CALDERON AND GUEVARRA (GOURMET CARINDERIA)

If it is not obvious enough, you could tell how the Chinese Dimpol and I are trying to be VERY "practical" in our date nights. Sure there will be occasional splurges here and there but most of the time, we are saving so that we could have staycations and trippings with the little lords.

That's why when we are faced with a restaurant that would give us bang for our buck, we would sometimes go on our knees and scream "Hallelujah" with so much passion and fury.

Okay fine. We won't really do THAT but we will DEFINITELY be thinking and feeling it.

HOWEVER, after our first bite of the dishes from CALDERON AND GUEVARRA (GOURMET CARINDERIA), we experienced a sort of epiphany: the restaurant may be in a very simple but busy area in Pasig that did not  have air conditioning, but the food was just GLORIOUS. We couldn't fathom how THIS was possible!!!

I was really stopping myself from shrieking, "YES!" like Meg Ryan did in "When Harry Met Sally". But really, you could actually get scrumptious food here that may rival the pricier and more popular establishments here in the Metro.

"WALANG HIMALA!!!!"

CALDERON AND GUEVARRA (GOURMET CARINDERIA) will DEFINITELY give you A WHOLE LOTTA BANG for your peso!!!!!

"HALLELUJAH!!!!!!!!"

Sorry. Food ALWAYS do that to me.

CALDERON AND GUEVARRA GOURMET KARINDERIA!

CALDERON AND GUEVARRA is located within the small streets of  Bagong Ilog at Pasig City. You might even wonder how a restaurant could survive in the area. But when you see the facade of the restaurant, you would suddenly feel that you got transported to someplace very familiar, AND homey!

 Please don't confuse it with CALDERON in Barrio Kapitolyo! They totally serve different types of cuisines!

CALDERON AND GUEVARRA is owned by Mr. JC Deada and Mr. Vincent Juanta. The latter brought to us the unpretentious KANTO and LIME 88.

Just in case you're wondering where the name CALDERON AND GUEVARRA came from, it is the last names of their beautiful significant others.

Isn't it great how they make the saying "Happy wife, happy life" on a totally different level???

ANYWAYS, I see how there is actually a trend here: like in KANTO and LIME 88 (restaurants that changed the game in simple dining), CALDERON AND GUEVARRA got the filipino style canteen set up (carinderia) but served gourmet quality Filipino favorites.

If KANTO served gourmet breakfast while LIME 88 made Filipino street food fashionable, CALDERON AND GUEVARRA cooked up Filipino comfort food in many different ways.   

Oooh! Open bar!

My KTG friends were stationed at the garden area of CALDERON AND GUEVARRA. Wow! I'm really liking the look and feel of this place even if there was no aircon!

Dining under the stars and warm lights.

Is it just me or is this place actually romantic?

Who would have thought that a "carinderia" could do that???

CALDERON AND GUEVARRA menu 1...

The names of their dishes are just hilarious!

Menu 2...

Menu 3...

First on the table was C AND G Carinderia Style Surf and Turf (P200.00)!

Crispy fried pork rinds matched with breaded tilapia strips! This may be an appetizer but I could see myself wolfing this all down with rice!

What made this starter more exciting was the condiments that went with it. The buro was insanely delicious!

I know that I shouldn't be having carbs but the CALDERON AND GUEVARRA Pandesal with Liver Pate (P80.00) was just too good to let up.

The liver pate was creamy, earthy and had the right rich flavors to it.

It certainly did not make me hesitate on grabbing two pandesals to wipe out.

If you're in the mood to go for something healthy, order the CALDERON AND GUEVARRA Caesar Salad with smoked bangus and chicharon (P130.00).

This veggie plate was nice and satisfying. The strips of bangus added a more intense flavor to it.

One of my strong favorites though is the CALDERON AND GUEVARRA Supreme Salad (P150.00) with grilled fatty pork strips on a bed of greens dressed with sweet/sour vinaigrette.

Again, I could ACTUALLY eat this with rice. Adding carbs would make this a complete meal! SO YUM.

If you plan to order some chicken in CALDERON AND GUEVARRA, you might be surprised with their ISANG BUONG MANOK (P300.00) because really, you get the full bird! From head to talons! He he he he he he he!

The chicken was perfectly roasted and I could see the glistening of juices from the pierced meat.

CALDERON AND GUEVARRA raised the stakes by pouring over a creamy mushroom gravy that had a light taste of tamarind to it. May sound weird but you have got to try and experience the blending of awesomeness.

Another favorite for me was the CALDERON AND GUEVARRA Sizzling Bulalo-Yo (P200.00) because seriously, who in her right mind wouldn't???

Chunks of uber tender beef topped with crispy chicharon and served in a sizzling skillet with gravy. This just SCREAMS rice and I would purposely forget that I'm trying to be carb-free for many days now.

When we asked Mr. Deada and Mr. Juanta what could be their best-seller in CALDERON AND GUEVARRA, they said that their Caldereta (P250.00) was a favorite among their diners.

They have the classic Caldereta that tasted so similar to the way your grandmother makes it: the sauce was rich and thick and was so perfect with the tender blocks of beef.

They also have the Barbecue style caldereta which may be different but so delightful. The taste of our favorite Caldereta was still there but add to that a more smokiness flavor to it. 

In any Filipino restaurant, I always search for the Pork Sisig (P150.00). In CALDERON AND GUEVARRA, I found not just one but 2 ways of serving my favorite.

At this point, I noticed that CALDERON AND GUEVARRA would showcase "tandems" in their dishes. This is because that as much as they want to serve something new to their diners, they respect how Filipino food is cooked the way our Moms do it. So to make everybody happy, they served most of their food in pairs. Sort of like the name connotes, CALDERON and GUEVARRA!

One spoonful of the Pork sisig and you'll be delirious with happiness. You'll find that there are no "extenders" or grounded meats here but chopped up pieces from a pig's face. Every bite is crisp, chewy, tasty, and just delicious! Again, this demands a cup of garlic rice! 

If rice isn't your thing, you could opt for the Sisig in Pita Pockets with creamy dressing. This may be veering away from our favorite but it was still a worthy option just the same.

What's Filipino food without Adobo right? At CALDERON AND GUEVARRA, their A-dob-U (P150.00) will give you two options to enjoy this classic!

The first was the one you probably grew up with, but it had a thick sauce and fried garlic chips. This was good but I personally found it a bit sweet. Still, this was SO phenomenal with my rice!

The next one is crispy Adobo strips that you eat with biscuits. I know how some people are always on the go and would eat whatever meat they have on biscuits. This would be great for them!

As for me, I'm lazy and staying put. So I'll be attacking this with rice!

If you feel that we have been engorging ourselves with too much meat, fear no more. We also loved the CALDERON AND GUEVARRA Tortang Talong Alalalong (P200.00).

We got the basic tortang talong that had a nice soy flavor to it highlighted further by the sweetness of the eggplant. It is matched (again) with an embutido style talong where the meat was grounded, stuffed, then fried to a crisp. 

Yummers!

I was really TRYING to control my carb intake that night but DANGNABBIT, the Tinola Rice (P40.00) is something that I should definitely reason the YOLO for!

We washed down all that delicious food with this refreshing and sweet Iced Tea (P50.00)!

Enjoying our food at CALDERON AND GUEVARRA!!!!!

We were all groaning happily with our bulging tummies but upon seeing the dessert, we just HAD to try it! According to Mr. Deada, all desserts could ONLY be found at CALDERON AND GUEVARRA!

My favorite among the selection was the Banana Bravo because it was luscious, sweet, and not cloying at all. The sliced bananas were not mushy and perfectly complemented with the graham crust and caramels.

The Chinese Dimpol raved over the CALDERON AND GUEVARRA Ube Cake (P150.00) and kept on helping himself to a forkful. To THINK that he's not a fan of cheesecake, at all. But this one he liked.

The Turon Banana Langka served with Vanilla Ice Cream was a winner too especially for the price (P60.00). The fried crust with sugar had a nice crispy bite into it and the banana chunks fried with diced jackfruit was a delightful hot filling! I cannot stop at just one serving!

I was not able to try the ice cream because THE CHINESE DIMPOL ATE ALL OF IT.

My least favorite among the desserts was the CALDERON AND GUEVARRA Keylime Mansi Pie (P150.00). I just found the sweetness too overpowering. But I'm sure, other sweet tooths might like it.

Mini-serving!

The most unique dessert that night would have to be the Chocolate Chicharon (P120.00). It may be weird at first but you'll fancy the rich fudge and the saltiness of the fried pork. Something to try out to be different when you go there.

CALDERON AND GUEVARRA isn't serving coffee yet but they were so kind enough to provide some for the night.

According to the owners, they wanted to keep the restaurant family friendly and "inuman-free".  They know that since their food is priced cheap, some patrons might  make it their "bar" hangout. To control this, Mr. Deada and Juanta priced their beers higher than usual so that diners could still have their drink but not make the establishment a "beerhouse".

A treat for us that night was the light and sweet "skrambol".

This just reminded me of my childhood where I wait by the gates for the "skrambol guy" to pass by.

I only stopped buying when somebody warned me they would usually use canal water.

NGIII I hope that's not true!

Oh well... At least I will be comforted at the thought that I could have clean skrambol whenever I'm in the Pasig area. He he he he he he!

Mr. Juanta, ABS CBN, Mr. Deada, ERICJAZ FOODIES, the MOMMIST, and THE HEFTY FOODIE!

We all had a great night at CALDERON AND GUEVARRA! The food was soooo good and something we REALLY want to come back for.

Thank you so much Mr. Deada and Mr. Juanta for having us!

WE WILL RETURN VERY SOON!

HALLELUJAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Just in case you also have a hard time with directions (like me), this is the C5 intersection. Turn left before the billboards (towards Bagong Ilog Talipapa) then turn right on the next corner where you'll head straight to see Calderon and Guevarra Gourmet Carinderia on the right side!

And yes, you should be below the flyover. DUH.

CALDERON AND GUEVARRA GOURMET CARINDERIA

14 Pvt. Aurellana St. 

Bagong Ilog, Pasig

632-7067958

CALDERON AND GUEVARRA FACEBOOK PAGE