When we talk about Filipino food, we can all argue that there’s no place like home. Some of us take comfort in the delicious kare-kare our parents cook, or that tasty bagnet.
But, when you take that and put a historical and elegant twist to it, you’ve got Romulo Café. Romulo Café elevates Pinoy lutong bahay to a sophisticated dining experience.
Romulo Café: A History
Romulo Café is a tribute to Carlos P. Romulo, who was a Filipino soldier, journalist, and a diplomat who served 8 Philippine Presidents.
He was also a co-founder of the Boy Scout of the Philippines and the first President of the UN General Assembly. The Carlos P. Romulo heritage restaurant concept is refreshing and unique.
It is the brainchild of one of Carlos P. Romulo’s granddaughter, Sandie Romulo Squillantini.
Keeping to its historical roots, they pull out all the stops to make guests feel at home, but with a touch of grandeur, showing a glimpse of Philippine history through its museum-style interiors.
The elegant, black and white interiors balance the contemporary fixtures and accents, with dozens of framed photos around. Romulo Café serves Filipino food like Tito Greg’s Kare-Kare.
There are a lot of name dropping in the menu to acknowledge the source of the recipe. Further, most of the Filipino dishes are familiar, but are served with a pleasant twist.
Despite its name, Romulo Café is also a tribute to the General’s wife, Lola Virginia Llamas Romulo, whose legacy lives on through her timeless, delicious recipes. Old-fashioned and traditional are how the owners would describe their dishes; each one made out of passion and love.
Romulo Cafe Menu
Romulo Café offers traditional Filipino food from heirloom recipes. Romulo Café serves Filipino food like Tito Greg’s Kare-Kare. There are a lot of name dropping in the menu to acknowledge the source of the recipe. Further, most of the Filipino dishes are familiar, but are served with a pleasant twist.
Appetizers
Chicharon
Organic Chicharon
Pinoy Nachos
Kamote and taro chips drizzled with melting kesong puti
Beef Salpicao
Marinated beef sauteed with olive oil and garlic
Meatless Tortang Talong
Eggplant omelet cooked with minced tofu and onions
Crispy Crablets
Tiny crablets fried until golden brown and served with pinakurat vinegar
Fish and Squid Balls
Filipino street food with sweet dipping sauce or vinegar dip
Camaron Rebosado
Deep-fried buttered shrimp with chili–mayo dip
Chorizo Empanaditas
Empanaditas stuffed with Romulo Café’s homemade chorizo
Relleno Empanaditas
Empanaditas with our famous relleno stuffing
Crispy Squid
Deep-fried crispy squid with a chili-honey-garlic sauce
Lechon Sisig Wrap
Crispy lechon kawali bits in tortilla wrapper and served with hoisin and lechon sauce
Lechon Kawali Sisig
Chopped lechon kawali cooked as sisig with quail eggs
Bangus Sisig
Chopped bangus (milkfish) belly cooked and seasoned with salt, pepper, chili, and other spices and served with chicharon bits
Gambas
Baby shrimps sautéed in roasted garlic
Cheese and Vigan Longganisa Dumplings
Vigan longganisa and cheese in a lumpia wrapper
Tinapa Rolls
Shredded tinapa with red eggs and tomatoes in a lumpia wrapper
Chicharon Bulaklak
Served with spicy vinegar
Soup
Monggo Soup
Served with chicharon, dried hibi, malunggay, and ampalaya leaves
Molo Soup
Shrimp dumplings in a savory chicken broth
Sinigang na Salmon sa Miso
Salmon belly cooked in tamarind broth with fermented soybean paste, served with mustard greens
Sinigang na Liempo
Twice-cooked pork in tamarind broth
Sinigang na Sugpo
Fresh prawns cooked in tamarind broth
Beef Bulalo
Beef bone marrow, boiled until tender and served with corn
Sinigang na Bangus Belly in Ripe Guava
Fatty milkfish belly cooked in sour guava broth
Chicken
Lola Virginia’s Chicken Relleno (Half Chicken)
Roasted half chicken stuffed with ground pork, raisins, chorizo, and peas
The General’s Chicken (Whole Chicken)
Baked whole chicken rubbed with special herbs and garlic
Chicken-Pork Adobo Romulo-Style
Twice-cooked chicken and pork, with adobo sauce on the side
Adobong Manok sa Gata
Boneless chicken cooked adobo style with coconut milk
Bacolod Chicken
Grilled chicken with the Chef’s special inasal sauce
Chicken Inasal Sisig
Chicken sisig topped with deep-fried chicken skin
Pork
Boneless Crispy Pata Binagoongan
Deboned crispy pata served with eggplant-tomato bagoong sauce
Honey-Garlic Spareribs
Pork ribs marinated in our secret honey-garlic sauce
Mixed Bicol Express
Pork, squid, and shrimp cooked in coconut milk
Lechon Kawali
Crispy deep-fried roasted pork served with liver sauce
Crispy Pork Binagoongan
Crispy deep-fried pork cooked with tomatoes and bagoong
Beef
Beef Kaldereta with Keso de Bola
Chunks of beef sautéed in olive oil, garlic, onions, carrots, and potatoes, then slow-cooked in tomato sauce and sprinkled with keso de bola
Tito Greg’s Kare-Kare
Oxtail and tripe stew in a peanut-based sauce, served with steamed vegetables and our house bagoong
Bistek Tagalog
Sliced beef cooked with soy sauce and kalamansi, and served with caramelized onions
Lengua
Stewed ox tongue served with a special dipping sauce
Crispy Tadyang
Twice-cooked beef ribs served with a special dipping sauce
Seafood
Baby Pusit in Garlic
Baby squid sautéed in olive oil and garlic
Bangus Belly in Banana Leaves
Pan-fried bangus belly served with our special sisig sauce
Grilled Boneless Bangus
1 kg Bonuan Boneless Bangus grilled to perfection served with green mango relish & signature relish (20 mins. serving time)
Ginataang Hipon sa Kamias
Shrimp cooked in coconut milk and topped with kamias and latik
Flying Tilapia
Deep-fried tilapia with three sauces: chili-garlic, honey-bagoong, and soy vinegar
Seafood Kare-Kare
Crab, shrimp, squid, and mussels cooked in a peanut-based sauce, served with vegetables and house bagoong
Bangus Al Ajillo
Bangus belly with garlic sauce
Pinaputok na Tilapia
Baked tilapia stuffed with tomatoes and onions
Crispy Hito
Deep-fried catfish served with burong dalag
Grilled Squid
Squid stuffed with cheese, tomatoes, and onions, served with squid-ink rice
Vegetables
Ensaladang Pilipino
Okra, singkamas, talong, kangkong, kamatis, and manggang hilaw served with our house bagoong
Pakbet
Mixed vegetables sautéed in bagoong, topped with lechong kawali
Ginataang Sigarillas with Tinapa
Winged beans cooked in coconut milk and topped with smoked tinapa
Laing with Adobo Flakes
Taro leaves cooked in coconut milk and topped with adobo flakes
Lumpia Hubad
Steamed vegetables with two sauces (peanut sauce and garlic sauce)
Ginataang Kalabasa and Sitaw with Crablets
Pumpkin and string beans cooked in coconut milk and topped with crispy crablets
Gising-Gising
Baguio beans and ground pork in coconut milk
Fried Lumpiang Ubod
Fried heart-of-palm served with pinakurat vinegar
Noodles & Rice
Sotanghon Guisado
Glass noodles sautéed in annatto oil and topped with chicken bits, mushrooms, and shrimps
Pancit Puti
Bihon noodles cooked in olive oil and garlic chips, topped with shrimp, chicken, green onions, and hard-boiled eggs
Penne Carbonara with Vigan Longganisa
Rich creamy sauce with parmesan cheese, sprinkled with Vigan longganisa
Lola Felisa’s Crispy All-Vegetable Canton
Crispy canton topped with sautéed vegetables
Pandan Rice
Garlic Rice
Sisig Rice
Bagoong Rice
Adobo Rice
Vigan Longganisa Rice
Spicy-Tuyo Rice
Beverages
Softdrinks
Coke, Coke Light, Coke Zero, Sprite
Iced Tea
Cool as Cucumber
Fresh lime, fresh cucumber, and mint leaves
Sunshine Lemonade
Fresh lemonade and strawberry syrup
Stellina
Old Passion or Pink Lemonade
Sola Iced Tea
Apple, Raspberry, or Peach
Bottled Water
Perrier (330ml)
San Pellegrino
Calamansi
Dalandan
Lemonade
Orange
Cafe Americano
Cappuccino
Decaf
Single Espresso
Double Espresso
Latte
Tea
Desserts
Blueberry Cheese Cake
Chocolate Dome Cake
Chocnut Ice Cream
Halo-Halo
Leche Flan
Mango Tango
Mantecado Ice Cream
Mini Sansrival Cake
Salted Caramel Ice Cream
Strawberry Cheese Cake
Suman sa Latik
Turon with Mantecado Ice Cream
Romulo Cafe Function Room Rates
Looking for a venue for a birthday party, wedding reception, corporate party, or some other event?
Romulo Café is also one of the best places for your events! They provide private function rooms (both indoor and outdoor) in their Romulo Café Tomas Morato and Romulo Café Jupiter branches. They have function rooms that can accommodate intimate gatherings of 10 to a big celebration for as many as 100 people.
| Rooms | Capacity | Cost |
| Kapayapaan | 10 | Php 5,000 |
| Kaligayahan | 10 | Php 5,000 |
| Kasiyahan | 20 | Php 12,000 |
| Annex A | 20 | Php 12,000 |
| Annex B | 20 | Php 12,000 |
| Main | 40 | Php 30, 000 |
| Annex | 50 | Php 37,500 |
| Trinex | 80 | Php 60,000 |
*Good for 4 hours. Additional 10% service charge. 50% downpayment upon confirmation.
Buffet Menus
SET A
P750 per head+
Appetizer
Chicharon and Tinapa Rolls
(Choose 1 dish for each section below)
Soup
Molo or Monggo Soup
Noodles
Pancit Puti or Sotanghon Guisado
Beef
Tito Greg’s Kare-Kare or Beef Kaldereta with Keso de Bola
Chicken
Lola Virgina’s Chicken Relleno or General’s Chicken or Bacolod Chicken
Fish
Bangus Al Ajillo, Guinataan Hipon sa Kamias or Crispy Catfish
Vegetables
Bagnet Pakbet, Guinataan Sigarillas, Laing with Adobo Flakes or Gising-Gising
Pork
Lechon Kawali, Honey Garlic Spareribs or Crispy Pork Binagoongan
Dessert
Suman sa Latik
SET B
P850 per head+
Appetizer (Choose 3)
Pinoy Nachos, Cheese & Vigan Longanisa Dumplings, Crispy Crablets, Tinapa Rolls, Chicharon, Smoked Bangus Paté
(Choose 1 dish for each section below)
Soup
Molo Soup, Sinigang na Salmon sa Miso, Sinigang na Liempo or Beef Bulalo
Noodles
Pancit Puti, Sotanghon Guisado, Penne Carbonara with Vigan Longanisa, Linguini Puttanesca with Tuyo or Pasta Filipino
Beef
Tito Greg’s Kare-Kare, Beef Kaldereta with Keso de Bola, Mechado or Lengua
Chicken
Lola Virgina’s Chicken Relleno, General’s Chicken or Bacolod Chicken
Fish
Flying Tilapia, Bangus Al Ajillo, Guinataan Hipon sa Kamias or Crispy Catfish
Vegetables
Bagnet Pakbet, Guinataan Sigarillas, Laing with Adobo Flakes or Gising-Gising
Pork
Boneless Crispy Pata Binagoongan, Lechon Kawali, Honey Garlic Spareribs or Crispy Pork Binagoongan
Dessert
Suman sa Latik or Assorted Mini Cakes
Also Available
Cebu Lechon (small: P8,000, medium: P9,000, large: P10,000)
Lechon Roll (3 kg: P2,800+, 6 kg: P5,600+)*
*Please allow for three days’ preparation.
Inclusions
- Good for 4 hours
- Simple sound system
- Wireless microphone
- Projector screen
Corkage Fee
- Lechon, P1,000
- Wines, P300/bottle
- Hard drinks, P1,000/bottle
- Photo booth, P1,000/electricity charge
- Big sound system, P1,000/electricity charge
Romulo Café Branches
You can find Romulo Café at:
Romulo Café Quezon City
32 Dr. Scout Lazcano cor. Scout Tuazon Tomas Morato
8332.7273
(0927) 391.1938
Romulo Café Makati
148 Jupiter St.
Bel-Air Village
8478.6406
8691.9069
(0915) 561.1888
Romulo Café Alabang
Azumi Hotel
2205 Market St.
Muntinlupa
8556.1443
(0917) 182.6226
Romulo Café London
343 Kensington
High Street
London, W8 6NW
(020) 3141.6390
The Bottom Line
If you love traditional Filipino food, you should definitely check out Romulo Café! Romulo Café elevates Pinoy lutong bahay to a sophisticated dining experience.
