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Brief Background

Kuya J is a restaurant chain serving Filipino cuisine. Kuya J has come a long way from being just a hole-in-the-wall eatery in 2005. The Cebuano CEO Winglip Chang has made a name for the restaurant with the prominent local celebrity endorser Jericho Rosales, who is teased to be the "J" with the Kuya- a Filipino term for older male sibling. I've been seeing more and more branches pop-up, but have not had a chance to try until last Thursday when we did a little excursion down the mall and decided to have lunch there.

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Ambiance

The interior is pleasantly designed, setting the mood for a wonderful meal. In this tiny island of Luzon, space is precious and most often you'd be wondering where the concept of personal space went. No need to worry about that here in Kuya J's, as the tables are spaced just right. If you love to organize, you'd love it here as the tables are arranged in harmony. Wall decor and lighting adds to the 'homey' feel of the place, with the walls adorned with wood shelves that holds books and some toys. Raphael even wanted to buy one of the toy trucks on display! Everything was squeaky-clean, including the restroom.

I said- 'Sit up properly for a photo'. And he does this.

Walls Wonderfully Adorned

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Pricing

Relatively affordable, the prices are not too bad. It's only a little over you usually fast-food meal budget. What's great about the menu is they have the group meal packages, and we availed on of this. The food bundle includes: Kare-Kare, Liempo, Roast Chicken, Adobong KangKong and four cups of steeming rice- all these at the price of Php 1,200, only about $24! We did get Halo-Halo for dessert, too. This for me is a bit priced higher, each bowl at Php 109, a little over $2.

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Food

Now, off to the most important piece- the food!!! These are the dishes we got to sample. For the ratings, I would be using TEASPOON for needs improvement, TABLESPOON for acceptable and SERVING SPOON for exceptionally-tasting dishes. Notable to mention that all the dishes that went out their kitchen was presented beautifully!

Kare-Kare - Take out your Serving Spoon!

Kare Kare is an ox tail, tripe, and pork leg Filipino stew in peanut sauce, accompanied by shrimp-paste, locally called Bagoong, on the side. Theirs was cooked just right. The meat is tender as should be, at the same time the vegetables are not overcooked. If you have tried cooking this dish, you'd understand that it is quite easy to get the veggies soggy and overdone. The sauce is at the right consistency, not too thick nor too runny. All this, including proper seasoning, made the dish a stand-out!

Kare-Kare

Adobong Kangkong - Take out your Serving Spoon!

Kangkong is water spinach, and for this dish it is sauteed in oil, garlic and onion, then stewed in vinegar and soysauce. Theirs is served easy to eat, as the vegetable is chopped small.
I gave this a thumbs-up as they are able to keep the Kangkong crunchy. It is wonderfully flavored too, not too salty nor too sour.

Adobong Kangkong

Lechon Kawali - Take out your Table Spoon!

Lechon Kawali, or pan-roast pork, is cooked by first tenderizing the meat (usually pork-belly) by boiling in spiced water, then later deep frying. Kuya J's version is a must-try, the exterior is crisp, while the inside is tender. I didn't need a dip to go with it, the dish was marvelous as it is. I'm giving it a tablespoon rating though because of the serving size.

Lechon Kawali

Roast Chicken - Take out your Serving Spoon!

The skin is tout, the flesh moist and juicy, and is seasoned just right. The herbs and spices are not overpowering, even Raphael who is picky with his food loved it. It was a plus seeing the staff carve the chicken in front of us, quite entertaining to see!

A little touch of showmanship

My final plate looked like this!

Halo-Halo - Take out your Table Spoon!

Of course we needed to have dessert. And what better dessert to have than Halo halo, which is probably one of the most loved dessert in the Philippines. It is has many various ingredients- sweetened and tender legumes, rootcrops and fruits, leche flan, haleyang ube, pinipig all mixed together, along with shaved ice, evaporated milk and ice cream on top. Was surprised at the huge serving of Kuya J's halo-halo, but I find that it is mostly locally-made ice cream in coconut milk, and it has very few of the anticipated mix. Still delish, just not what was expected.

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Service

I would give a five-star rating as far as their service goes, the staff are courteous and helpful, from the lady who greeted us to the door, to the gentleman who served our table, and even the one who waved us goodbye. It wasn't too busy when we had our meal there, being a weekday and all, but I do hope they provide consistent exceptional service and I'm sure Kuya J restaurant will gain even more popularity.

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This first experience was a good one, I'd say a 4 of 5 rating, and Kuya J is definitely a place I'd come back to.

Raphael and the Titas

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Steeming happily ever after,

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