Photos by Ryan Y. Racca and Miguel R. Santiago
Kapitolyo is closer to Katipunan and Maginhawa than one would think—not just in distance, but also in culture.
No longer the dirty little secret of foodies everywhere, Kapitolyo is home to a host of small restaurants that outsiders take the time to visit. Long-time Kapitolyo resident Jaime Echavez, a junior interdisciplinary studies major, first noticed the changing tides when Charlie’s Grind & Grill set up shop on Kapitolyo’s main road, East Capitol Drive. “People seem to be more familiar with Kapitolyo now,” he says, “unlike before when they had no clue about the place.”
Truthfully, there is not much to be said by way of praise about the area’s ambiance, but that seems to be the advantage: with its raw, unpretentious atmosphere, Kapitolyo is the restaurateur’s new choice of location to achieve a downtown vibe or set up dream projects. As Kapitolyo enthusiast Micco Sollano, a junior management major, puts it, “I firmly believe in the saying that as long as your food is good, people will go to you. Kapitolyo is a perfect example of that.”
Mad Mark’s
23 East Capitol Drive, Barangay Kapitolyo, Pasig City
Minimal interiors done up in red, brown and white. Low bar stools as seats. Unfussy food plated in a no-nonsense manner. It takes a while before the phrase “man sandwich” on their sign sinks in, but when it does, everything suddenly makes sense: Mad Mark’s is a man’s restaurant.
With all of their sandwiches, you have two options: mammoth-sized man sandwich, or the smaller “just” sandwich. Peer pressure will have you asking yourself if you can afford to refuse the man sandwich at the risk of sounding “just” average, but here’s some advice: give in. The price differences are easily justified by the amount of food you’ll have in front of you, at which point you’ll be fist-bumping to a dish well-chosen.
While their fish option the Mariner (P220 for the men, P190 for those who aren’t) must be recognized for its sauce’s perfect balance of sweet and spicy, it’s still a notch below THE Man Sandwich. Mad Mark’s main attraction—and most expensive offering at P300—is not for the light-hearted: Angus beef and grilled chicken pounce on your taste buds without warning, followed closely by fresh mushrooms and oozing mozzarella cheese for texture.
The best part? It doesn’t stop there. While some restaurants tend to stumble at dessert, Mad Mark’s only gains momentum: you can’t leave without having some of their made-from-scratch ice cream (P68 for one scoop, P98 for two). Place your bets on the Banana Foster, which is fresh Cavendish banana ice cream with caramel sauce and surprising notes of Saigon cinnamon—a sure home run.
Milky & Sunny
9 East Capitol Drive, Barangay Kapitolyo, Pasig City
When an obscurely located eatery caters to a full house on a weekday afternoon, it is testament to its allure. The self-proclaimed “sunniest resto in the metro,” Milky & Sunny is not only a neighborhood favorite—it’s also the quintessence of a student’s dining dream: pleasant, delectable, and within the limited reach of an undergraduate’s budget.
With brightly lit interiors and artwork mounted on walls of stark white and warm blue, this all-day breakfast establishment works hard to live up to its name. We found that even its security, inadvertently keeping with the restaurant’s quirky character, carried no guns—just precautionary golf clubs.
Almost half an hour between ordering and receiving our food revealed that service isn’t one of the restaurant’s strengths, but waiting a few extra minutes was a small price to pay for good food at great prices. The most expensive dish on the menu (at P250) is the Big Breakfast Plate, which allows one to mix and match an assortment of breakfast items. The rest of the menu, which ranges from the familiar Filipino fare of rice paired with tapa (P160) or tocino (P120) to more unconventional items like strawberry cream cheese French toast (P140), offers nothing priced above P200.
As students to whom every minute of sleep is precious, it’s common practice for many to skip breakfast. If the day’s first meal was served at Milky & Sunny, however, getting out of bed would not be such a chore.
Poco Deli
21 East Capitol Drive, Barangay Kapitolyo, Pasig City
With only a modest green sign to mark its presence out on the street, one cannot be blamed for coasting along East Capitol Drive and completely failing to notice Poco Deli. To those who have crossed its threshold, however, Kapitolyo’s local delicatessen is not easily forgotten.
Holding intimacy as an obvious priority, the establishment houses less than ten tables and provides “comfort food” its very own category on the menu. Thick-set wooden shelves run from floor to ceiling, displaying a wide array of wines and beers, and the occasional painting or photograph makes a tasteful appearance on the cream walls. Simple and straightforward, Poco Deli proves that a restaurant can be homey without being frivolously decorated to the point of seeming contrived.
Though it clearly isn’t among Kapitolyo’s cheaper enterprises, splurge-happy eaters are guaranteed to get their money’s worth. The US Sliced Steak on New York Bagel Sandwich (P200), though unassuming at first glance, is not a sandwich to be underestimated. It’s obvious as to why it’s a bestseller—where else can you find thinly sliced beef and melted mozzarella cheese packed generously into a hearty bagel?
If you wish to have your stomach’s praises drown out your wallet’s grumbling, the Prosciutto Pizza (P330) and the Truffle Oil Pasta (P280) come highly recommended by the staff. The former is a thin-crust pizza topped with cheese and finely sliced cured ham, while the latter is a cream-based dish served with either mushrooms or seafood.
Where Katipunan is student-centric mainstream and Maginhawa is hole-in-the-wall magic, the Kapitolyo of today manages to walk the line between both. Unlike its two distinctive Quezon City counterparts, Kapitolyo strikes a balance between the conventional and the obscure to create an identity of its own. There are no major fast food chains, nor any whose main feature is their low price—just plain old good food.
