I found out about Adarna restaurant from my wife who found out about it from an old friend who was raving about Adarna to my wife who in turn was raving about it to me for the longest time ever. After I got back from Finland, we decided to try it out for ourselves as a sort of anniversary dinner. Finding the place is easy 'coz it's just along Kalayaan Road in Quezon City. And special thanks goes to Google... for you know... Google maps! If you're coming from Quezon City circle, you won't miss the Kalayaan road sign from there and when on Kalayaan, it will be just at your right side.
Adarna Restaurant was named after the mythical bird from the fabled Filipino story "Ibong Adarna". If you don't know it's story or even heard of the Ibong Adarna then shame on you! It's a classic and I urge you to read it. Go on... google it... I'll wait.
Upon arrival at Adarna resto... the first thing you will notice are the fighting cocks they kepp at the front... Not!!! Seriously, if the name hasn't tipped you off, the first thing you'll notice is that this is definitely a Filipino restaurant... the decor, the posters, the furniture... everything gives a sort of Filipino vibe with a splosh of spanish here and there. I really liked what they have done with the place! It really gives a comfy feel like you would when you're visiting your Lola in the province. And you definitely know that you're in for good food and a hearty meal.
The place itself, upon entering, you'll be greeted by a spacious lot with a humble fountain in the middle. The actual resto is divided into smoking and non-smoking areas. We picked the non-smoking section because it is airconditioned while the smoking area is not but it does have open windows that peer out onto the fountain. We got to our table and dove into the menu...
Adarna restaurant has a lot of specialties like their Pork Adobo and the Piassok which is a slow cooked beef in a special sauce! I wanted to order both by I heard from the table behind us that they were already out of the Pork Adobo... *sigh*.. I was looking forward to the adobo. So we ordered the Piassok, the seafood special, the adobong kangkong and the tofu rebusado. For the appetizers, I got us some sweet and spicy dilis and an order of vegetable spring rolls. To quench our thirst, the wifey ordered the Sago't Gulaman... as for me, I wanted to be adventurous so I tried the Felizidad drink which was a concoction of egg, milk, and rhum among other things... in short, I think it was eggnog. heheh.
The food came and I was so excited that I didn't care which was the appetizers and the main course! The Seafood Special was so good!!! The taste just melts in your mouth! I think their secret was the small chopped squid that I first mistaked for garbansos!
The sweet and spicy dilis was addicting and can be mixed with any dish we ordered!
The kangkong even came topped with dilis which made the kangkong first rate, if you ask me... I usually like kangkong topped wth lechon kawali, but this was definitely better!
The Tofu rebusado was amazing!! I am not a tofu lover but they mixed the tofu with the the egg and the tomatoes and other herbs so well that it just became one of my favorite dishes!!! mixed with the sweet and spicy dilis of course... ehehe. So far so good...
The last one I haven't tasted was the piassok... and as advertised... it was as soft as a baby's bum! Really, I could shred it without using a knife! Unfortunately, the Piassok was the only real dissapointment for me.... I had such high hopes but the taste was just... meh. Take away the softness, it was just plain ordinary.
Oooh... I almost forgot the spring rolls... it was okay and was a fitting appetizer which turned into dessert for me... :)
Overall, the food was great, the ambiance was great... we had a great time and a great dinner! I would recommend this restaurant to anyone I know... including you! Plus, I also plan to go back to sample the Adobo!! Hehe...
Talking about food always gets me hungry... so here's my stomach mumbling away... 'till next!
