.Leche Flan Turon costs Php 195.Kabila Filipino Bistro didn’t fail my cravings for Filipino dishes. Each dishes that we tasted are flavorful. My palate enjoyed everything but my top picks are the Bagnet Binagoongan and Tinola Rice. I love the tender bagnet and its crispy skin even if it has been soaked on the bagoong broth for a long period of time. While for the Tinola Rice, we ordered the former because we got curious on its taste and after some spoonful of it, I must say, that it is worth the try.

Katanisven

4.0

Had the best Filipino desserts here last summer and every time I remember how good they tasted, I drool. The avocado dessert and the halo halo were simply unforgettable. My family loved the interior, the high ceiling and the friendly  waiters. What's best is that this restaurant is just within the vicinity of Glorietta Mall, the Ayala Museum and the church, the places where we usually go when we are in Makati.

Norliza Patalinjug

4.0

I attended a network dinner here tonight. The outlet is of decent size. However, it is interesting to note that it shares the same place with another restaurant. Design-wise, the place has a modern, warm feel with light local touches. We had a set menu arranged in buffet style. I arrived early with one of the dinner sponsors. We were greeted warmly by the staffs. They were uber nice and at times comical. We were even given a brief introduction of each dish.We were served with quite a selection - catfish and buro in mustasa leaf, ensalada kabila, bone marrow bulalo, bahm-i, chicken inasal, pork bagnet, halo-halo and leche flan turon with chocnut sauce. As you can see, it was an evening of Filipino culinary experience. All the dishes were excellent, with the bulalo, chicken inasal and bagnet as my top picks among the main courses. The bulalo was served deconstructed style. The meat was very soft and tasty and the soup was teeming with flavours. The chicken inasal were presented in skewers on small rock charcoal grills which kept them warm. The chicken was marinated well and grilled perfectly. It has this distinct sour taste, mainly coming from the marinate composed of vinegar, calamansi and other spices. This is not the sweet-style bbq chicken. The bagnet was equally mouth-watering. It was delicious, with its tender meat and crispy skin. It was perfect with the vinegar-soy sauce dip. The desserts were also impressive. The halo-halo was served do-it-yourself style, allowing each one of us to customise our cup based on individual preference. I had mine with more sweetened banana and leche flan. The individual ingredients were cooked well. It met my expectation plus a bit of surprise. It was my first time to see cheese and desiccated coconut among the ingredients. I tried some of the coconut and it unexpectedly gave it a subtle but distinct coconut flavour. Something new learned tonight. The leche flan turon was beyond amazing. It wasn't too sweet even with the chocnut sauce. It was simply divine. You have to taste it to know what I mean. I was impressed by this restaurant. I highly recommend this place for someone looking for top notch Filipino dishes.