WEBVTT

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- When it comes to stews,
Filipinos are the ones

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who are good at it.
- Why is it noisy there?

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- [Martin] I'm doing my spiels
for my outdoor shoot.

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- Me too.

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Why are you doing it here?
Go to some other place.

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- [Martin] Who came here first?

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- I don't have a rebuttal
for that.

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Let's leave here.

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- Just kidding.
We love each other.

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(laughs)

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(grunts)

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There.

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(grunts)

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Go ahead.

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You don't have anything 
beside you. Just continue.

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You got anything for me?

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There's still some stuff
in this.

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So today we're going
around the metro

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to find out which kare-kare
is the best.

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In my opinion, anyway.

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All right. So today
we're going around the metro.

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Maybe we'll go 
to three establishments

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that serve kare-kare,

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but then different personalities.

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Like the first one
we're going to go to

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would be an establishment
that made it as far

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as London.

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Imagine, our stew 
has become international.

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The second one 
is homegrown.

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It's a small home business.

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The last one, they've been
around for a very long time.

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So yeah. I'm very excited.

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So we're going
to Romulo Cafe.

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Now it has three branches here
in the Philippines—

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QC, Alabang, and I think
in Makati.

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But did you know
that they also have

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a branch 
in Kensington High Street

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over at London?

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Classy!

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So Romulo Cafe actually
is run by third generation already.

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If I had to describe 
kare-kare to you,

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I'd say that 
it's a rich and creamy stew

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that has a very prominent
peanut flavor

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and that strong broth
that we used

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to tenderize,
our ox tails, our tripe,

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and whatever beef part
you put it into.

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And of course,
there's the steamed vegetables

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and bagoong,
'cause that really compliments

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the savory 
and peanuty flavor.

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And usually, kare-kare
is eaten with rice

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since it's already packed
with meat, veggies,

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and a thick soup.

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As you can see,
it's not as smooth

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as your usual kare-kare,
and that's

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because they actually grind
their own rice

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and that's what they use
as thickeners,

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which is what we use
traditionally anyway.

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And so at first,
I saw the prices on the menu,

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you'd think it's a bit much,
but then

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when they served the food,
it was packed with tripe

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and ox tail.

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This is what a family serving
really means.

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Standard beans, cabbage,
and eggplant.

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Wow.

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This is their bagoong.

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So let's taste it first
without bagoong.

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That's usually what I do
whenever I eat kare-kare outside.

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To be honest,
the fact that it's not smooth

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actually reminds me
of the more traditional kare-kare.

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Well, obviously my preference
is a smoother sauce

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or smoother soup.

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Some people would really
love this.

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I think it's time to move on
to another place

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that serves an heirloom
kare-kare recipe.

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This business was started
by two couples

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during the pandemic.

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And they are called
Iya's Kare-Kare.

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Let's go.

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Oh my, my back.

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We're on our way
to Iya's Kare-Kare.

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They are an online business,
but they're nice enough

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to let me in.

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- [Iya] It was April 2020,
my husband and I

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just kind of craved kare-kare.

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And then at that time,
I asked my grandmother

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to teach me how to cook it.

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- [Martin] So it's really
an heirloom recipe.

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- Yes.

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Then, I cooked one
and she said

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that it's good.

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I even posted in Facebook
without having any idea.

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My caption was like,
"It's my first time cooking it

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and it tasted good."

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So I posted it.

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We were living then
at a condo.

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At that time,
marketplace is common

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in condos.

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- [Martin] Oh, yeah.
The Viber groups.

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- [Iya] Exactly, right?

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So I offered it
without thinking

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of anything.

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I was surprised
that someone ordered.

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Never in my wildest dream
did I imagine

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that this would evolve
into something

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like up until now,
two years have passed...

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It's still small,
but now there's more people

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who knows this.

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- We're not saying
that we're already there.

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But hopefully one day
we can reach it.

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- Actually, this guy 
over here,

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he's one main critic
when it comes to kare-kare.

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That's automatic.

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When he says that it's good,
it's really good.

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For me, this is the perfect
tenderization of meat,

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when it still keeps its form.

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- [Iya] Chef, bagoong.

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- They also make the bagoong.

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How many times
do you have to make

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your bagoong,
since you make it by batch?

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- [Iya] Maybe I do it
once a week.

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Honest feedback, okay?

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- It's so worth it.

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(laughs)

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It's really good, man.

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That's without bagoong yet.

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- [Iya] Thank you!

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That's how I usually eat.
- You know what,

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I don't believe
that you've just started

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cooking in 2019.

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- Oh, you!

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(laughs)

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- But it's really true.

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There will be nothing left
for you, Julius.

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I'm sorry.

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It's so good.

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So you guys can order
from Iya's Kare-Kare.

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We'll just put that
in the description somewhere.

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It would be weird
if we mention

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any Facebook or number.

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So we'll do it later.

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So I'm not going to wait
until we get back

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to the office.

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This is really one
of the best kare-kare

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that I've had.

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Trust. Trust.

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Even though this is not bread,
trust me.

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It's beautiful.

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So we are here at our last stop.

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This space is called
Cafe Juanita.

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It's full of trinkets.
The place is very interesting.

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And you know,
this place is actually described

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by Time Magazine
as a place where the food

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is as close to home cooking
as it can get.

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And also, another thing,
it's proudly Filipino,

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naturally home cooked,
but made contemporary.

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I'm very excited
to try the kare-kare,

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especially since it was mentioned
to me that they have

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the main focus on the trinity,
where I also feel like

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it should also be the main focus
of all hospitality business

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which is service, food,
and the ambiance.

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Wow, it's so soft.

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It's so tender.

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Of course, we have
different favorites,

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but of course,
it's perfect when there's

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a balance of vegetables,
ox tail, tripe. Right?

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And of course, this bagoong.

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And what's great 
with their bagoong here

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is that, like the others
we've went to today,

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they actually process it
themselves.

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They cook it here,
they get the raw materials,

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and have their own formulation
or like own recipe for it.

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Let's taste it as is.

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This is how tender it is.

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Now this is what 
you call fork tender.

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It didn't separate 
into pieces,

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its mass or shape
is still intact.

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But you can use
the back of a spoon

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or even just your fork.

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It's so solid.

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It's so delicious.

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This is the food 
that you can bring

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to any potluck 
and it'll be a winner.

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The ox tail is so soft.

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The flavor of the sauce
is delicious,

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there's a bit of sweetness
and savoriness to it.

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Its seasoning gets completed
when you eat it

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with their bagoong.

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I won't share this,
this is all mine.

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So we've gone through three 
of the best kare-kares here

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in Metro Manila
according to our sources.

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And I'm about to give
my verdict.

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But before that...

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Don't get mad at me,
Erwan.

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Julius and I 
are really just like this.

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Iya's Kare-Kare
is the best one.

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Kare-kare will always be
one of our go-to

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Filipino dishes,
and I can definitely see why.

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Savory, comforting,
loaded with meat

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and vegetables.

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And best of all,
it will always remind us

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of our mom's
or our grandmother's cooking.

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Iya's Kare-Kare wins
this one for me,

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but do give the others
a try as well

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and let us know
whose kare-kare

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is the best for you.