Kartilya - Taguig

The family decided to have dinner on a Saturday evening with a balikbayan guest at Kartilya in Bonifacio High Street. Five of us came from Quezon City and two came from Ortigas. We arrived at 6:00 p.m. and found the restaurant to be empty. However, after an hour, many millennials started to arrive in groups of 5 or 10, filling up the long tables and showcasing the restaurant's growing popularity. The menu offered unique entrees such as beef kaldereta on corn tortilla, chicken inasal, seaweed salad, dirty rice, Pampanga sisig, and our favorite, the traditional kare-kare. It took us about 30 minutes to order as four of our initial choices were out of stock. Despite that, we had a satisfying meal and finished off with bibingka topped with an amazing white sauce.

Located along 7th Avenue, at Two Parkade, this restaurant may be easy to miss if you're not paying attention. The dimly lit establishment with dark-colored facade offers surprisingly affordable Filipino cuisine. The menu includes unique dishes like laing cheese pimiento crostini, corned beef kansi, salted egg fried tofu, aligue palabok, and quezo de bola bibingka soufflé. The portion sizes are just right and the cozy atmosphere makes for a pleasant dining experience, although the lighting may not be ideal for selfies. Be prepared for a wait between ordering and receiving your meal, especially for meat dishes that can take 20-30 minutes. The waiter that helped us was friendly, polite, and helpful, leaving us satisfied and looking forward to returning again soon.