HomeCooked Cafe Bistro — Restaurant in Ōtara-Papatoetoe

OMG this place is amazing. I have a Filipino wife, we have been together for half a dozen years and I am constantly trying new and exciting foods and flavours as there always seems to be a gathering going on for some occasion or other. Now, always there is home cooked food at these gatherings and it is always made with love and is fantastic...So... when ever we go to a Filipino restaurant I have not enjoyed the food as much as when my wife or friends cook, as it doesn't seem to have the love added to it that makes it amazing. We discovered this place two weeks ago and gave it a try and WOW!!! Loved everything we had and it was during the week and had many opening specials, so cheap and delicious. Went back tonight and the opening specials were all over 😭but I still enjoyed an amazing, tasteful, delicious meal made with love, and so what if it cost a little more than the opening specials, very reasonable prices and well worth every cent. I loved it, I'm a Big Kiwi bloke that loves his food and this is the only place I will now go to for a Filipino feast. Don't tell my wife but I think some of the dishes here may be better than hers 🤫🤣 If you are in the area get down here and give it a go!! If you're not in the area, make the trip, it's well worth it!! You will not be disappointed and you will come back again, as I will again and again. Ten stars !! Lovely staff !! Great Chef and so so friendly, as I've come to expect from the truly blessed Filipino people. Thanks for a lovely evening and see you...

Good: -The food is better than other Filipino places nearby but still not great. Other places like gold ribbon even night market Filipino foods taste better. -The pinakbet is great, has the traditional flavours and the sauce has a great consistency. The sisig is okay, but nothing too great. Bicol express was great, nice and spicy, tender pork, on the pricy side. Server was friendly.

The bad: Parking, there's not many places to park. They don't time the serving of their food properly. This was the same for the other tables. We had the BBQ skewers come out first, then 5 minutes later was the sisig, another 5-10 minutes was the crispy pata and thr lechon kiwali. Another 5-10 minutes then the bicol express. A staggering 15 minutes after was the pinakbet. Portion sizes for some of the meals are tiny for the price. The crispy pata is in the section of the menu that says it comes with rice, but we were told by the server it doesnt... Mind you, it's $40+. We told them they should correct it as it's misleading. Most dishes don't come with rice. This is a Filipino restaurant!

Overall the food was okay, but the timing of the food is horrible. The kitchen needs to learn to coordinate their timings. This is the first thing you learn when working in budy restaurants. Value you get is terrible, you just feel ripped off when a Filipino restaurant charge you $3 for rice when the...

Went on a Sunday night. Place was busy and the service was slow. The waitress gave us a bottle of water, but forgot the glass. We had to get it ourselves and gave some to the people next to us too, since they were not given any cups yet. The noise level was ok, but all of a sudden the employees were VERY LOUD. They were yelling at each other, maybe a banter. However, I was off by it. Nothing wrong with having a yarn or banter, but make sure it’s not loud enough to disturb the customers.

The menu is very typical, nothing special, just another Filipino restaurant. You get enough serving for the price you pay. We ordered the adobo rice and tapsilog. The adobo was soft and has a distinct vinegar flavour, the rice is soft and seasoned with soy. It was ok and nothing really. The tapsilog comes with garlic rice, which was not very garlicky. I wish it had more of the garlic taste to match with the tapa. The beef was nicely seasoned!

I am not too sure if I would go back here, I reckon there are better Filipino...