By now, my girlfriend and I are convinced that the Cainta-Taytay stretch is full of places worth eating at that we do not know about. They are not hidden. We just have not found them yet.
So one weekend, we opened Google Maps and mapped out the Cainta-Taytay area. Cafe 0110 came up along Rizal Avenue, the same road as Saigon Kitchen + Cà Phê. We liked the name and decided to go without looking at what they were serving. Which is how we walked into a Japanese kitchen in Taytay without knowing it was one.
Walking Into Cafe 0110
The first thing you see is a wooden sign that reads 0110 Kitchen + Cafe, lit by a single spotlight above the pedestrian gate. Past it, the light comes from hanging bulbs, warm and low and enough to see by. The inside stays half out of view from the road.
We walked in and found a house.
The yard is wide, with a big gate on the right that sits open for cars and motorbikes. Past those, plants grow along the perimeter wall. The left side, where we sat, is divided off by a metal railing, with tables spaced out with small electric fans available for each who’d want to use them. Behind all of it is the bungalow itself, big windows caged in metal railing. It still has the bones of somewhere elegant that has been lived in for a long time.
There is a stained-glass art of a woman playing what looks like a violin. The whole setup is al fresco.
What We Ordered
The staff greeted us on the way in and handed over the menu, which is where we found out the food is mostly Japanese. Ramen, maki, rice bowls, a few pasta dishes on the side. We took our time with it and settled on the Tantanmen, Mango Kani Salad, Crunchy Spicy Maguro, and a Blue Pea Lemonade in a carafe. Payment happens at the counter afterwards, so you order at the table and settle up at the cashier before the food comes out.
A small plate of kropek came out of the house right after we ordered. The food takes fifteen to twenty minutes, and starting on kropek makes that easier to sit through.
We spent that time looking around and taking photos. This is the kind of place we like. Green plants around us, warm light overhead, and enough space where you can actually breathe. The traffic is loud enough to notice, though sitting outside, you expect it, and it never got in the way of the night.
Everything Arrived Bigger Than We Expected
Nobody warned us about the portions. The ramen came in a bowl big enough for two, and we had ordered one each. The Mango Kani Salad was sized for a table of four. We had ordered it as an appetizer.
My girlfriend put the salad on my plate first. The greens looked like they had come out of the garden, the mango cut bright yellow, everything tossed together in a way that made the bowl look fun, and we wanted to dig in right away.
She ordered the Blue Pea Lemonade, which I had never tried. It was bright blue, which made me curious to try. It tasted light and cool, the right thing to be drinking in that summer heat.
The Tantanmen was creamy, and the first spoonful made us hungrier. The spice sat where we like it, warm through the whole bowl without taking over. The Crunchy Spicy Maguro earned its name, a full mouthful with actual crunch to it.
Somewhere between the maki and the last of the ramen, we agreed that Cafe 0110 had become one of our favorite places to eat.
We were too full to finish. The salad and most of the maguro came home with us.
The Cainta to Taytay Stretch Keeps Delivering
Since we started eating our way around Cainta and Taytay, nothing has surprised us like Cafe 0110. The bungalow, the plants, the open air, and then Japanese food we did not see coming.
The area has not disappointed us once. First it was Elysian Cafe & Arts in Cainta, then Saigon Kitchen a few doors down Rizal Avenue, and now this. That is the part we keep coming back to: all of it sitting along roads we already pass once in a while.
