The thriving of Ka Tunying's Cafe

I first blogged about Ka Tunying's Cafe (KTC) in 2015 when this restaurant was just a newbie on Visayas Ave. in Quezon City. Since then, how fast has Ka Tunying's grown! Not only has it opened a branch on Timog Ave. also in QC, and another one at NAIA Terminal 3, it also has expanded its menu from just all-day breakfast to now include traditional Filipino dishes (some of them with a new twist!) 
that are well-loved for lunch and dinner. 
There is now lechon belly, embotido, and sinigang, among other entrees or ulam (viand) that are best for lunch and dinner, and pasta and pancit bihon for merienda. There are some rather unusual and interesting (and not to mention healthy!) dishes, too, such as the Pasta Ashitaba (a medicinal plant) and Kalabasa Lasagna. All these, perhaps, explain why Ka Tunying's Cafe has now become a must-visit for many balikbayan 
(returning overseas Filipinos), I read recently. 
Personally speaking, this restaurant is one of my favorites not just for the food and different coffee concoctions but also for the simple but classy, 
homey and quiet ambiance. Because Visayas Ave. is where I go to work, the branch there is the one I frequent, together with my friends in the office. I also would sometimes bring family - sometimes my kids, the other times my sisters. 
Here's what we've ordered over the past few months:

Tinapa Chowder
This soup is so delicious it's become one of my top favorites at Ka Tunying's Cafe. Why, there's my favorite Tinapa, creamy and flavorful soup and bread on which I lavishly spread butter. 
Just this and coffee complete my afternoon work breaks.

Tinapa Carbonara

As I've mentioned, Tinapa is one of my favorites and I eat it with fried rice any time of the day, even for breakfast, and lunch, and dinner. Yup, I can eat it the whole day! Even if Ka Tunying would put Tinapa on pasta, I'd still eat it! And guess what, he already did! Tee-hee. Kidding aside, this dish exceeded my expectations. It tasted way better than I thought! Imagine lots of flaked smoked fish and a balance of spices in a creamy sauce swirled all around all dente 
fettuccine. Served with a piece of cheesy bread, 
this Tinapa Carbonara is a winner!

Fish Fillet and Salted Egg Rolls

My BFF in the office ordered this one time when she was with another friend and she came back to the office, she was all praises for this dish. When we came back together to Ka Tunying's, she ordered this again. I then understood all the rave. This was really good! It's deep-fried cream dory fish with salted egg that's crunchy on the outside and soft in the center, and served with a tartar dip. My friend ordered a cup of rice to go with it but I imagine as I write this post that this would go so well with my favorite tinapa soup! Hmmm...Anyway, there are six pieces in one serving, laid over lettuce leaves that make a perfect  

fresh salad side dish. 
 

Chicken Tocino

If you love Tocino but want to cut down on red meat, like what I'm trying to do, this one is the perfect choice. The chicken is really tender and flavorful. Perfect for this plate of Tocilog that's great whether it's brekky or dinner time. 

Longsilog - Hamonado

There are three kinds of longganisa available at KTC - recado, batutay and this, hamonado. My sister and I ordered the hamonado and batutay one lunchtime. I can't remember who had which kind but we exchanged a piece so we could taste both. Well, the two longganisa are delicious  
and sis and I loved them.

Longsilog - Batutay

This is beef longganisa, the recipe for which originated from Cabanatuan City 
in the province of Nueva Ecija.

Pancit ni Nanay Benny
This was yummy but a little too salty. Maybe it's not always the case? I'm optimistic 'coz pancit bihon is among my comfort foods and I'd definitely order this again 
in one of my future visits to KTC.

Pandesal Platter
Love, love, love this! Four pieces of healthy turmeric pandesal, each with a different filling. There's Spanish sardines, corned beef, adobo and fried egg.  Served with crunchy camote 
(sweet potato) chips.

KTC Fried Chicken
My all-time favorite food! Ka Tunying's version doesn't disappoint. It's not thickly battered so more of chicken, less flour.

Daingsilog

My friend's order and it made her happy and full.

Ham croissant
When you aren't up for a full and elaborate meal, just bread and coffee (or hot chocolate) might suit you just fine. One of my office friends had such pairing one afternoon and she was happy with it.

 Carrot cake, P125.

This has got to be the best carrot cake I'd had in a long time. It's soft, moist and not too sweet -- the perfect after-meal munchie to have with coffee.

Chocolate cake
This would have been a perfect dessert when my daughter and I had lunch one time but we were not very happy with it because it didn't seem freshly baked  because then. We would have wanted it to be moist and soft but it was anything but such. 

Pudding
This is one extremely yummy dessert or light snack that's perfect with a steaming cup of coffee. It's firm but still soft, milky and just rightly sweet. And at just P25., it never fails 
my heart and taste buds sing. 😊

 Citrumeric Milkshake

My sister's drink. Fresh oranges with turmeric and milk.  
Refreshing and healthy!

Kape Berde
Truth to tell, this is one of my top reasons for coming back to Ka Tunying's Cafe. Whoever created this drink deserves a pat on the back. Lots of people love coffee, and green tea is fast catching up as a drink of choice so it's one commendable idea to put them together in one glass. What a genius! I sooo love this! Healthy, delicious and refreshing! 

Spiced Cocochino

This is coffee with a kick! --  cappuccino blended
with coconut syrup and siling labuyo (bird's eye chili). It's truly something different and unique to spice up a rather ordinary working day.

 Mochabayan Frappe

This coffee and chocolate drink would have been so loved by me had I not forgotten to tell the server that I didn't want any sugar in it (that's how I order all of my drinks in any restaurant). So while this was delicious, I cringed at all the sugar I was taking in!

Dalandan Ginger Iced Tea 

BFF's choice on one visit. Quite a unique concoction, isn't it? 
Great tasting and refreshing, too!

Ligaya

BFF's drink another time, paired with her Daingsilog. This is melon juice 
with milk, a little lemongrass and red pandan-flavored jelly.  Delicious! 

Menu
(From KTC's Facebook page)

It might seem I've tried a lot of dishes, desserts and refreshments at KTC but really, there's still many more I have yet to taste like the Kalabasa Lasagna and Pasta Ashitaba that I mentioned. So the crew there at Visayas Ave. 
haven't seen the last of me yet. He..he..

If you haven't been to Ka Tunying's Cafe, you're missing out on a lot, so come visit soon. If you're lucky, you might bump into Ka Tunying himself -- the witty and charming broadcast journalist Anthony Taberna. See you there 
and happy eating!

Christmas for the palate

It's that much-awaited time of the year again - Christmas! I bet everyone's now busy preparing the Noche Buena spread. I know what families are having - it's kinda easy 'coz it has become traditional for Filipino families to have lechon, morcon, pancit or spaghetti, ham and queso de bola, fruit salad, leche flan and ube halaya - on their table at Christmas. In our family, we try to prepare something different each year with my grown up kids now doing the planning and cooking. Hehe.. Come New Year's Eve, however, it's my mom who prepares the yearly star of the Media Noche spread - beef morcon! My mom's the best, I promise! 

In some restaurants, "limited edition" Christmas-themed food and drinks are offered to make diners feel the cheer of the Yuletide Season. Regretfully, I only started to scout for them a few days ago due to the busyness of December (you know, gift-shopping, preparing the home, attending Christmas parties plus working on year-end reports in the office!) Some of those Christmas food and drink offers, I've had and taken a shot of. 
Here they are:

Christmas Ube Flan Cupcake at Costa Coffee

I fell in love with this cupcake the moment I set my eyes upon it at Costa Coffee in Robinsons Place Manila. Isn't it captivatingly lovely? Sadly, I was disappointed at its non-distinct ube flavor and dry texture. It failed to awaken my taste buds though it indeed was a pleasure to look at. With that beautiful Christmas tree top, this cupcake is a sight to behold!

Bumbong Smoothie at Ka Tunying's Cafe

This smoothie truly carries the Pinoy stamp as it has Puto Bumbong, which is the traditional kakanin for Filipinos at Christmastime. The elongated, purple, sticky native cake is a favorite snack among those attending the "Simbang Gabi",  which are actually dawn, not evening masses in Catholic churches. Stalls selling puto bumbong as well as bibingka (also a native cake) are a familiar sight in the vicinity of churches in the Philippines starting 
the 16th of December until the 24th.
At Ka Tunying's Cafe in Quezon City, you can drink instead of eat your puto bumbong. And it has the authentic taste of the kakanin, much like you're eating it, only you can slurp it with your straw. This festive drink has "krema" powder, muscovado sugar, coconut and of course, puto bumbong. I loved it as it was deliciously creamy and just mildly sweet. Yummy!

Santa Mocha Cupcake and Snowman Strawberry Cupcake at Amor Bakery

Amor Bakery is that lovely, rustic bakeshop on Espana Blvd. near UST in Manila that offers so many kinds of bread and cake plus coffee and milk tea. For the holidays, they came up with Christmas-themed cupcakes topped with round chocolate drawn with familiar Yuletide characters. I loved the one with mocha icing. The cake, which is actually Japanese cheesecake, is soft, moist and fluffy and the icing is yummy although it's just a bit sweet, thankfully. 

Christmas Sundae at Dairy Queen

It was love at first sight for me for DQ's Christmas Sundae. How lovely -- an edible, cold and sweet Christmas tree! Below the green frost are three layers of treat - strawberry ice cream, crushed Oreo cookies and chocolate ice cream. It's the perfect in-between shopping indulgence!

Santa Claus donut at Krispy Kreme

Krispy Kreme offers six Christmas doughnuts and the Santa is my favorite -- lovely to have with a cup of brewed coffee to warm up 
on a cold December day.

Salted Caramel Chiller also at Krispy Kreme 

Krispy Kreme also offers this Yuletide Season the Salted Caramel Chiller. 

I ordered this for my daughter and she loved it, 

though it's too sweet for me.

Well, it won't be very long before Noche Buena as I write this post. 

Merry Christmas, folks and happy eating! 

Ka Tunying's Cafe: The place to be on Visayas Ave.

If you watch shows at the Kapamilya channel especially Kris TV, or regularly watch the news even at the Kapuso network, you've probably seen or heard about Ka Tunying's Cafe - that bakeshop/restaurant owned by Anthony "Tunying" Taberna, a news reporter and radio anchor of ABS-CBN. This homey place with classic and classy interiors opened last week of August but just about 7 days later, a gunman pumped bullets into the building's facade (it's a stand-alone establishment), shattering glass walls and balustrade. Fortunately, the incident happened in the wee hours of the morning when the store was closed, so nobody was hurt 
and Tunying himself was not there.

But anyway, the happy news is that this cafe offers lots of yummy stuff - smoothies, coffee, frappes, breads, pastries, and Filipino all-day breakfast. I've been here with my officemates maybe 5 times - either to eat and have coffee or just buy bread to take home. By the way, Ka Tunying's Cafe is on Visayas Ave., Diliman, Quezon City and is in my office neighborhood, that's why my co-workers and I are frequent customers.

So far, we've tried:

Creamy Baked Bangus with Rice, P225.

Tinapang Galunggong with rice, P175.

 Arroz ala Tunying, 150.  

 Pandesal Platter, P175.

Blueberry Danish, P85. 

 Strawberry Danish, P85.

 Banana muffin, P25.  

 L-R: Chocolate, strawberry and blueberry muffins, P35 each

 Agimat, P145.

 Supremo Latte, P65.

Kapinoychino, P65.

 Tunying's Blend brewed coffee, P55.

Dalandan Ginger Iced Tea, P65.

Ensayamada, P135.


Balikutcha - the sweetener they use in their drinks which they buy from Ilocos. 
I loved eating it as dessert, though. :)

Interiors

 Main dining area on the second level

Cup-shaped chairs 

 This is inside an enclosed area upstairs. Once, I saw Tunying having lunch 
here with some guests.

Balcony dining area

Stairway leading to the second level

Counter, ground floor

 Menu boards

 Part of the bread display area

 Just some of the breads available

                                     Ka Tunying's Cafe on Visayas Ave, Diliman, Quezon City

We loved just about everything, including the drinks. My friend raved about the healthy green smoothie called "Agimat" - a mixture of cucumber, ginger and kalamansi. She said the three ingredients' flavors blended perfectly well to make a refreshing, delicious drink. Even their iced tea is uniquely delicious. It has the flavor of dalandan instead of the usual lemon or kalamansi. There's also bits of black gulaman (or was it really?)  in it. Another one-of-a-kind drink here is the "Ensayamada" which is inspired by the Pinoy favorite bread "ensaymada". 

Now you may drink your bread. Hehe..

Now on to the food. I love that they serve brown rice, which is healthy and recommended for diabetics like me. I had it with tinapang galunggong with tomatoes and itlog na maalat on the side. Yummy! My friend had the Creamy Baked Bangus then, which I tasted and liked. It had cream so it could be cloying after awhile, though. Good thing it was also accompanied by itlog na maalat and with atsara too to balance flavors. Another time, I had Arroz ala Tunying which was loaded with chicken and eggs. Delicious and comforting to the tummy, especially on a rainy day. My friend had the Pandesal Platter then, which consisted of four pandesal with different fillings - Spanish sardines, fried egg, corned beef and pulled pork adobo. 

As for their bread and pastries, my top favorite is the baguette, which I make into pizza at home, while my kids love the blueberry muffins and floss bread. My officemates swear by the Danish - both the blueberry and strawberry, and the raisin bonnets. 

Oh well, there's just so many things to love here at Ka Tunying's Cafe - the food and drinks, the ambiance, even our selfies with the guy (Anthony) himself, who is very funny and accommodating - always obliging to selfie requests from customers. Pay this cafe a visit, folks, but be warned! Making a choice (among the drinks and breads) is tough. Haha! 

Happy eating!