Mekeni Pinoy's Pride — Restaurant in Artesia

The place opens at 8AM. We arrived at 8:30 AM on a Friday and already there is a 30-minute wait. I hoped this meant that the wait is going to be worth it.

If you are a Filipino or are familiar with and enjoy Filipino breakfast fare and merienda, then this buffet is the place to be. Wow. I was taken back to my childhood with the variety of items served for breakfast--daing, danggit, tortang talong, tapa, tocino (they make this so good it outdid my preference for beef tapa that morning), garlic fried rice, among others, along with merienda fare like champorado, ginataan, dinuguan(!)--what?, arroz caldo, etc. I especially liked the buro dip and the garlic fried rice. Sarap.

Areas of improvement: Management of guest traffic. No reservation of tables on a busy breakfast morning! This is a buffet. If opening the extension room, make sure to leave the door open to the buffet area. I saw a number of guests struggling with opening and closing the door while handling their food. No one was around to help them, even. Invest in a proper heater or re-layout the tables. Our table was right beside the door and the children present with us felt really cold due to the draft and the constant opening and closing of doors. Serve good coffee--at least barako for brand identity but also decaf. Ditch the powdered creamer packets--too cheap. Add hot chocolate. Children do not drink coffee. Soup is lukewarm

But yes, I definitely am happy this place exists. No photos as I dove right...

Unhappily Discovering Our go-to Filipino group lunch place, the crispy house, is now only providing takeout, we went on a scouting mission to find another suitable place to meet up. After excluding some little joints, we stumbled upon Mekeni. Known for an accented dialect from Kapampangan, it is a known franchise there. They have a weekend buffet, but we arrived on a workday, wishing to dine with coworkers. Naturally, we ordered our usual crispy Pata and was pleasantly surprised by its crispy presentation – a delectable dish, if cooked properly. Next, we tried the house Kare Kare, a bellwether of this cuisine. To our delight, There were lots of those expensive delectable oxtails, beans, and eggplants - cooked perfectly. The sauce was good, but could’ve used a bit more peanut butter, seasoning, and less sugar, but overall satisfying. Their vegetables in coconut sauce was rather nice too; however,, the egg plant could use a little more steaming in my opinion but all-together a nice dish. The staff was delightful, cheerful, and friendly. The hostess is a lovely lady named Felina, who, noticing my happy satiated expression, took my unattended arm and asked me to write a review - which I am doing - since this restaurant is just starting out, facing the cold winds of the neighborhood competition. Finally, The seating is marvelous for groups! I believe our next group lunch...

Comments from Table 16—Wed May 31st—-called in at 6:15PM—Long wait—when we were finally called in, the seating arrangements are crazy—everyone sat so close to each other——this place was too crowded, it’s hazardous when an emergency comes up—FOOD??? Their website showed FALSE advertisement—they didn’t replenish their KareKare, which we thought is one of the staple foods in Pampanga since the name of this joint is Mekeni, which is a Kapampangan word—white rice was so cold, and same for the rest of their foods on the counter—-by 7pm they ran out of bilo bilo and they still had 2 hours before closing—they didn’t replenish—their lobster was very saucy just to make it look big—-again cold and too rubbery—their ad, says “Free Drinks”—true water and very sweet cold tea was what they offered—-a can of coke is $2.50 and it’s a separate charge——This place is OVER PRICED for the quality of food they serve during buffet night——the owners were walking around but only talked to people they knew and the lady even brought food from the kitchen to her friends’ table—their staff are not friendly at all—I didn’t see one that flashed at least a grin on their face—they looked weary—-that was my FIRST and LAST trip to MEKENI (drove from San Diego)—-would I recommend this place to people I know????? Sorry, I won’t make that mistake—this place...