Category Archives: Quezon City (QC)

ADARNA Food and Culture

By carloflorenzo on April 19, 2012 | Leave a comment

This article has moved to http://www.crispypataatkarekare.com/2012/04/19/adarna-food-and-culture/

Adarna Food and Culture: 119 Kalayaan Ave., Diliman, Quezon City
Contact: (02) 926-8712 / 0917-9618113

Culture and food combined. My visit was scrumptious and even hilarious. The food was great, but what I didn’t expect was the collection they had about our country’s past. Some are of grandeur, some weird and some, well, you have to see it for yourself and get a good laugh.

Selected traditional Filipino food from around the country, cooked the way they should be. That’s what Adarna Food and Culture boast. The owners are using this restaurant to help preserve culture and to give the customers an experience that can make them feel proud about being Filipino.

Traditionally served as an afternoon snack, the versatile vegetable roll through time has become an all-occasion Filipino mainstay. Four pieces. Price: P110

The Fried Vegetable Lumpia is a perfect appetizer, can even go with rice. It’s crispy on the outside. The vegetables inside are tasty, with a hint of sweetness from the squash. I just enjoyed eating this.

Torta Espesyal with quezo de bola and kesong puti. Price:P165

A wonderful surprise was the Torta Espesyal with quezo de bola and kesong puti. It’s omelette with cheese. It’s creamy and the cooked kesong puti was pleasantly chewy much like mozzarella. The distinct Filipino flavor lingers because of the kinds of cheese used. Chef Giney Villar says it was steamed on banana leaves and I think the leaves provided a subtle flavor that made me enjoy this even more.

Kean Lim, Beth Angsioco (owner), Chef Giney Villar, Carlo Lorenzo (me), Ben Rodriguez

Owner Beth Angsioco explains the mission they want to fulfill.

” We wanted to put up a restaurant that’s Filipino, to contribute to the resurfacing of Filipino pride. It disheartens me when people say Philippines has nothing to offer.

We are thought of by other Filipinos as less than other nationalities and I can’t accept that. I’ve been to a lot of places, ate a lot of good food in this country. It’s not just adobo and sinigang.”

First time guests are given a free tour of the place. Oh this was fun.

Industrial Flat Iron, uses charcoal

It’s heavy!

They had items preserved from decades back and from all over the country.

The industrial flat iron she showed was so big and heavy. She said charcoal then was placed inside it to iron clothes, sheets and blankets.

A very interesting sculpture she bought from Paete, Laguna was depicting a Filipino game which I could no longer remember. It was “Luksong Kalabaw” according to Beth where a kid has to jump over two more kids.

Luksong Kalabaw

Gloria Romero in a soda ad

Nestor De Villa and Nida Blanca in a soap ad

A lot of posters and print ads have been preserved and it was entertaining and amusing to see how celebrities looked like when they were young.

Carnival Queen

There are two function rooms. Beth showed us the “Silid ng Reyna” first. Photos of carnival queens were on the walls. Way, way back then, carnivals according to Beth was about big trade fairs and with beauty pageants for influential ladies coming from socialite families. The winner was crowned as the carnival queen.

Old Traditional Dress on display, guests can touch

There was a funny poster that said the largest cabaret in the world’s found in Manila. Beth said a cabaret then was a place for ballroom dancing. But what’s hilarious about the poster was the sign that said spaghetti was their specialty. Beth explained spaghetti then was something rare and new in Manila.