Kasa and Kin — Restaurant in London

We booked at Kasa and Kin to  celebrate a birthday. We did not wait that long  and we were taken to our table. As we walked, I saw a nice presentation of their bakery, shame though I did not have the chance to buy because by the time we are finished it's already close. Our table is nice and comfy,but the staff were passing by and  pulling and pushing a trolley with items to be taken to the kitchen are being seen and as well as the bin bags  near closing time. The waitress who took our order came back and explained that the kasa grilled sauce on rib eye can not be taken because it's marinated with it. I requested to have my salmon ceviche to serve with our main course. We ordered chicken and chilli and two king prawn chilled rice paper spring roll and beef bulalo ramen for our starter.  It was really nice that the waitress offered a  small bowl for us to share the ramen and a small plate for the spring roll. All were excellent and really delicious.  We were still eating our starter but then so suddenly the two ladies working there,who were wearing a suit started to put our main courses and asking who ordered this and that whilst we were still chewing and eating our starter and our plates of starter still on the table.I felt hurried and to think that they did not even serve the starter all at the same time because the spring roll came first and the ramen came after, and we waited before we could even start. There and then, after they put down the main courses on our table,they cleared the starter plates whilst two people were still eating. I have mentioned that to the lady who took our order.Since she asked if everything's fine, I told her about it. I said that this is not a Chinese restaurant where they put things on the table together with their starter, without checking first if we are finished with our starter and not clearing before serving the next course. She apologised and told me that it was busy in the kitchen and the food was coming out. I just wanted to give her an advice not to call the main course unless her guest are nearly finished or at least three bites are left on the plate and also scan the other tables but she look stress and working alone on one section  of the restaurant so I leave it there. The food we ordered for mains were nicely presented and the taste is extremely good.Specially the rib eye steak.The meat is tender apart from crispy pork belly "lechon kawali", the pork skin is not crispy at all and its not served with the tradional Mang Tomas lechon sauce it' s serve with bagoong instead and it maked me think that it's like binagoongang baboy ( pork with shrimp paste)  The kare kare comes with a large bone marrow and the peanut sauce is serve on the side. The rice is not included and we asked the waitress how large the bowl is when she took the order and she replied that it is good for one person and the price per bowl is £5 , so we ordered 5 bowls but it's actually enough for two person with one bowl. We also ordered Chicken Mang inasal.The place is buzzing, and there's a different nationality dining in the restaurant. Over all its nice if you like to treat yourself,but I just don't like to feel rushed when you are enjoying your food and you come in a group of people who are celebrating a birthday. Talking about birthday. The staff on the floor came with an ube ice cream with a candle on top and sang a happy birthday song,which I found really sweet. Just mentioned it when you book that one is celebrating a birthday. We ordered our dessert afterwards and another cocktails which I guess has an asian kind of twist and they added an asian fruit like guava colada and the other is made of an asian rum with ibong adarna cocktail.We enjoyed the halo halo and also ordered the pistachio but it tasted so sweet and it has a texture of meringue and did not manage to finished it. The bill comes with an addition of 12.5%  service charge. I guess you should expect a good service when your bill is charged with one.I also mentioned to the server that they better throw the rice bowl...

First Review (updated review further below) Should have told them I was a Top 10% Google Community Reviewer (Top 1% before the pandemic), perhaps Kara and Kin would have offered me a table today.

Since many businesses in this area, particular those in the food/restaurant industry don't last very long, seeing this new restaurant opened recently, I was really looking forward to add this to my reviews. Unfortunately, I was not able to have a meal here today as at 12:30pm, the maitre d asked if I have booked. Seeing that the it was still relatively early on a Saturday afternoon and that the restaurant was only around 30 percent full, my immediate response was "no I haven't, do we need to?". "Yes, I am sorry we are fully booked, would you like to take a card for next time?"

If I was more more cheeky and bold I would have said it's empty or can I sit outside (outside tables were totally unoccupied), but as I was with my daughter I didn't want to create a scene. So I took the card, thank the maitre d and went on our way.

We ended up going at Franco Manca down the road on Berwick Street for a quick bite (btw, this is top place for pizzas, go there!). During my our meal at Franco's, I said to my daughter that Kara and Kin should have provided a better service or at least offered us the option to seat outside, and also no way they would be fully booked? Anyway we decided to go back after our meal (about an hour later) to see if they were indeed full. Lo and behold, still around 40 percent empty inside and 100 percent empty outside. Very disappointed with the poor customer service. I can only offer 1 star for now. I am not bias so will book next time and give unbiased review.

Updated Review based on visit 15-01-2022 Updated to 5 Stars Since being so disappointed with my initial attempted visit above. I decided to give the restaurant another go. Having learnt a lesson for not making a reservation the first time. I have made a reservation on the morning for a table for 2 (lunch hour). The reservation process was easily done via Kara and Kin's website (link to sevenrooms.com for the reservation - login required). During the visit maitre'd was very tentative and enquired whether we had any allergies and led us to our reserved table. The waitress, who served us was equally polite and tentative and also enquired whether we had any allergies at before taking any orders. Overall, I have to say that the service received was first class. All the staff were friendly and tentative without being 'in-your-face'. And the food was simply amazing. Very well present and all had delicious flavours. I am not Filipino, so I can't comment whether the dishes were authentic Filipino food or not. But, in terms of flavours, I can't really fault it. For some people, the dishes could appear a bit small. Most of the dishes we ordered came in around 2-3 skewers or portions, but they are all very elegantly presented. For dessert, we ordered Ube (Tsunami) Cheesecake, visually stunning (see video) and easily one of the best cheesecake I have ever eaten. Oh, forgot to mentioned that there were also complementary bread and butter at the start. Looking forward to our next visit. An...

My partner and I really love 'Romulo Cafe and Restaurant'; the fine dining filipino restaurant at Kensington High Street. It turns out, the owner of 'Romulo Cafe and Restaurant' has branched out to make another restaurant; 'Kasa and Kin by Romulo'.

So, since my partner and I really love 'Romulo Cafe and Restaurant', we couldn't wait to try this new restaurant. Upon entering the restaurant, the atmosphere was nice; an almost 'Filipino Vibe'; it made me feel like I was back in the Philippines. The staff that greeted us, greeted us with a smile. Adding to the 'Filipino hospitality vibe'. So far so good.

We had a look at the menu; quite pricey, the same prices as the 'Romulo Cafe and Restaurant'. The dishes were nearly the same. However, when the food came out, that was when it all went down hill. The food came in one by one, rather than; starters first, then mains, then dessert. Although, I was told or warned that 'the food will come out as and when it is ready'. Since I was informed, I could brush it off.

The food came very well presented; a very 'modern' style of plating, for high street food anyway, and very appetising to look at but that was really the height of their food. When we started eating, it wasn't up to the standard we expected from a restaurant by 'Romulo'. We were just utterly disappointed. The food tasted boring and over-reaching at the same time. As if, the menu was designed to look better than it tasted. We ordered pork dishes and the meat cuts were pork belly; too fatty, more fat then meat. It had to be trimmed and put to the side. The sauces glazed on top of our skewers were sickly. In tagalog; 'nakakaumay'. After a few bites of the food, I couldn't have so much more.

To top this all off, we had 'iskrambol' for dessert; a Filipino 'smoothy' consisting of bananas, milk powder, chocolate syrup on top and typically sold as 'street food'. It arrived well presented, beautifully placed in a tall curved glass, but like the our starters and mains, that was the height of our dessert. It did not taste anything like the 'iskrambol' from the Philippines, there was too much dry milk powder in it just to make the stripes and worst of all; on our first sips, after mixing everything of course because of copious amounts the powdered milk, we could tell straight away that the bananas that were used were not fresh. As a matter of fact, it was off, spoiled, already rotten and whoever made it thought they could get away with it, rather than just giving as a fresh banana or at most a ripe one.

My partner and I were just very disappointed because we had so much high hopes for this restaurant as it is by ' Romulo' and the original and very first 'Romulo' restaurant has never disappointed. Even with their new post covid menu. Although, I still prefer their previous menu.

I personally, would not recommend this restaurant. If you are looking for 'traditional' filipino dishes, the way they were meant to be done, I would recommend 'Romulo Cafe and Restaurant'. However, if you're looking for something new and different, and maybe a risk, then give 'Kasa...