Daddy's Birthday Dinner at Anix's House of Kare-kare

Happy birthday Daddy!!! May God bless you with more love, happiness, wealth, and good health! We love you!!! ♥♥♥

It was daddy's birthday last October 30. On the eve of his birthday, we gave him our gifts and his birthday cake.

Daddy with his gifts and birthday cake :)

Chocolate Fudge Cake from Cherish Bakeshop

Jaoey's gifts for daddy

Chocolate Fudge Cake from Cherish Bakeshop

Gia went home on the 30th and bought daddy this cake. :)

Dulce de Leche cake from Red Ribbon

Since daddy can't cook because he had to go to work on his birthday, I just cooked some spaghetti for merienda and we just had a simple dinner at Anix's House of Kare-kare.

We've been passing by this restaurant along Sumulong Highway and more often than not, the place is packed. We were lucky enough to finally got to try to dine here for the first time during my daddy's birthday. The waiting staff of the restaurant were attentive and very nice. They greeted us when we arrived and ushered us to our seats. Here are some photos of us while waiting for our orders.

Jaoey, Mommy, Gia, and Daddy

The place is actually a house converted into a restaurant. They have two dining areas, one inside the air-conditioned house and another outside the house where you can enjoy the cool breeze of Antipolo.

Gia and Mommy

Mommy, Gia, and Daddy

I didn't get to take photos of the place but it's clean and well-lighted. We specifically liked the lights which were made of a square wooden (or was it plastic?) plate on top of colored glass bottles.

Gia and I

Tito Deo, Chino, and I

Mommy and daddy took charge of placing the orders which arrived shortly after. Since my mom is a kare-kare lover, I already knew that there will be one in our table. And of course, dining at Anix's House of Kare-kare won't be complete without trying their kare-kare.

We had two orders of kare-kare, the classic one with ox tail and tripe, and another with all the meat. Unlike other kare-kare dishes which kinda taste sweet because of processed peanut butter or instant kare-kare mix, Anix's was made, just like how my dad does his kare-kare, using freshly ground peanuts and ground rice for the soup/sauce.

Kare-kare

The sauce had the right consistency and you can taste the saltiness and slight sweetness of the freshly ground peanuts. The meat, ox tripe, and tail were very tender and the vegetables were cooked just right.

Kare-kare

And did I say that their alamang was so good? Its sweet, salty, and spicy flavors made the kare-kare more delectable.

Shrimp Paste (Alamang)

Mommy also got two orders of their fresh lumpia. Since my condition doesn't allow me to eat certain foods, mommy got one fresh lumpia for me and the other one for sharing haha! The lumpia with fresh ubod, lettuce, carrots, and ground pork in a soft egg wrapper was cooked well. The filling had the right amount of saltiness and spices. The sweet and sour sauce, chopped garlic, and ground nuts even made the lumpia tastier! :)

Fresh Lumpiang Ubod

Gia requested for calamares and so we got an order of it. The serving wasn't that generous, for more than Php 200 per serving, their calamares is definitely pricey. The dish was too oily and the batter tasted bland. The dip that came with it, which I think was made from banana catsup with water, didn't also help. The squid was tender though.

Calamares

Since fried pork and chicken are Jaoey's favorites, my mom also got an order each of the Lechon Kawali and Fried Chicken. As simple as they may look, these two, aside from the kare-kare, were definitely a hit!

The thin pork slices were fried to perfection giving that crispy skin yet leaving the meat still tender and juicy. The chunk that was served to us had more fat than meat, which Jaoey definitely loved!

Lechon Kawali

The fried chicken was equally delicious. The skin was also crispy and the meat was tender and juicy. The thickly sliced potato fries that came with the chicken were also delectable. The sauce was again made I think from banana castup with water, but you may do away with it because the chicken was delicious as is. It had the right amount of saltiness and that buttery taste was just perfect.

Fried Chicken

Their buko shake was just so-so. I had a sip of it and I think there was more milk than coconut in it.

Buko Shake

The blueberry torte was good. The layers of crushed grahams plus halo-halo flavored ice cream topped with blueberries were heaven on our palates. I would have wanted to finish the whole cup but I just had a spoonful of it because of my sore throat.

Blueberry Torte

Overall, daddy's birthday dinner turned out well. The food was good, servings were generous (except for the calamares), and they were reasonably priced (I forgot to take note of the prices but we paid around Php 3000 for our dinner plus some rounds of drinks). The place was okay and the service was commendable.