One of the hardest things is to impress Pinoy diners with their own cuisine. There are many reasons for this.

It could be the taste they remember from when they were growing up with lola’s food or with comfort food when they were kids, when life was simple and the only problem as far as children were concerned was what time to play. Food linked to childhood memories is hard to beat.

It could also be because Filipinos’ expectations and standards of their cuisine are extraordinarily high, since they have it every day.

I am no fan of buffets for the simple reason that I tend to pig out, then end up regretting it. And there are only one or two items in the buffet that stand out, which I end up zeroing on.

I have never tried a buffet where everything was good. I would rather have a few items that are very good than a wide spread that tastes mostly mediocre.

The other week was the birthday lunch of my badminton buddies Benny, Nelson and Stanley. Boy Corcuera had made a reservation in a restaurant not too far from our Wooden Spoon in Barrio Kapitolyo, Pasig.

We had just finished our Sunday morning games and had freshened up for the food battle. As I walked into the place, I saw it had a buffet setup. “Patay na naman diet ko” was my initial reaction.

So I did the next best thing, which was to find a justification for plunging into the buffet. It was lunch anyway and, since I was taking it just after a good workout, I would digest food a lot faster.

What a surprise. There were not too many items in the spread but, I must say, every single one was delicious. These were Pinoy classics at their finest.

I started with a piping-hot sour soup of sinampalukan. Delicious. Then, I sampled a tiny portion of each dish.

Lechon kawali, binagoongan, adobong pusit, kare-kare with bagoong, dinuguan, morcon, tofu with ginger spring onion sauce, fresh lumpiang ubod, plump lumpiang shanghai and, of course, piping-hot rice.

The lechon kawali was sticky tender, crunchy, tasty and perfect with the usual liver sauce. The binagoongan had a deep dark-reddish color, with delicious pork ribs.

The dinuguan was a bit sour which is the way I like it; its very tender chunks of pork were also outstanding. The pusit was good, too.

There was tuna sisig which allowed me to enjoy the dish without the guilt. Kare-kare was terrific. The oxtail was very tender, the sauce creamy, with a hint of peanut. A dab of bagoong brought this favorite to a whole new level.

Morcon is another Pinoy classic done well in this place. Beef roulade was tender, the tomato sauce was deep red, rich and delicious.

For dessert, I had a maja blanca-like dessert that was a bit brown and made a perfect ending to the feast.

It’s obvious that the creator of these dishes loves to eat and has been exposed to a high level of Pinoy cuisine. His standards are quite high. This is Dr. Boy Vasquez.

Seldom do I try Pinoy food done at this high level.

I look forward to coming back, breaking my diet and for good reason.

This is the Sunday lunch buffet of Café Juanita. (Available 10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. and 1-3 p.m.)

Café Juanita is at 19 West Capitol Drive, Barrio Kapitolyo, Pasig City; tel. 0922-8779894 and 0905-2307618.

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