Café Andessa — home-cooked goodness!

Café Andessa — a quiet, out-of-the-way little restaurant that’s perfect for sharing a good meal with friends, close business associates, family. It’s pretty far from the Davao downtown area, but the place and the food are worth taking the trip for.

At first glance, the restaurant’s design looks like a mountain cabin, what with all the wood beams and old-style shelves containing bric-a-bracs. But after you’ve settled in, you’ll feel the warmth and homeyness of the place. The setting is very cozy — it’s very easy to relax in Café Andessa’s unperturbed ambience.

With my resto-hopping pals last night, we treated a couple of British vacationers to good Filipino cuisine the other night. Western dishes are also served at Andessa, of course, but they excel in their Filipino offerings.

I had the Tokwa’t Baboy, a serving of Laing, and Bagoong Rice. My main course was cooked just the way I like it: not too salty and just a bit sour and with lots of garlic! I like the way they cook the tofu in this dish — crunchy. The pork, though, had more fat than I bear, which was just a little bothersome for me. (As what others might say, that’s where the flavor is!) Next time, I’ll make sure to ask the cook to remove the excess fat.

The Laing was good, too. For me, Lachi’s has a better recipe for this dish; although, I like the way Andessa’s is really spicy. The problem, I think, is that it’s a tad too creamy for my taste. Too much coconut milk maybe. Still, I’m not sorry I ordered it. Laing goes so well with meat dishes, don’t you think?

The Bagoong Rice was perfect! Very tasty, but not too salty and not oily — great for those who easily feel guilty about cholesterol intake.

Ryan, one of our Brit friends, stuck to Western fare: ribs. I wasn’t able to sample it, but he said he enjoyed it. Our other friend, Saad, had the Chicken Andessa, which is a plate of chicken leg and thigh, or breast and wing, and rice. I had a taste of it, and I must say, the sauce is something else.

Other dishes that we had were Lechon Kawali, Hot Chicken Wings and Chicken Adobo. Very not bad at all, all of them. You could tell that the Lechon Kawali was boiled and deep-fried just right, and the special vinegar dip was fantastic! The deep-fried chicken wings are glazed, but they’re thankfully not too sweet. It’s ideal as a side dish or as a heavy snack.

The Chicken Adobo is prepared Tagalog-style: dry and devoid of the spices found in Bisaya-style adobo. It’s healthier, I guess, but less tasty than the adobo I’m used to. Still, no complaints on this one.

The first time I was at Café Andessa (with blogger-friends, Andrew & Ria), it was only for dessert. And it was a very pleasurable gastronomic experience for me! So of course, this time, I had to have their desserts again. If it weren’t such a heavy meal I’d had, there would’ve been room for more dessert…

I had the Tikoy Turon, a plate of fried rolls (aka lumpia) of tikoy, that ultimate Chinese delicacy, and ube (sweet yam). It was just the ending to a perfect meal I was hankering for. This dessert also comes in other “flavors” other than ube: jackfruit and peanuts.

We also had the Kalingking, a serving of glazed kamote (sweet potato) fries with a black, sweetish dip. They have other Filipino desserts, and all of them are highly recommended, especially the Binutong (which is served with hot native chocolate)and the Bico and Bukayo.

Café Andessa
#2 Carpio Subdivision, Cabantian Road
Buhangin, Davao City
Tel. (82)302-9314
Operating hours: Monday to Sunday, 10am to 10pm

To get there by private car from Bajada, take the overpass to Buhangin (right turn after Davao Light and Villa Margarita Hotel). Go straight and through the intersection of Buhangin Road and the large diversion road, and turn right on the second road (where you’ll see a Mercury drug store on the corner). The restaurant is just a few meters after that.