Enchanted Farm Cafe: I Can't Believe Veggies Can Be This Good!

When I first heard about Enchanted Farm Café, I was excited because I always like to try new restaurants but my excitement dissipated when I found out it was vegetarian. I have tried some vegetarian restaurants before that made me want to eat meat all the more. So I didn’t bother to check it out until I invited my friend out to lunch and Enchanted Farm was the nearest to her office. And with great reluctance, we went but ended up “enchanted.”

It was way past lunchtime and almost near merienda when we arrived so it was not surprising that only two booths were occupied including ours.

Although there were hardly any customers, the room did not seem lonely and bare with its serene Filipiniana interior décor. My friend was so impressed with how they made use of sinamay (natural fiber) as its wallpaper. She said sinamay is usually used as a covering or place mats.

While other cafes try to outdo one another as to who can look more urban and modern, Enchanted Farm is secure in its identity. It doesn’t try to be the most sophisticated but it doesn’t lack for taste either. Every element and item seems to have a purpose in helping achieve that contemporary Pinoy ambience.

Highlighting its Pinoy touch is their display of organic local products, mostly food.

Enchanted Farm’s theme is very appropriate for its social enterprise mission as stated in one of their flash cards that I saw lying around. Its website adds, “(t)he Café sources its raw materials from the GK Enchanted Farm and other social enterprises, transforming fresh produce into healthy and delicious meals….(It is) a platform to showcase the products of a new generation of social entrepreneurs…”

(Not crazy about its inconsistent use of its logo though…as well as how its logo looks, for that matter.)

Personally, I love browsing through local products as I am amazed at people's ingenuity of making do with what they have or what is available and come up with something new and different.

Anyway, my friend and I placed our orders. I was delighted to see that although they were vegetarian, they were not strict about it as they also had meat dishes.

I surprised myself by ordering burger that is 80% vegetables and 20% meat. Any parent out there who has children who are like me who refuse to eat their veggies, bring them here. Not only won’t they taste the vegetables, it doesn’t take like veggies at all! A bigger bonus here is that it actually tastes good especially the side dish. I have never been a fan of French fries and camote (sweet potato) but their camote fries with mayonnaise mixed with fermented shrimp paste (bagoong) has made me a convert. They were firm and not oily as well as very tasty that the burger almost became my side dish. I loved the sauce so much that I asked for extra to dip my burger with. Their purple ice tea (iced tea with lemongrass and camote tops) did not impress me however. As natural and organic their food was, their drink tasted as commercial as a ready-to-drink can get. It didn’t even taste good that I had to down a glass of water to get rid of the after-taste.

My friend ordered the pork adobo rice which I had a small sample as well if only to find out how it tastes and my, my, I am coming back for this! The pork cubes were tender and flavorful. My friend found it to be a bit salty but it was just right for me.

To our delight, we were given two cashew cookies for free. They looked more like biscuits though. They weren’t too sweet with just the right mix of cashews to counter the feeling of umay (satient).

But this is the best reason to return to Enchanted Farm: their sabanoffee pie. It is a pie made of cardava banana, chocolate toffee, graham crust toppings and whipped cream, all served in a plastic cup. (Hmmm…maybe they should reconsider the use of plastic?) I am not fond of cakes and pies but for this one, I am willing to make an exemption. I can just imagine how more delightful it will taste with vanilla ice cream….

On top of our order, I bought a bag of banana chips and another bag of cashew nuts for my father as pasalubong (gift). All in all, our bill was almost a thousand. Quite steep but it makes me feel good knowing that my money goes to helping other people continue to fish, instead of waiting for fish.

Image Source: Enchanted Farm Cafe

The Enchanted Farm Café is located at 2/F, 462 Commonwealth Ave, Quezon City. For more information, call 782-5778.

-The Paranoid Traveler

Enchanted Farm Cafe: I Can't Believe Veggies Can Be This Good!

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