Cafe Lidia — Restaurant in Marikina

Cafe Lidia is one of those privately owned restaurants that are well known and striving against the big names because of what they can offer, because of their food and service. Generally they have itallian cuisine and yet still designed for the target market, us the filipinos. Filipino loves eating their food with rice and in their menu you could actually opt for a rice instead of potatoes or other substitutes, I like eating here with the original intended recipe and opt not to get the rice. The pasta dishes are good and I could only assume that they make their own hand made fresh pasta like their pizza doughs, what I like about their menu is the wide range of pizza and pasta variety, oil based, tomato based or whatever it is you like. I normally eat my pasta with tomato based but I also try oil based as much as possible whenever I'm eatimg out because lets face it, oil based pasta is harder to make and much more expensive to make if you will use all the right ingredients. The pizza are good but it could be a love hate relationship, if you dont like original itallian pizza you wont like it, if you are used to eating pizzas from the conventional pizza chains you might not like it. They also have a wide range of drinks, from cold to hot brew, remember that its still a cafe and a shot of espresso is a good thing to try on but dont worry if you dont like coffee based drinks because they offer cream based frappes which I would never get; its just cream and sugar. The rustic architectural design is very comfy and inviting, perfect for a family eats, the overall vibe is relaxing. The only problem with this place is the parking, they dont have a lot of parking space and most of the time you will be forced to park at the side of the road, if you dont feel secured with that type of parking or dont want the worry, park at ayala feliz mall and take a short tricycle ride to the cafe lidia it also easier if you do not know the exact location. The prices of the food is on the midscale but its still balue for money, the quality of the food is really upto...

My dining experience in Café Lidia is a bit underwhelming. They have nice and attentive staff, as well as security personnel. The place has a cozy ambience. Though, their staff can be a bit noisy at times (I don’t need to know their meal schedule/preference or their sport interests). The food is where things go a little south. Now, please bear in mind that this review is limited only to the food we ordered; which are: nachos, roast beef, blue marlin, and baked spaghetti with meat balls. The nachos were superb. I definitely loved this. The ground meat was spiced really well. The nachos were still crunchy even it’s drizzled with cheese and garlic sauce; unlike in some establishments were the nachos become soggy. The trick here is the cheese dip at the middle which meant that the nachos are not drenched in cheese and that it was served immediately. The baked spaghetti is not al dente. The sauce is not Italian. It’s on the sweet side so it’s very Filipino. The meatballs were good, though. The blue marlin and roast beef is where things got rough. It’s when the side dish became the focal point. In this case, the mashed potatoes. The mashed potatoes were seasoned well and is very light and fluffy. The veggies were crunchy and had bright colors. The roast beef has a metallic taste to it. It didn’t matter if it was seasoned well because that taste just destroyed everything. The blue marlin was overcooked. It was rubbery and has a bitter taste to it. Now, everyone who loves fish knows that when a fish tastes bitter, there’s something terribly wrong with it. I do hope that Café Lidia could improve on these because they seem to have a nice thing going for them. The food experience I had may not be at par with the reviews I’ve read, but they do have very...

Cafe Lidia impressed me with their service from the moment we arrived. They had staff waiting to assist with parking and even helped us cross the street! Entering the restaurant, we were greeted promptly and ushered to a table. The staff was attentive throughout our meal, readily available whenever we needed them.

The menu offered a good variety of choices, but unfortunately lacked pictures. While their social media might have had visuals, it wasn't updated, making the selection process a bit trickier.

The wait time for food was excellent - our dishes arrived within 15 minutes. Despite the size of the restaurant, servers were strategically positioned to ensure prompt service. They were also observant, checking in on tables regularly to see if anything was needed.

Now, onto the food itself. My porchetta was flavorful, but the skin could have been crispier. It ended up getting a bit stuck in my teeth. My mother's Cordon Bleu was enjoyable, but the coating separated from the meat. My partner, however, thoroughly enjoyed his grilled pork belly. The roast beef pizza was a hit as well, with a generous amount of toppings.

Overall, Cafe Lidia offers a great dining experience with exceptional service. While the food was good, there's room for improvement on the menu descriptions and a touch more attention to detail on a...