{"id":444,"date":"2013-04-28T09:59:59","date_gmt":"2013-04-28T09:59:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/?p=444"},"modified":"2013-04-28T10:21:03","modified_gmt":"2013-04-28T10:21:03","slug":"kaffir-restaurant-deli-sea-street-food-with-twists","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/kaffir-restaurant-deli-sea-street-food-with-twists\/","title":{"rendered":"Kaffir Restaurant & Deli: SEA street food with twists"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>I was in Bengalore in India when I was warned not to eat anything with milk as prepared by the street food vendors. Apparently, though I see a LOT of Indians buying stuff from these vendors who prepared what, for me, looked yummy what-have-you\u2019s, \u201cyour tummy may not be on a par with the tummy of the locals,\u201d my guide warned me. \u201cSo promise me, please: Don\u2019t.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

I promised.<\/p>\n

And it\u2019s one promise I somehow regret making.<\/p>\n

Why?<\/p>\n

Because when visiting places (particularly other countries), the best locations to savor these places\u2019 best offerings are often from street vendors. The Pad Thai<\/em> of Bangkok\u2019s Silom Street is much, MUCH better than any hotel\u2019s (a lot more expensive) version. The 24-hour hawkers of Singapore offer \u2013 for me \u2013 the best laksa<\/em> noodle soup. And don\u2019t even get me started on the coffee served by the vendors of Ho Chi Minh\u2026<\/p>\n

These are the same offerings that Kaffir Restaurant & Deli intend to serve, as it whips up \u201cauthentic\u201d Southeast Asian (SEA) cuisines (mainly from Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam) supposed to remind diners of SEA’s \u201cultimate street food at prices that are easy on the pocket\u201d.<\/p>\n

And yes, they have meat-less variants.<\/p>\n

The place is somewhat small \u2013 there are less than 10 tables in the entire resto that could only seat, say, less than 30 pax. I\u2019m fine with this, since it gives the place a \u201cwe\u2019re-all-friends-here\u201d ambiance. But be warned that exactly because it\u2019s THAT small, when the chefs cook, you may end up smelling like one of the recipes they include in their recipes.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>As for the food, start with the Goi Cuon<\/em> (Vietnamese Summer Roll, which is fresh salad roll consisting of herbs, rice vermicelli and other ingredients wrapped in Vietnamese rice paper; P100 for the vegetarian version, P140 for the variant with pork or prawn). It\u2019s somewhat refreshing \u2013 crunchy when bit and chewed, so you\u2019d know you have freshly prepared rolls. I have an issue with the dip used, though \u2013 ditto with the Cha Gio<\/em> (Vietnamese Spring Roll, which has ground meat, mushrooms, vermicelli and vegetables; from P150), since that satay-tasting sauce doesn\u2019t give these two justice.<\/p>\n

For something soupy, try Tom Kha Gai<\/em> (spicy yet tangy soup with coconut milk, tamaring, galangal, chicken and straw mushrooms; P150) or Tom Yum Goong<\/em> (hot and sour broth with lemon grass, galangal, kaffir lime leaves, chilis and lime juice, topped with prawns; P160). Or try their version of the Laksa Lemak<\/em> (rice and mee or egg noddles with coconut milk, chilis and spices, prawns, and fish cakes; P180) \u2013 quite pale\/bland when compared with Singapore\u2019s hawkers, but should (particularly if you ask those who prepare to add more coconut milk and chilis), good enough as go-between your next overseas trip to test the real deal.<\/p>\n

Else, just go straight to one of the main dishes. Their Pad Thai<\/em> (fried rice noodles with tofu, fish sauce, sugar, lime juice, tamarind pulp, chopped peanuts, and then topped with eggs; P99 for the vegetarian, and P150 with prawns) will not necessarily bring you back to Bangkok, but it\u2026 satisfies. Then there\u2019s the Khao Kluk Kapi<\/em> (fried rice cooked with Thai shrimp paste \u2013 akin to the Filipino Bagoong Rice<\/em> \u2013 a served with sweet pork, sour mango, scrambled eggs, chili and shallots; P160), with the flavors somewhat \u201csanitized\u201d, so that there isn\u2019t much after-taste when the meal is done.<\/p>\n

No, this isn\u2019t the best \u201ccheap\u201d\/affordable SEA diner alternative (though in these parts of Makati City, it actually is). But yes, it\u2019s worth a check for capturing the SEA penchant for whipping up something that could \u2013 and does \u2013 bring us all closer together. That\u2019s food that makes us\u2026 chow, chow, chow.<\/p>\n

At least here you can eat to your heart’s delight. And you don’t have to break any promise to do so.<\/p>\n

If keen to check out what Kaffir Restaurant & Deli has to offer, head to The Collective at 7274 Malugay Street, San Antonio Village, Makati City. <\/em>
\nFor more information, call (+63 2) 208 4343, or SMS\/call (+63) 9228960034 or (+63) 9228782296.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Try to drop by Kaffir Restaurant & Deli in Makati City, as it aims to whip up \u201cauthentic\u201d Southeast Asian cuisine supposed to remind diners of Southeast Asia\u2019s (SEA) \u201cultimate street food at prices that are easy on the pocket\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":449,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,8,3],"tags":[239,234,194,238,236,207,235,237],"class_list":["post-444","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-destinations","category-dining-out","category-spotlight","tag-indonesian-cuisine","tag-kaffir-restaurant-deli","tag-makati-city","tag-malaysian-cuisine","tag-southeast-asian-cuisine","tag-thai-cuisine","tag-the-coll","tag-vietnamese-cuisine"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/444","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=444"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/444\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":452,"href":"https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/444\/revisions\/452"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/449"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=444"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=444"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=444"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}