a bite of brownie

While we were waiting for the rain to stop,  we remembered that there was a newly opened branch of Kuya J's restaurant inside SM. Mom told us that we should scout the place in advance, because she was going to eat there with a friend in the nearest foreseeable future.

The restaurant, it seems, was located at the spot where Goldilocks was supposed to be a long time ago. It was renovated to fit several tables as well as a generous area for conferences and group meetings.

There weren't too too many patrons at 230 so in a sense we got the place to ourselves. The ambiance was above par, with neatly arranged shelves on the wall and several lighting fixtures located in several locations to brighten the place.

The staff were vey attentive; we kept getting refills on our water and rice whenever we were dangerously close to running out. Plus they were generous enough to give us additional shrimp paste (bagoong)
 after we've finished.

For starters, four of us shared a plate of local green mango and bittermelon salad. the ampalaya was somewhat bitter and the serving size was a little bit smaller than what I expected.

A small plate of chicharong bulaklak and a bowl of kinilaw na tanigue followed closely, both of which were prepared with their own unique interpretations of the dish. The chicharon was slightly sweet but very tasty. The kinilaw also had its own unique taste completely opposite of the usual sour tasting marinade it comes served with.

That kinilaw was somewhat sweet too, and not to mention it had black beans in it.

Again, the meal progressed further as soon as the arrival of the remainder of our requests arrived.

The baked scallops were deadly. It was literally oozing with butter, so much that it was dangerous for dieters like myself. x_x

I'd take the salad anytime, please, thank you.

Soon after that, the large serving bowl of steaming hot pochero arrived on our table. I was a bit disappointed that the meat inside seemed small.

It had this curious sweet taste, though.

Probably from the papaya used in the soup.

Next came the crispy pata, which was impressive, in my opinion. The restaurant was able to make the outside crispy while making sure that the meat inside was soft and tender.

It was easily the best order!

 Last but not the least, our order of sisig finally arrived, not too late, thankfully.

Curiously, their recipe of sisig also had a somewhat sweet taste. Don't get me wrong, I like it as well, but it seems different from the taste I've gotten used to.



Kuya J's
SM Center Cebu



Verdict:

A:  3.75/5

 The place was decent. They know how to attend to people. They are very polite, and the food was mostly enough. They need to work on serving size and portion control though.

very affordable though.