The WSFC16 15 Hour Frenzy Food Safari brought us to Chef Sau del Rosario's Cafe Fleur in Pampanga (2 hours by road north of Manila). We visited more than 10 eateries during the food safari and I personally felt this was the highlight.
Cafe Fleur was converted from a 2 storey bungalow. The decor inside reminds me of those hipster style coffee joints, but Cafe Fleur is really a sanctuary of Pampanga heritage food and incubator of future Pampanga classics.
Owner Chef Sau del Rosario is revered for his authourity in Pampanga culinary heritage and at the same time innovator of avant-garde Kapampanga dishes.
Ulang in Sinigang sa Bayabas (sour guava and prawn soup) with River Prawn. Ooooss and ahhhhsss rang out all around the cafe as everybody likes this appetising traditional Philippines dish. Slight savouriness in the prawn broth but unripe guava tipped it a bit on the too sourish side for my liking. Haven't acquired a taste for it, so not really my cup of tea at the moment ;-p
Rellenong Bangus or stuffed milkfish is a Pampanga classic. It's my first time tasting Rellenong Bangus and it is jaw dropping delicious. It's my favourite Filipino dish now (knocking off lechon and sisig ;-p ).
I enjoyed the interesting textures. Slightly crispy skin, tender and juicy white flesh, and jello soft belly fat. The fish tastes of layers from natural sweetness from the skin, flesh and belly fat.
I am not good at resisting crackly roast pork. The Filipino twist, known as lechon kare-kare, makes the temptation even more irresistible.
Chef Sau's Truffle Macadamia Kare-Kare sauce reminded me of satay sauce but finer, smoother, creamier, nuttier, cleaner tasting - sweet and nutty without the spices of satay sauce - oh so delicious.
The warm meat and fat was tender and ozzy with sweet porcine juice.
And, that oh so perfectly crackly, thin like gold leaf pork skin.
Roast Lamb Shank Caldereta is braised lamb shanks smothered in a rich sweet savoury tangy sauce with a mixed vegetable stew. This Philippines dish has it's roots in Spanish stew - everything on the plate was tender and soft, and saturated with homely farm flavours.
Pandan Sans Rival - First time tasting this sweet dessert and I love it. Alternating layers of soft chewy nutty sweet meringue and aromatic rich silky smooth pandan buttercream.
->> Any foodie trail of Pampanga would be incomplete without a stop at Chef Sau del Rosario's Cafe Fleur :-D Even my Filipino friends were surprised and delighted by Chef Sau's delicious twists on old Philippines classics.
Cafe Fleur was one of the highlights of the 15 Hour Food Frenzy Safari curated by Makansutra and OurAwesomePlanet in conjunction with WSFC16 World Street Food Congress 2016 in Manila (from 20 to 24 Apr 2016).
Cafe Fleur is right across Miranda street from Imerex Plaza Hotel.
Restaurant name: Cafe Fleur
Address: 463B Miranda St, Angeles, 2009 Pampanga, Philippines
GPS: 15.135282, 120.592468 / 15°08'07.0"N 120°35'32.9"E
Tel: +63 45 304 1301
Hours: 11:00 am to 10:00 pm (Closed on Monday)
Non Halal
Date: 20 Feb 2016
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