LIMBAGA 77 Cafe Restaurant in the Morato section of Quezon City (its address is in its name) celebrated its 10th anniversary on Dec. 18, offering guests a gut-stretching Filipino buffet.

It all started in 2014 when a group of diners were at Sct. Limbaga, eating at a restaurant across the street from No. 77. “Birthday ng son ko (it was my son’s birthday),” recalled Juris Fortuna, managing director, and one of the partner-owners of Pino 77 Foods Corp. (after opening Limbaga 77, the group went on to acquire the Pino restaurants in Maginhawa). “Suddenly, nakita namin itong (we saw this) place,” she said. Two of the partners thought about buying the mid-century home, and “seven” just happened to be one of the partners’ lucky numbers. “It was destined to be a restaurant,” said Ms. Fortuna. The house’s interiors were preserved, the better to highlight the Filipino comfort food menu.

Dinner that December evening had appetizers like Stuffed Bulaklak ng Kalabasa (squash blossoms), Mini Lechon Tacos (tacos filled with roast pork), and their signature salad. The Crispy Pata (deep-fried pig’s trotters), Kare-Kare (beef stewed in peanut sauce), ChickenMorcon(a roasted chicken roll-up), and their version of paella would have been Sunday fare for a nice Filipino family.

We do reserve special praise for their comforting Sinigang na Salmon (a soup soured by tamarind fruit) and Seafood PancitBuko (stir-fried noodles, but the noodles replaced by strands of young coconut). We normally pick anything coconut off of our plate, but thePancitBukowas so good, we didn’t realize what we were eating. When we did, we came back for more.

Since the pandemic led to the closure of their Trinoma branch, Ms. Fortuna said that now they’re looking at expanding to other areas, targeting opening one or two branches this year.

She discussed how they lasted 10 years: “Number one, iyong food. Hindi nagbago iyong quality ng food namin (the quality of our food has not changed), from the start, up to now. Number two, iyong service. Very important iyon sa customer.”

While people have Filipino food at home, diners still keep coming back to their home-like restaurant anyway. “Tayong mga Pilipino, preferred natin iyong nakasanayan na (we Filipinos prefer what we’ve been used to). Most of the time, kapag nagcecelebrate tayo, ang gusto natin iyong mga Filipino food na nakasanayan ng family natin (when we celebrate, what we want is the food that our families have been used to).” — Joseph L. Garcia

Limbaga 77 Cafe Restaurant is at 77 Sct. Limbaga Street, Tomas Morato Ave., Brgy. Laging Handa, Quezon City. For inquiries, contact: 8374-3509 and 0926-715-8134.