Last Updated on November 8, 2021
Kasa and Kin brings a taste of Manila to Soho!
Kasa and Kin, the new contemporary Filipino all-day restaurant & bar, bakery and patisserie has just opened in the heart of London’s Soho. In Filipino, Kasa means home and Kin means family and the atmosphere indeed reflects a place where you can gather and feel a sense of community and belonging.
We were invited to the launch evening where we sampled a variety of dishes from their evening menu. As a Filipino immigrant who moved to London a little more than a decade ago, I thought the atmosphere feels like a contemporary version of home. Vibrant colours accentuate the restaurant and an entire wall is filled with an interactive art mural by Kulay Labitigan depicting a kaleidoscopic tropical rainforest inspired by the epic poem of Ibong Adarna, an eponymous legendary Filipino bird.
The team behind this concept also brought Kensington’s multi-award-winning Romulo Café & Restaurant to life, so like its sibling, Kasa and Kin aims to bring a touch of Southeast Asian magic to the neighbourhood. With Michelin-starred chef and consultant Pat McDonald (The Savoy, Liberty of London) and Romulo’s brilliant executive chef, Jeremy Villanueva, at the helm, diners are promised a culinary adventure from early in the morning until late at night.
“Fun, Fiesta, Filipino, Flavours, Feast, Family & Friends – that’s Kasa and Kin in a nutshell!” – Rowena Romulo, Co-Founder
Upon arrival, we were greeted with a cocktail called Ibong Adarna which is made of Don Papa rum, Campari, pineapple juice, lime juice, simple syrup and angostura bitters. It’s not often that I get to taste pineapple based drinks in London, so the drink did remind me of home.
Our first course was the chicken tinola soup which is essentially chicken broth with lemongrass, garlic, ginger, moringa leaves & green papaya served over noodles and fresh vegetables. The dish was light and soothing but somehow also felt warm and comforting at the same time.
A second appetizer came in the form of salmon fillet, thinly sliced in cane vinegar & Cornish salt flakes. This came dressed with a citrus and light soy dressing, coriander and lemongrass pesto, avocado and micro leaf salad.
We were also served a selection of treats from their Pinoy robata grill including pork belly glazed in honey, tomato and pineapple, chicken marinated in lemongrass and annatto oil, traditional sweet-cured pork sausage from the Visayas flavoured with paprika and anisette, ginkgo nuts, fresh baby squid with Cornish salt flakes, smoked aubergine in shallot, vinegar and garlic dressing, okra seasoned with Cornish salt flakes and baby sweetcorn brushed with annatto oil. Unlike the barbeque dishes back home, this one had top-quality ingredients and the seasoning was not too salty or too sweet like the many of Filipino dishes.
After finishing our Ibong Adarna cocktail, we were offered a Calamantini which is composed of Calamansi puree, elderflower cordial, honey syrup and sparkling water. This tasted really refreshing, sort of like a palate taster. Calamansi is the Filipino lemon and tastes like a cross between a lemon, tangerine and passionfruit. We were also offered an ube martini composed of an ube, coconut cream and cranberry juice. This tastes like a very luxurious bubble tea drink turned into a cocktail.
The main course was Wagyu beef rib eye accompanied with a side of atchara pickle, essentially sweet pickled cabbage and green papaya as well as white rice. The beef was very tender and the atchara mixed with rice balances the flavours really nicely.
Finally, we were served an ube tsunami cheesecake for dessert. While Romulo’s serves an ube cheesecake, this version comes with white chocolate balls on top, which gives the dessert an extra layer of complexity and visual appeal.
With 90 covers, Kasa and Kin will no doubt delight its guests daily from 10 am (noon on Saturdays and Sundays) until 10.30 pm.
Kasa and Kin
52-53 Poland Street
London W1F 7NQ
reservations@kasaandkin.co.uk
020 7287 5400
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