Quim's Cake Bakeshop & Cafe

Sawitri Ari

4.0

Remember that cake shop that went viral a couple of weeks ago because one of the chefs posted that he would give out P5 million worth of cakes if Duterte wins?Well, it’s called Quim’s Cake and it’s now famous!We had lunch there last Saturday. It’s not just a bake shop but it also offers surprisingly good food, too.In case you were wondering, the name Quim is the nickname of owner and executive chef, Eliaquim Labang aka Chef Jack. The restaurant is just turning a year old in June 2016. It is located near the corner of E. Rodriguez Ave. and Tomas Morato.The decor of the first floor reminds me of a old-style, neighborhood ice cream parlor / diner, with white furniture, glass and cake displays and decorations. They have a second floor with velvet chairs, a chandelier, etc… the second floor is a very nice place for small, private parties. Quim’s also has other food items on sale on their shelves. THE FOOD The food at Quims Cake was better than I expected, and the prices are reasonable. The menu and ingredient combinations are inspired and creative. It makes me happy to see that more adventurous ingredient pairing dishes are also available at reasonable prices here and not only at fancy places that charge an arm and a leg!The cuisine is mainly Filipino with a little Korean and Japanese fusion thrown in.The favorite dish of the day was Quim’s Heartbreaker Pasta (P180). It is rich with aligue (crab fat), but cut with a bit of acidity from tomatoes so the overall dish ends up balanced, delicious and not nakakaumay at all.My next favorite was the Pigar-pigar Tapa from the Pigtasilog (P179). The beef is tasty – beefy, salty, sweet, sour – so good! It is cooked with a lot of caramelized onions. The taste reminds me a bit of bulgogi. I also loved Quim’s Sashimi Mango Sinigang (P299). It is real sinigang soured with green mango! Yum yum yum. The sashimi slices are raw, but they cook just right once the boiling hot soup is poured on top! The Roasted Pork Belly in Choco-Bagoong Sauce (P259) is also quite good and had everyone cleaning out their rice bowls! Who knew that chocolate and bagoong together make a delicious sauce? The pork was also cooked until fork tender. This is for people who looooove rice! I also liked the Hondashi Pasta (P180) – it a creamy pasta with nori, bonito flakes and sesame seeds. If you like okonomiyaki, you’ll definitely love this because it’s like the pasta version! We were able to try two burgers. The Red Hot Dory Burger (P250) has a piece of cream dory wrapped in bacon for the main filling, topped with sriracha mayo. The red bun is not spicy. Quim’s makes their own bun and they made this one red just for the Red Hot Dory Burger. The Pulled Pork BBQ Burger (P230) uses Quim’s own home-made BBQ sauce. It is sweet and tangy and lovely. The chef who does the food, Chef Jhollow Ignacio (not the guy who posted on social media), hails from Pangasinan and uses ingredients from his hometown of Alaminos – hence the aligue, the beef for pigar-pigar tapa, etc… are all from Pangasinan. I find the food at Quim’s Cake to be on the comforting side, adventurous but still very much in tune with the Pinoy palate. It tastes like really good home-made food.I also took a look at their menu and saw that they had some sandwiches that were only P80!For the cakes, we had the Chocolate Moist and the Chunky Carrot. The Chocolate Moist was very chocolate-y and I liked it. Others said it was too much chocolate, but I never complain about too much chocolate, LOL.We only cut small slices of cake because we were already too full!SUMMARYEven though this restaurant got famous for something other than its food, the food is also worth checking out. It's priced affordably, the menu is inventive, and the food tastes like very good Pinoy home cooking.

Lyka Darna

4.0

Remember that cake shop that went viral a couple of weeks ago because one of the chefs posted that he would give out P5 million worth of cakes if Duterte wins?. Well, it’s called Quim’s Cake and it’s now famous!. We had lunch there last Saturday. It’s not just a bake shop but it also offers surprisingly good food, too.