What we ate at Habanero kitchen.bar

Without further a do … YES! The Habanero kitchen.bar is worth the hype! First saw this restaurant on Tiktok and finally had the chance to dine there with hubby for our 10th year wedding anniversary dinner, and boy did we have a great dining experience! You see, one of the things my husband and I bonds over is around good food. So! before I become too cheesy, let me share what this restaurant has to offer.

Located at Cubao Expo Quezon City, the restaurant is a two-story establishment. The first floor is an open area while the the second floor is air-conditioned. We got there Thursday afternoon so it was still hot. First we sat on the first floor, until I asked the server if we can dine on the second floor where he assisted us. Habanero kitchen.bar does not accept reservations. I heard that it is usually jam packed during weekends so schedule your visit on a weekdays.

The first dish served to us is the sizzling oyster sisig topped with raw egg and chives. The server advise us to mix it immediately to avoid the oysters from being burnt. This was soooooo good! The oysters were not fishy and in just the perfect size for a sisig. A squeeze of calamansi is all you need, no more soy sauce and extra chili because the flavour is perfect already. The sisig is great with rice, on top of the pizza or wrap inside the mustasa (mustard) leaves.

The Habanero Three-Cheese pizza is by the far the thinnest crust that I experienced on a pizza, imagine biting on a crispy thin cracker. There are layers of texture present, the crunchiness of the crust, the softness of the melted cheeses (mozzarella and grilled cheddar) and the gooeyness of the cubed quezo de bola on top.

Dip the pizza on the mango-chili sauce that comes with it and the taste becomes more appetising. Just like the oyster sisig we finished it completely. Also good to be eaten together with the oyster sisig. Yum yum yum!

Sous vide pork belly, fresh habanero chili peppers, special spices and you got the Lechon Habanero. Who wouldn’t drool upon seeing this dish. I mean, just look at those pork belly slices and the crispy skin. You can actually select what heat level you can tolerate, heat level 1 or 2. Ryan and I both love spicy dishes but just to be safe, we chose heat level 1. We can definitely choose level 2 next for more kick of spice.

The meat part was tender, juicy and tasty. From watching Tiktok videos, I thought that the belly slices are too thick but no, they are just bite sizes. Still, 1 kilo is such a big serving for two people alone, I think 3-4 people may share it together.

For that Korean samgyupsal feel but with a Pinoy style, you may add to your order the fermented rice with shrimp (buro) and mustasa (mustard) leaves as sides.

Pick a piece of the pork belly and lay it over the mustasa leaf, put the fermented rice and shrimp on top of the belly, close the leaf and eat it. Your mouth will be bursting with flavours of the slightly spicy pork, unique taste of the fermented rice and shrimp and crunchiness of the leaf.

Of course, you may also simply dip the pork belly on a classic pinoy “sawsawan”, a mix of soy sauce, vinegar, onions, tomatoes, cilantro and onion chives.

You might be wondering what the heck this dish is, balut ba yarn?! Lol! It’s actually a dessert. We personally call it “level-up” leche flan. O dba? who would have thought. A custard inside an edible egg shell surrounded by coffee-flavoured cotton candy, mimicking a nest, with edible greens and flower petals on top.

You literally have to crack the “egg shell” with a spoon to reveal the not overly sweet and creamy custard inside.We really had fun eating this unique dessert. Such a perfect treat to seal a wonderful meal.

We LOVE everything we tasted from this restaurant. There are still more to enjoy from their menu but as first-timers we opted for the best-sellers first and will surely come back for the rest. I mean why not, their dishes are all interesting and innovated.

The only dish that we weren’t able to finish was the Habanero Lechon because I kilo is a huge amount of serving for two. It would have been better if this dish will be available on a half a kilo serving. Of course you may take the leftovers home but you have to pack it yourself. Don’t worry though as the restaurant will provide you with containers and paper bag for free.

The servers were all nice and accommodating and the serving time is good.

Here is their updated menu for you. The restaurant also serves interesting cocktails.

Thank you Lord for the good food!