A few days before the Valentine’s rush, my husband invited me for a date in Cafe Enye – a Spanish restaurant in Eastwood City.
WATCH: Cafe Enye Date Experience
The restaurant’s location is an interesting spot in Eastwood City. It is beside The Excelsior Eastwood and another old European style building. The street feels like being in a different country and helped set the mood for our romantic date.
Yellow dim lights, old Spanish style furniture, hanging photo frames, and Cafe Enye’s overall interior design create a cozy, relaxing, and romantic first impression. It was certainly unlike any mainstream restaurants that we go to. The ambiance is executed so well but at the same time, allows diners to interpret the space on a personal level – a fine Spanish restaurant to hold business meetings, a relaxing and quiet spot to enjoy afternoon drinks with friends, or like us, a romantic secret hideaway for couples.
Al fresco seating just in front of the iconic Cafe Enye red door is also available. In essence, there is a place for everyone – including a more private function room for groups.
For the two us, we chose this attractive spot just beside the coffee bar. It had a nice view of the barista making cups of coffee and people walking in and out of Cafe Enye’s red door.
Cafe Enye Food Review
Each dish arrived picture-perfect on our table. The food presentation is perfect for dating couples who want a romantic, picturesque dining experience. Food styling is a marriage of rustic and home-made elements but retains the functionality of food service.
Cafe Enye Menu & Prices
The following are the dishes we ordered together with the prices:
Bacalao Mantecado P245
Bacalao is a type of fish, thickened in cream and mashed potatoes. Topped with salted egg and crispy garlic.
Callos Buns P135 for 3 pcs
Freshly made soft buns filled with slow cooked callos
Callos ala Casa P440
Six hour slow-cooked stewed tripes
Steak Sofrito P575
Grilled Tenderloin Beef with Chimichurri and Sofrito Butter
Lechon Carbonara P250
Each dish was a different experience, I cannot emphasize enough how unique the quality and taste of Cafe Enye dishes are. Perhaps the closest way to describe the food quality, presentation, and taste is that it matches and perhaps even exceeds hotel restaurant standards.
If you have eaten in many restaurants, it is easy to compare and conclude that Cafe Enye is using quality ingredients and whoever is in charge of preparing the food knows how to use natural herbs & spices to bring out the flavors of the dish (and not heavily rely on seasonings which I feel is becoming a problem in mainstream restaurants and food courts).
I also appreciated how our dishes were generously made with olive oil aka the “healthy oil”, quality mushrooms that add chewy texture and variety, and pitted olives that lends natural hint of saltiness to our meals.
Of the dishes we ordered, I liked the comforting Lechon Carbonara the best – followed by the Pork Buns. We had our date in the afternoon and this must be the reason why I leaned towards merienda items most. Cafe Enye’s Lechon Carbonara is so tasty and unlike the usual, Cafe Enye’s version is not swimming in oil or creamy and very rich sauce. They prepare it the traditional Spanish way with egg yolk on top of the warm pasta. You must mix the yolk in and then enjoy this wonderful, comforting meal.
Cafe Enye’s Callos Buns have an enjoyable Spanish, Filipino, and Chinese flair. It is served warm in three’s and has the same Cafe Enye quality and surprising competitive price. It will remind you of the famous Pork Buns but this tastes better and without the long lines 😉
It was difficult which to eat first – my Lechon Carbonara or the pork bun. SO I ate them together and had a grand degustation experience. Before I forget, I also ordered the Cafe Americano to enjoy my meal with:
Have you tried enjoying Carbonara and coffee together? It’s one of my foodie quirks that some people find weird, until they try it.
Cafe Enye Desserts
Churros with Dulce de Leche Cream P170
Creme Catalan P185
My husband and I shared these desserts, of the two I liked the Churros the most. It is also my mother’s favorite and that’s another thing about Cafe Enye – it will remind you of your grandmother, mother, and other relatives and family legacy in one way or another.
I found the Churros very entertaining and interactive to eat with two choices of dipping sauce that are actually best together i.e. dip the churros in the dulce de leche cream followed by the chocolate sauce. I made sure that we leave some Churros to take away for my mom – she did enjoy eating her favorite.
What do you think? Happy dating Mommy & Daddy!
