FOOD REVIEW: Kanin Club

If there is anything you need to know about me, it’s that I love rice. Let me say that again, I love rice! I love white rice, red rice, brown rice. I love all kinds of rice.

I also have to admit, I’ve known about this restaurant for years but I never really made the time to try their food. So when my friends and I were driving home from Tagaytay one morning and had to stop for lunch, I just had to ask if we could possibly try it out. Yipee, they did.

RESTAURANT:  Kanin Club, Paseo de Santa Rosa Branch

FOOD:Obviously, the menu read classic Filipino dishes like binagoongan and kare-kare and they do cook it pretty well.  And them being Kanin Club, they had rice specialties. Case in point is the sinigang rice. Nope, it’s not rice floating in sinigang broth but more fried rice, sinigang flavor.  Boy, it was yum.  

You see, in my opinion, serving Filipino dishes is one of the trickiest or most dangerous thing a restaurant can do. The thing is everyone knows how a dish should taste. (More often than not, they should taste like the way their mothers cooked it.) And so if the food doesn’t taste even passably good, the doors of that restaurant will be closing pretty soon.  

SERVICE:  We came in during lunch so it was a bit understandable if the guys in the kitchen were a bit slow on delivering us our order. So it was a bit of a surprise that the food came relatively quick. Nice job, you guys! The wait staff were really nice even when I kept asking for service water refills and they always refilled my glass with a smile.

ATMOSPHERE:I liked it that the interiors looked pretty much Filipino colonial which set the stage for the Filipino dishes.The interiors featured details like colored glass panels, capiz sliding windows, barandillas, and machuka tiles on the floor. Lovely.  Outside the restaurant, at the waiting area, were two rocking chairs. I found that as a toughtful and charming touch.  

PRICE: The prices were reasonable especially since the serving portions were for a group. Pesos well spent, in my opinion.

As it turns out, Kanin club is a place after my own heart – Filipino cuisine, yummy rice, and nice decor. From what I experienced during our visit, I want to join this club! Where do I sign?

Please wait to be seated.

Batibot chairs for seats at the al fresco dining area.

The service counter gets a splash of pretty with the addition of barandillas.

The colored glass panels, capiz windows, and wood furniture make the restaurant warm and cozy. 

Panels of banig were surprisingly placed on the ceiling rather on the floor. 

Machuka tiles serve as accents on the predominantly wooden floor.

Here's our yummy lunch spread. 

The Sinigang Rice seems like a tower with all those crispy veggies piled on top.