Casa Kuchina may not be as popular as other Chinese restaurants but it stands well alongside its competitors. Mommy Khris and I were recently looking for a quick, budget-friendly yet delicious dinner at Jazz Mall when we spotted Casa Kuchina while we were about to give up on our search. We have tried most of the restaurants at Jazz Mall and we did not want to settle for another fast-food dinner.

Casa Kuchina: budget-friendly and delicious Chinese and Filipino cuisines

We scanned the menu and we were immediately enticed by the delicious-looking Chinese food offerings. We have to admit that it was really the kikiam (seafood roll) that immediately caught our attention and we just had to try it to see how it fares with our favorite kikiam from another restaurant.

Anyway, we ordered Chinese Kikiam with rice, Stewed Spareribs with rice, and saging con hielo. Aside from Chinese cuisine, they also have Filipino favorites on offer like sisig, dinuguan, and laing, just to name a few. Most of the desserts are also Filipino coolers such as mais con hielo, buko pandan, and gulaman at sago.

Our orders were brought to our table after a fair amount of waiting time. The serving size was good; it can feed two hungry people well. The Stewed Spareribs were nice, although it was not my favorite dish. The meat was tender and the sauce was flavorful, it was good with a steaming cup of rice.

The Chinese Kikiam, however, was a surprise. The rolls were flavorful and meaty with just the right amount of firmness. You could tell that it was of high quality, not just some cheap rolls made with lots of flour and some seafood. It came with the usual sweet and sour dipping sauce which further enhanced its flavor. We could say that Kuchina’s kikiam can rival other more famous and more expensive restaurants.

In terms of cost, the Stewed Spareribs is the more expensive of the two at Php220. The Chinese Kikiam, meanwhile, is priced at Php150.

We capped our meal with a tall glass of milky saging con hielo (Php90). All in all, it was a great, satisfying, and budget-friendly meal at Casa Kuchina.

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