Fine Life On A Budget + + +

FOOD ORDERED: Delightful / SERVICE: creative food preparations; crisp design interiors

I've been watching nothing but movies from abroad lately. Last month, Transformers II opened me up to more of what Megan Fox has to offer. This month, it's that inevitable Harry Potter installment. Both entertainment spectacles are so out-of-this world that I figured I needed to be grounded the same night I sat through the almost three-hour Rowling book adaption.

I found my food destination in Cafe Bola where I got ready to psyche myself crazy with Asian cuisine. I was glad to discover that the restaurant serves native Filipino dishes, so I wasted no time taking a peek through the site's bare kitchen window and scanning through the menu. The orders for the night included Adobo Flakes with Kesong Puti or White Cheese (Php180), Parma-Ham Scented Mongo (Php150), and Crispy Baby Dilis on Rice (Php150).

I'm not really a big fan of attractive food preparations, but seeing native Filipino cuisine presented the way they do it at Cafe Bola made me take a second look at the dishes I ordered before tearing into them. The Adobo Flakes, for instance, looked like a refreshing garden. The cheese-smothered tomato was just endearing. And, let's not forget the normally dull-looking dilis which, in Cafe Bola's version, was nothing but.

As for the sauteed mongo with ham bits number, the sight and aroma of ampalaya leaves and mongo beans instantly brought me back to my childhood Fridays when my mother would find it appropriate to serve it as part of our household's weekly diet. It was all about family tradition with such dish. What made eating it that Saturday night unforgettable was the extra-crunchy taste that the dilis contributed in the meal combo. Other versions of the mongo dish have either tinapa or chicharon bits.

With Harry Potter preceding my fine meal, the junction I was in proved to be temporary. My Saturday evening was just pure heaven after I've tasted both East and West in one night.

THE CAFE BOLA BRANCH I DINED IN IS LOCATED AT THE ARANETA CENTER, CUBAO, QUEZON CITY.