Cucina ni Bunso

Naomi U.

4.0

Thanks to Uber, didn't get lost going to Cucina ni Bunso. It was a privileged to be invited by website - who teamed up with Manila Bulletin & Cruising Magazine for the latter's 16th year anniversary. It was the magazine's 11th leg (out of 16 restos they'll go to) and they chose Cucina ni Bunso as the perfect venue - everything's complimentary! Mini program was held prior the dinner.Got excited when I saw their facade, it's too cute! I loved the white walls, chandeliers and mementos. Some chairs were uniform, some were not. Even their plate designs were not all the same and it's not bizarre at all, it added character in the place.The Main EventMeliton's Spring RollPork BinagoonganChicken Kare-kare in PestoHalo-halo TuronSugarbeet ice creamIced TeaThe spring roll reminded me of viet/thai cuisine versions. The peanut sauce complemented the rolls. We were thrilled when the kare-kare was served! How can a peanut-based viand go along well with Pesto? I dunno how they did it, but their kare-kare tasted more of basil than of peanuts. It didn't taste strange, in fact, everyone in our table agreed that it was superb -- a twist in one of our local favorites! To be honest, it tasted good on it's own, no need to add bagoong. This dish is something I can recommend to friends. I had a little hesitation when choosing what part of chicken to get, well, there ain't too many to choose from - saw thigh and breast parts only. Thighs were good, but less chicken meat. While breast part has more meat than skin, but is usually dry.They served the Pork Binagoongan with ripe mango garnish shortly, the dish came in too strong for my palate. Superb idea though, because the ripe mango extinguished the salty flavor in my mouth.Others said that the strawberry iced tea was too sweet, I'd say not. It even tasted like the real fruit!Dessert time! We went gaga over the ice cream and it was nice to know that the sugarbeet ice cream was something they've whipped and churned in their own kitchen. Halo-halo ingredients were wrapped like turon and best eaten with ice cream, perfect way to cap off the night.Time of visit: 22 Oct 2015 18:00

Jade Alecksandra Bagas

4.0

Many thanks to website and Cruising Magazine for the invite to the 11th leg of the Taste: #TravelForFood project! Cucina ni Bunso does serve Filipino food with a twist! :) We first had the Meliton's Spring Rolls, which had crisp greens and sweet mango slices. They reminded me of the Vietnamese spring rolls I have tasted before. I's prefer vinegar to peanut sauce, though. For our viands, we had two: kare-kare with pesto and pork binagoongan. I prefer the former because it's such a surprising twist to a Filipino classic. Even if it lacks the peanut-y flavor of kare-kare, the pesto more than makes up for it. It's not overwhelming, and it went well with the bagoong. The binagoongan, on the other hand, was like others I've tried, save for the mango slices on top. I felt like eating mango with bagoong basically.Lastly, we had the halo-halo turon with home-made sugar beet ice cream! WINNER!

Olivier Longuet-Knoepfel

4.0

Finally! An invite that fit my schedule and location. Super thanks to websitePH and their partner Manila Bulletin & Cruising Magazine for this event entitled Taste: Travel For Food, in celebration of the magazine's 16th Anniversary. 🎉🎊Place:Cucina ni Bunso looks so refreshing with it's white and green design, I love the white fence and interior of the place as it gives a homey vibe. I was actually a bit surprised when I entered, from the outside it kinda looks so small, but they were able to accommodate all of us (around 30-40 guest). Food:For the appetizer, they served us the Meliton Spring Rolls with Peanut Sauce. I'm not into veggies that much but I really liked this dish. The vegetables were fresh and the sauce was a perfect add-on. For the main course, they prepared Chicken Kare-Kare with Pesto, It has thigh and breast part then eggplant, petchay, spring beans and banana bud. I was actually looking for any sign of pesto sauce in the dish but didn't find any, I was really amazed that the pesto flavor is more empowering than the peanut sauce, Loved it! 👍 They also served us Pork Binagoongan topped with ripe mango. The meat was tender and well marinated with the sauce however this dish was a bit salty for me, though I'm guessing that the mango is there to balance the taste. As for the dessert, they served us the Halo-halo Turon in Sugar Beets Ice Cream. This one is my favorite! Imagine all the halo halo ingredients wrapped in a spring roll wrapper, dusted with brown sugar then fried until golden brown then served with handcrafted ice cream and leche flan. yum! 😋 perfect finale for the night.Cucina Ni Bunso definitely deserve the "Filipino cuisine with a twist" label. :)P.S. A special thanks to website Family esp. to Trish! And to my fellow foodies, KC, Hannah, B, Brie, Angel, Gel, Jody, Giselle and Nerisse (hope I spelled everyone's name correctly). ☺️

Dorwssap019

4.0

I love finding cute and dainty restaurants in the metro. Found Cucina ni Bunso via website and the food didn't disappoint at all. The ambiance of the place was very welcoming and homey. We ordered the appetizer platter for starters. Then had some Seafood KareKare, Chicken ni Mel and CNB Liempo. Loved the presentation of the food but what really won my heart was the Liempo. It's probably one of the bests I've tasted so far. 👍🏻

Yulz Zabala Garces

4.0

It was a chance to visit Quezon City to spot amazing dining experiences. My friend is from the area. I should continue to explore Tomas Morato vicinity most especially. Other website users made no mistake when they rated this restaurant as one of the top picks. We got three dishes and they all rated high in my opinion. My friend, Anne shares the same sentiment. What's best is their aldente Seafood Carbonara. It had generous portions of toppings on a well seasoned cream sauce. Another must have is their Chicken Pesto Kare Kare. When pesto collided with peanut sauce, it's almost like curry. It's a really nice strong taste. No need for alamang on this version. Our server, Shine also made our total experience memorable. He was with us on our journey, it's like having another companion. Thanks to him, we even got a free ice cream dessert.

Nur Zaytun

2.0

Dined here on a website x Cruising event.The place itself is small and cozy. Para talagang nasa bahay ka lang, hence the name of the resto.We were served 4 items from their menu.First was Meliton's spring roll. It was light and refreshing, a good start for a meal.Next was the chicken kare-kare with pesto. It was okay, but it wasn't very peanut-y to me. I couldn't really feel that I was eating kare-kare. I didn't get any hint of pesto out of it too. And then the binagoongan. It was a bit too salty for my liking. Nothing too remarkable about both of these main dishes.The thing I really liked was the fried halo-halo served with their sugar beet ice cream. I'm almost sure it's sugar beet. It was really good! I can eat the ice cream every day and never get tired of it.Over all, this place was okay, but not enough to make me want to go back.

Christian Uson

4.0

website introduced this to me because of the GC and the place did not disappoint. We tried their appetizer platter which consist of 5 dishes that were all sooooo good. I really really like their Bomba(their own version of dynamite) and the Sisig turon which are so flavorful. Their Crusted Fish Fillet and Pakbet with Lechong kawali is not bad either. I just have concerns with the squash which is a bit hard still and was not fully cooked but I think the cook just don't want to overcook the veggies. But most of all, I AM INLOVE with their BIPOLAR ICED TEA. It tastes sooooooooooooooo delicious with chopped I-don't-know-what-those-herbs-are that made it so distinct from other drinks that I've tried. That definitely left a mark in my palate.

Jamie Chong

3.0

Our office barkada held our first adventure lunch in this resto. While the menu was very interesting (Filipino food with a twist), we found it quite pricy. We all ordered variations of the All-Day Breakfast: mine was the tuyo. The food was tasty but the staff had a difficult time coping with all of us. The orders took a long time getting to us. They made up for it by giving us free dessert, though.UPDATE!!! I attended my first ever website meet-up here so I was able to sample more of the resto's dishes along with my fellow websites. We were served spring rolls, chicken kare-kare, binagoongang baboy and for dessert, halo halo turon with sugar beets ice cream. I wasn't too crazy about the kare kare (IMHO, nothing beats my mom's kare kare; sorry, Chef Mel!) and the binagoongan was too salty but the bookends of the meal - the spring roll appetizer and the turon-ice cream dessert combo were winners. The tasty fresh spring roll is stuffed with crisp greens and ripe mango slivers. I was able to identify the minatamis na saging, red beans, yellow beans and jack fruit aming the turon's fillings. Add the bright pink sugar beets ice cream and you've got an exciting take on a classic Pinoy sweet.

Mira Kusmirawati

3.0

First off, it doesn't have the best location so it's easy to miss. We ordered Meliton's spring roll, creamy tinola soup, beef kare-kare and american adobo. The spring roll lacks color and variety in taste, could use some cucumber or maybe carrot? The peanut sauce is its saving glory, but you have to pour a lot to enjoy the meal. We loved the creamy tinola, we just wished it had more chicken chunks. The kare-kare is okay, i'd choose oxtail anytime though. The american adobo's really good. The special sauce reminds me of the street sweet barbecue sauce i used to have as a child. The chicken was tender but my friend said the pork wasn't. I didn't eat the latter though so it's okay. A good place to try. But is the food enough to make me come back? I don't think so.

Jade Alecksandra Bagas

3.0

Filipino cuisine. I didn't get the chance to see the menu but I'm sure that they have traditional filipino dishes. We were served with the springrolls which was the one I liked the most. Fresh ingredients. The peanut sauce doesn't taste the like but that's just fine. The chicken kare-kare was very bland. I didn't taste the pesto in the dish. The chicken was dry and bland as well. They also served the pork binagoongan. I don't eat pork so I'm only relaying my insights about the dish from my friends. They said it was too salty. By the looks of it, it's very oily. They capped it off with sugar beets ice cream which was also good and very interesting. The turon is actually filled with halo-halo ingredients. The dessert really works! :) I'm not sure I could recommend it but it's definitely worth a try.