Part of my holiday vacation last month is my niece's birthday. She is the last celebrant in our family and her birthday is actually my first day of vacation during Christmas. We had a dinner at a local cafe, Mon Cherie. The place is small yet very comfortable because of its nice and clean ambiance that is suitable for dining. My sister had a table reserved so it's convenient for us the moment we entered the cafe. The orders we had are group meals since we are a group of eight people. Here are the foods we ordered.
BAKED MACARONI
This baked macaroni was the first dish that we had. This is one of the two best sellers in the cafe. This is a very heavy snack that satisfies a big appetite. I love the way the melted cheese blends with tomato sauce. It gives off a balanced taste. It's very cheesy yet you won't get tired of its taste. This is a quality snack. The garlic bread tastes good too. The bread is soft while its crust is crispy yet easy to chew. It's not surprising why this is one of their best sellers.
NACHOS
This nachos is the next food they served. This is another festive and heavy snack. This nachos is served with cucumbers, tomatoes, corn, and a unique cheese dip that has a touch of tomato sauce. The cheese dip is so good. Its taste is similar to the sauce of baked macaroni and it has some beef and corn in it, which makes this dip unique. This is something fresh for nachos. It's not the typical salsa sauce, beef, cheese, and onion combination. It's also my first time having a corn for a nacho topping. It really goes well with nachos. The veggies give a balanced flavor to the cheese and corn. This nachos is good for 3 people due to its heavy serving. In fact, we had a few left for a take home. I had it for a snack the following day.
TWISTED FRIES
The food keeps on coming as they serve another side dish. I like how attractive this fries is. Cafes and restaurants here seldom serve twisted fries. Another unique thing is they served it with mayonnaise. We are used to fries that is served with ketchup but this one is something we don't experience that often. The best part is that this fries is so flavorful. It tastes like mojos and you can eat it without dip. It's crunchy outside yet soft inside, which goes well with its flavor.
CHICKEN BARBECUE
This is another heavy meal served with rice, cucumbers, and corn. This is the only rice meal they served us. Majority of our meals are pasta and meat. I was able to try a small amount. The chicken is so flavorful that you can eat it alone. It's juicy and the barbecue sauce is flavorful yet not overpowering. The rice, corn, and cucumbers give balance to its sweet and meaty flavor. The rice is good too. I love its soft texture. It was cooked the right way, not too sticky and not too dry. We didn't have this meal packed for take home since we have no leftovers for it.
SAUCY PORK RIBS
Aside from being the most saucy meal we had, this pork ribs is also a very heavy meal. This is served with two side dishes. They serve it with fries and mayonnaise dip. They added salad on it to put a balance and to give off a light taste. The salad consists of lettuce, almonds, raisins, mangoes, and strawberries. The strawberry is personally the one I like most in the salad because I miss eating it. I didn't have strawberries for years now since they only grow in cool places so they are rare in my hometown. It's so satisfying. The ribs has a lot of meat compared to the other ones we tried in other restaurants. I love that this is not too bony, and the meat is very tender and flavorful despite being thick. The sauce tastes like barbecue too but its sweetness and consistency is just right despite the large amount of it on the ribs. This is so good whether you eat it alone or with rice. The serving is big that one slice of it is good enough for one serving of rice.
REFRESHING MIXED BERRIES
This mixed berries is the one I tried for my drinks. I think they added a bit of soda on this one because it's carbonated. It tastes like a mixed berry flavored soda and it turned out nice. I love the fresh idea and this is the only carbonated mixed berry drink I tried so far. This drink includes strawberries, blueberries, and a piece of raspberry. What I like most in this drink is that all the fruits they used are fresh, which gives a rich flavor to the soda. All the berries they combined turned out well. This drink did a great job as I take breaks from each heavy meal I tried because its taste is light and refreshing.
MY NIECE'S BIRTHDAY CAKE
The good thing in this cafe is that they allow customers to bring their own birthday cake. The cake's flavor is called Indulgence. The name really suits the cake. You will definitely indulge especially if you're a chocolate lover. This is a moist cake with two layers of chocolate mousse filling, topped with chocolate bits. The amount of icing and its sweetness is just right while the cake is not dry. The texture of this cake is so good.
THE TENDER AND PEPPERY STEAK
Aside from the baked macaroni, this steak is one of the two best sellers of this cafe. Personally, this dish is the one I like most among all the foods we ordered. This steak is thick and it's medium rare cooked. It's also a heavy meal because its serving is good for 2-3 persons. This is served with salad and fries as side dishes. It's tender, juicy, and savory with its peppery flavor. This steak is full of flavor that you can eat it without its sauce but they still serve it with a smokey sauce that is close to barbecue flavor. You can have a balanced sweet and salty taste if you put its sauce and this gives variety to the taste of steak. All of us love it so much that we ordered three servings of it. This steak was indeed the star of the night when he had a dinner on my niece's birthday. I will definitely include this in my meal the next time we go back to Mon Cherie.
Mon Cherie may be a small cafe but you can conveniently dine there if you reserve a table. I hope they expand later on so they can accommodate more customers because their meals are beyond satisfying and filling. I'm sure a lot of people will love it. I highly recommend this cafe especially to those with huge appetite. The best sellers, baked macaroni and steak are the ones I recommend most in their meals. It's the ones you should never miss. If you live along Meycauayan Bulacan, this is one of the places you should definitely visit.