Sundays Cafe and Restaurant — Restaurant in Marikina

Tldr; Chicken with Waffles, Chicken Pesto and Creamed Spinach Pizza was mostly poor to average tasting not matching with its demanding price for a restaurant. Service was okay, Decor was good, questionable walkway/restroom combo and adequate parking.

Tucked inside the heart of marikina is a cafe/restaurant hybrid that has a facade of a classic restaurant perfect for people that you usually see on a Sunday. Families smiling and with loud children, couples and barkadas alike are all welcome in this homey establishment.

Parking space is adequate but due to the nature of the restaurant having so many guests even in the morning, you may end up struggling to park. Thankfully, there's a parking guide that helps right as you get into the entrance. He even sets expectations right away if you'll be in queue before going inside. After some tedious back and forth maneuvering with your car (unless you're Dom Torreto ofc), you'll be seated outside until people clear off a table.

Once you open the Menu, you are greeted with a myriad of food choices ranging from classic Filipino dishes (with twists on some), sumptuous breakfast food, mouthwatering entrées, awesome appetizers and refreshing drinks. Not to mention, some good ol' heart-palpitating hot and cold coffee since this is a café after all. What's got me a bit confused are the two menus separating mostly breakfast food and entrées. There isn't a legend explanation to indicate which is the restaurant's bestseller. But I'd like to think that the star beside a dish indicates their specialty hence us ordering their cereal fried chicken and waffles, pesto with grilled chicken and creamed spinach with bacon.

Since the place was jam-packed, we waited for about 20 minutes until the pesto and chicken arrived plus another 8-10 minutes of waiting for the Pizza. Pretty long wait if you ask me but I guess that's what's expected after you see full tables and a long queue outside.

The chicken pesto had overcooked noodles that easily gets chewed. Perfect for some but not for me. While its sauce had a ratio of 1/4 garlic, parmesan cheese and greens and 3/4 oil. This makes it heavy on the tummy and slippery on the lips. Pretty mediocre for its price of 240.

Next up is the chicken and waffles (370) which I regret ordering since it's the definition of "all killer, no filler." Aside from its unusual but effective breading of cornflakes, once you slice it open you are greeted with chicken skin all over. I get that this is a thigh fillet but damn, all 4 pieces of chicken are nothing more but fillers. It had me dissecting part by part to get rid of the slimy skin and get a sliver of its moist meat. Alas, my attempts were nothing but futile as I also set aside some bones I've already chewed. Disappointed and suprised about this one since it's the one I craved for after seeing it in the menu.

I admit, we ordered the creamed spinach pizza with bacon cause we were reminded of that pizza joint's specialty. That said, they were miles apart with the now famous fastfood pizza seemingly being better than this one. Only good thing about it was the spinach itself as it still tasted fresh and earthy, not processed. But its bacon was bland and thick that's vertically sliced, reminiscent of liempo strips that you get on a Sunday Bbq. Its cheeses and garnishes were more sour tasting than its fastfood counterpart. With 8 total slices at 12" (450), you're better off getting the other pizza.

Overall, I'm surprised and disappointed at the quality of the food at Sundays Cafe and Restaurant. Quantity is great for 2 persons per dish and we ended up curbing our hunger. Nonetheless, It's been nothing more than hype from Social Media food groups that are usually benchmarks nowawadays for casual foodies like me. Moreso, it made me miss one of the good ol' homegrown Marikina restaurants Like Marrod's. Kudos as well to servers Joel and Mae for their very good customer service. The restroom also made me wish I had those as well in my home

⭐⭐⭐...

Sundays Cafe and Restaurant 2022 review

My family and I went here last Sunday. I wasn't able to take photos of the appetizers cause the fam was hungry.

We decided to have a late lunch (1:30pm) here at this establishment. When we arrived, the place was still packed. Expect a good 30-minute wait if you'll be dining here on a weekend.

The surface area of the table (good for 5) that we sat at was not enough for the serving plates that were designed for their dishes.

The place had a clean and modern aesthetic. The indoor seating was quite compact as compared to their al fresco dining area which was spacious. Without the lolos/lolas, titos/titas shouting out how their weekend went for everyone to hear, the place is quaint and peaceful. The place is perfect to visit on a cloudy, windy day.

Staff were well-trained and courteous. Shout out to Kenlo. The manager tho was visibly tired and lacked energy when greeting the guests - which I can understand.

We ordered the following;

Spinach dip - Subtle garlicky taste. It had the consistency of laing. The roasted mozzarella didn't add much in terms of flavor. Just your average spinach dip. Plus points that they allowed us to get additional bread for free. Putting olive oil and a sprinkling of salt on the bread could help elevate the dish.

Oyster Mushroom Fritters - The batter was seasoned well. Despite it being fried, you still get tat stringy mushroom texture on each bite. I was not a fan of the sweet jam as a dip for the fritters. But I do get the sweet-salty combination that they were going for. I'd rather have a garlic aioli dip with chives as a pairing.

Sunday Bacon Burger - The picture, unfortunately, was a bit misleading. It looked larger in the picture as compared to the actual burger. The dish was supplemented with a a handful of fresh cut fries. The fries were good. Slight crisp exterior with a soft, mushy potato filling. The patty was more well done than I had hoped. Too grey to my liking. The burger was tacked with tomatoes, lettuce, and a thick cut of bacon. I think salt was added on top of the natural saltiness of the bacon which overpowered the freshness of the vegetables in the burger. Extremely juicy as it was, each bite was a tad too salty.

Crispy Sisig - The unique thing about the dish was the fried onions that garnished it. Very crispy - and that's not a compliment. It was one dimensional in terms of flavor and texture. It was evidently sweet for a sisig dish. which I didn't mind. The dish was hard to chew because of each component being was very crispy and had the potential to hurt your teeth if you're not careful. Sisig should have different layers of texture in it. It's missing the livery texture from innards and the sponginess from the cartilage. I did however enjoy their light mayo-based glazed that coated the dish.

Tuna belly - Very moist. Cooked properly. A bit more salt and pepper could have helped bring out the natural flavors of the fish. But all in all, a good dish. I had only 2 spoonful of it.

Beef dish (the one beside the sisig. I forgot the name) - My sister and I couldn't quite grasp the flavor of the dish. It was soft and tender, yes, but it didn't really have a distinct flavor to it. The batter was bland and soft.

Three-Cheese Pancake & Strawberry Pancake - Their pancakes were delightful. Fluffy and slightly moist. Not a fan of pancakes in general but my family enjoyed them thoroughly.

The food was ok. The ambiance, along with the kind and helpful staff members, definitely helped in giving a good dining experience. Definitely worth checking out. Oh, and...

Sumptuous Meals by Sundays

I celebrated my birthday in their Maginhawa branch. We reserved Function Room C for 25 guests and a table for 6 guests in the Mezzanine Floor. All of the ordered food from their Filipino menu were generally either exemplary (Sundays Fried Chicken, pancit canton, Sundays Crispy Sisig) or above average (beef kare kare, lechon kawali, grilled bangus, chopseuy) with the exemption of one average dish (mango tango salad). The specialties of their breakfast menu were their pastas and pizzas. Noteworthy dishes were the Puttanesca and their Prosciutto and Arugula, but we also tried their Carbonara with Poached egg and Mushroom Truffle Pasta as well as their Pesto Mushroom Bacon and Garlic and Shrimp Pizza, all of which were still enjoyable.

With all these meals that were served, I can still say that drinks topped their dishes. If you fancy a lighter blend of coffee with a hint of sweetness, go for their Spanish Latte, but if strong and rich is more to your tastes, try their Cold Brew. Their Matcha Ice Blended was also a delight to drink. With regards to their desserts, their Sundays Knickerbocker was a fan-favorite of my guests, but their Tres Leches Cake and Blueberry Cheesecake were worth every peso (esp with how expensive cakes are these days).

The meals, drinks and desserts were highlights, but sadly there are 2 setbacks. Although the staff was very accommodating and professional, I cannot help but feel tired for them. They are very understaffed. Many times na ang tagal dumating ng ordered drinks, but hindi talaga namin magawang magalit, kasi halatang no idle moment sila eh. Kailangan nilang dagdagan staff nila. If cost is an issue, I could confidently say that increasing the service charge from 6% to 10% is more than justified with quality of their food and the cozy ambience of the place. The floor plan, although well-thought out to minimize noise with their 3 floors, is a very tiresome trek for their service crew especially with the number of dishes they are often carrying from the first floor to their third floor. Last caveat of the night was their very limited parking. Super kulang ng parking nila for their capacity.

Over-all though, the experience was still great. The meal courses still arrived on time, yung drinks and dessert na ordered individually lang may delays. Every dish and drink was justifiably priced; we even got to take out some leftovers. With an increase in staff and additional parking spaces, Sundays Cafe and Restaurant could definitely be one of the best dining...