Cuchara Verde — Restaurant in Cagayan de Oro

A COZY BOUTIQUE RESTAURANT IN NAZARETH SERVING DECENT FOOD

(EDITED 08/23/2022 TO REFLECT BIG PRICE INCREASES)

Hi there! CDO's top foodie here.

THE SPACE: Cuchara Verde is located on the second floor of a corner shop house in a quiet part of Nazareth with lots of on-street parking. The dining room is stylish and cozy but has lots of large windows with leafy views courtesy of the second-floor location. A small rooftop seating area is located next to the entrance. The only problem I found with The Space is that Cuchara Verde seems very popular with groups of 8-10 people, and the small space gets very noisy when filled with 3 large groups all speaking loudly. You'll find a quiet dinner for two to be elusive here. However, there is good air conditioning, the lighting isn't harsh, the music is tasteful and played at a reasonable volume, the seating is comfortable, and the tableware is moderately high quality. I would recommend making reservations as seating is limited. THE SPACE: Four Stars.

THE FOOD: The food is fine but the recipes are safe and aren't really pushing any boundaries. Hot-skillet dishes abound. Some of the dishes, such as Gambas al Ajilo and Beef Tenderloin Tips are generally the same recipes I've had at other local restaurants (delicious... just not really original creations). Cuchara Verde's Mexican entrees are fine, but very much inauthentic. The Beef Quesadilla has ground beef and sour cream instead of strip steak and white cheddar. The Proganic Chicken Enchilada Rice is just Chicken Parmesan served on a bed of Spanish Rice. Again: Neither dish is bad in any way, but each has a sprinkle of disappointment at not getting the traditional dish. (Ethnic dishes can always be reimagined, but they do have unchangeable foundations that define them.) The parmesan chicken wings are the highlight of the appetizers (though that recipe would benefit from a side sauce rather than plain ranch dressing... maybe a diavolo sauce?). The Proganic Chicken Tikka Masala is my favorite entreé (though the Indian spice mix could be livened up as it was mild). The Proganic Chicken BBQ is another safe bet that can found similarly at other eateries. I also tried one dessert, the Frozen Brazo, which I find a bit too heavy and rich after a big meal, but my wife enjoys it. THE FOOD: Four Stars.

THE PRICE: The prices are very reasonable. However, it's hard these days with prices climbing to determine how long THIS restaurant will have THESE prices. So these menus and prices may be fixed for the next year (and if these prices are still around 12 months from now, Cuchara Verde will then be a best-in-city-value meal), or whether the manager has already bought those little white stickers to put over the prices on the menus so that higher ones can be Sharpied in next week. But for now, prices are very acceptable, bordering on "great deal" territory. THE PRICE: Five Stars.

(EDIT: AS OF AUGUST 2022, PRICES OF MOST OF THE ENTREES HAVE INCREASED BY P100 OR MORE. THE PRICE SCORE IS NOW THREE STARS.)

THE SERVICE: I found the service to be very good. The waiters were competent and knew the menu. Only one dish was "not available", and the domestic beer choice was limited to just San Mig Light. The service wasn't proactive, but it was instantly reactive. Table maintenance was average. I saw that waiters were generally keeping an eye on the customers... but it's a small and well-staffed dining room, so that's not hard to do; I'm not sure if that attention carries over to the outside dining area. THE SERVICE: Four Stars.

SUMMARY: Cuchara Verde is a lovely little boutique restaurant that offers a moderately-high-end dining experience (at least as far as Cagayan De Oro is concerned) at reasonable prices. The menu is safe, and there is nothing I would recommend against. The pries are great for the dining experience and the service matches the level of the restaurant. TOTAL: 17/20... 4 stars.

(EDIT: DUE TO PRICE INCREASES, THE TOTAL IS NOW...

My family and I recently visited Cuchara Verde for lunch on a Sunday. There were 12 of us, and while the restaurant had a good ambiance, it felt quite crowded due to its smaller size, even with only one other group present. This made it clear that the venue may not be ideal for larger parties. Now for the food, we ordered a variety of dishes, including beef and chicken quesadillas, beef caldereta, garlic and buttered shrimp, and sizzling tofu and Chicken something(I forgot, Sorry😅). For dessert, we had the Mango crepe. While the food quality was decent, the portion sizes were surprisingly small for the price. This was a significant drawback, as the value for the money just wasn't there. I believe the pricing is too high for the quantity of food provided.

As for their service, it is another area that could use a lot of improvement. It took nearly an hour for each dish to be served, and we had to repeatedly follow up with the staff to check on our orders. Additionally, we were never automatically served water, which is a standard expectation of mine at most restaurants. The lack of proactive service and the long wait times greatly detracted from our dining experience.

Ultimately, Cuchara Verde has a nice vibe, but there are several issues that need to be addressed. The small space makes it unsuitable for large groups, the food portions are not worth the high prices, and the service is slow and inattentive. I would not recommend this restaurant for large families or those seeking an affordable fine dining experience. Tho, it may be fine for lunch dates since its only the two of...

The food is very delicious and worth trying but the service is below average. The service crew badly needs better training. The waiting time is quite long (20-30 mins) and the server was forgetful and lacked initiative. We were 4 in the group and we ordered kare kare, to which, he said that it was good for two people. So we made two more orders of grilled tuna belly and chicken inasal, with the idea that each order was good for two. Server didn’t even ask what we wanted to drink until I suggested we wanted to order drinks. Food arrived after 25 minutes even when our server said the wait is 15 minutes. Alas! The plates arrived and each was only good for one person. We had to make additional orders and would naturally have to wait again for 20 minutes more. If the server was well-trained, he could have suggested to us that each order is good for only one person, except for the kare-kare. Simple. But with zero initiative and poor training of the server, so much time was wasted and it trumped the good...