Casa Roces

When my friends told me that we would be eating at Casa Roces, I was excited.  I never heard of Casa Roces and I knew it would be a great opportunity to try it out.  I’m excited to share another foodie experience with you, my friends!

I tried searching Google for Casa Roces and found out that it was located across the road from Malacanang Palace.  I rarely dine in Manila so that really got my attention.  I got even more excited as I browse through the different blogs that featured Casa Roces.  It seemed that Casa Roces serves Filipino and Spanish cuisine.

The place used to be a house but it was transformed into a full-service restaurant and cafe.  Good thing the owners decided to do this as we now have a good place to hang out and eat at Manila.

Casa Roces is great for family gatherings, barkada meet ups and even for dates!  The ambiance is just too cool.  It seemed that even though the house was transformed into a restaurant, the architect kept the structure.  They enhanced the look of the place but didn’t totally change it.

The ground floor serves as a coffee shop called Kape Chino.  It was there that we had dinner.  I wasn’t able to tour around but apparently, there was an outdoor wooden deck and an accessories shop.  Casa Roces also has a bistro, an art gallery and private rooms upstairs.  I wish I had asked the waiters for more information as I didn’t know all those things when we dined there.  Anyhow, I was there for my friends and I had a great time chatting with them while eating yummy food served at Kape Chino.

• Sopa Molo Castiliana (Php 185)

I’m honestly not a big fan of molo soup so I was a bit wary when our friend ordered us one bowl each.  With several other kinds of soup on the menu, I wondered why we all had to have the same thing. But once I got a taste of Casa Roces’ molo soup, I knew exactly why!  This garlic soup with pork dumplings, poached egg and parsley was perfect!  It was flavorful to say the least.  Hayyy, the first dish I tasted at Casa Roces was a success.  I’m quite sure this meal would be a nice one!

• Crispy Lengua Caesar Salad (Php 145)

This must be one of the best Caesar salads I have ever tasted!  Putting deep fried ox tongue in this dish made it that much more satisfying.  Some may not like the idea of ox tongue but I don’t care, for me it tasted delicious and that’s all that matters.

• Paella

We ordered paella because we weren’t aware that two of the dishes we ordered actually have rice hahaha!  We even ordered two paellas.  Nevertheless, it was delicious so no regrets there.

• Ox Tail Kare-Kare (Php 240)

An old time Filipino favorite, ox tail Kare-kare is another dish that no one should miss in Casa Roces/Kape Chino.  It’s braised ox tail in peanut sauce with vegetables and shrimp paste (bagoong) on the side.  I don’t usually like kare-kare but I enjoyed it mainly because the combination of bagoong and ox tail was good.

• Pinakbet with Vigan Bagnet (Php 195)

I noticed that Kape Chino likes to put crunchy pork on top of their dishes.  I guess it worked.  Well, I raved about the fried ox tongue in the caesar salad earlier, right?  Well, this time around, Kape Chino included crunchy pork in their pinakbet dish.

• Visayan Chicken Inasal (Php 245)

Casa Roces’ Visayan Chicken Inasal is basically a quarter chicken that was grilled in lemongrass sauce.  Annatto oil, an ingredient that was made from annatto seeds and several oils were added to bring out the color in the chicken inasal.  I guess this was needed to make the dish look more appealing.

• Grilled Pork Ribs (Php 235)

I wished we could have ordered fish because I was having meat overload!  Hahaha!  Even our salad had pork!  Anyway, I think I just took a small bite of this marinated pork belly.  If you and your friends opt to order individually, then this is a good option as the dish comes with one cup of plain rice.

• Salabat Soda (Php 100)

I enjoyed drinking this lemon lime soda asI found the ice cubes too cute!  The ice cubes were actually made of ginger!  Drinking the salabat soda made me feel like I had been transported back to when I was a kid.  I was too giddy and I kept playing with the ice cubes! hahaha!

• Crepe Suzette ala Mode (Php 265)

We were already full from our main courses but I requested my friends if we could just share a dessert or two.  I really want to share as much information to you through my blog.  So I didn’t mind eating more.  Besides, I was curious if Casa Roces serves good desserts.  The first dessert that was served was Crepe Suzette ala Mode.  It’s basically an orange-flavored crepe served with Vanilla Ice cream.

• Malacanang Frozen Souffle (Php 380)

The ultimate finale for my first visit to Kape Chino/Casa Roces was this dessert.  When I got to taste it, all I could say was, “delicious!”.  It was more than delicious because this well-loved dessert in Kape Chino had all the right ingredients in a successful dessert.  It had texture, good taste, the right amount of sweetness, it was crunchy, soft and creamy.  Most of all, it had that element of surprise.

Here’s the description from the menu for your reference: frozen lemon custard soufflé with chocolate flakes, pistachio nuts, and lemon lavender sauce.

Dinner at Casa Roces was very pleasant.  It felt like home because of the beautiful & unique ambiance and dishes that brought delight.  I actually thought that it would cost much.  Surprisingly, the prices of the food are reasonable.  Don’t forget to take pictures when you’re there.  The beautiful surroundings are not something you would want to miss having a remembrance of.

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Casa Roces
#1153 JP Laurel St. Cor Aguado St., 1005 San Miguel, Philippines
(02) 735-5896