Shot First, Eat Later: A Taste of LA Cafe

The usual traffic woes when you're in Metro Manila would surely bore you to death. Imagine this: it's 8:30 in the evening, and you still haven't eaten your dinner and you find yourself in the middle of a worst Friday Night rush hour. From the City of Manila, we traveled north, specifically in Quezon City, where it took us one hour and 15 minutes to drive--too far from the usual 30 minutes without the annoying traffic.

But never mind because I found out later that we were in for a real treat.

Our group chose to dine in probably one of the best restaurants I've been to: A Taste of LA Cafe. Located specifically in Roces Avenue. cor. Tomas Morato, Quezon City, this restaurant boasts of mouth-watering menu that had left me in eternal craving.

My colleagues were right. This restaurant shares a resemblance with my hometown's Kamalig Restaurant but the only difference is that the latter is more classy. One would surely be amazed with its romantic ambiance but more than that, it's their food that would surely make one crave for more.

Operating since 1995, the A Taste of LA Cafe gained its stature as a world-class restaurant when it was declared the World's Best Restaurant in an international food conference held in Barcelona, Spain two years ago. This place has also became a favorite place for hangout among the country's brightest stars. The restaurant's manager who is a Tagumeño and an alumnus of the University of Mindanao told us their regular costumers include Kim Chui, Kris Aquino, Korina Sanchez, Chiz Escudero, Coco Martin and the late Rico Yan. After the Inaugural Concert held in the Quezon City Circle during his swearing-in as the President of the Philippines, President Aquino went to this restaurant to eat, especially his favorite in the restaurant: the barbecued US baby back ribs.

When we were there, some of the stars we spotted were Gerald Anderson and Dingdong Dantes. Senator TG Guingona was also there when we dined.

In a scale of 10 as the highest, I should give their barbecued US baby back ribs, the asian salad, the oxtail karekare and the old-fashioned bibingka a rate of 11. The dining experience was really great but their best-tasting food is truly the restaurant's jewel.

If there's one lesson I had re-learned from this experience, it's that patience, indeed, is a real virtue. The moment I disembarked from the car after that traffic-infested trip to Quezon City, I knew then I was in for a real treat. And it was, it really was.

Louie.