Ka Tunying's Cafe at NAIA 3

I had always wanted to try Ka Tunying’s Café, but they don’t have a branch near me. I finally had the chance to know what the buzz is all about a few months ago. We had dinner at their NAIA 3 branch while waiting for my younger brother’s flight. I looked at the restaurants within the vicinity and spotted Ka Tunying’s Café. I chose it right away thinking that it was the perfect last Filipino meal for Abes who will be out of the country for a long time.


It would have been really nice if we bumped into Ka Tunying during our visit, but we were still very lucky because we got to meet his twin brother!


Apart from ordering a la carte from their extensive menu, Ka Tunying’s Café also offers different mouth-watering bundle meals. We opted for the Set 1 of Papiging ni Tunying. For PHP1,995, it includes Fish Fillet & Salted Eggs, Pinakbet, Daing Pesto Pasta, Sinigang na Bangus, Lechon Belly, a platter of plain rice and a pitcher of dalandan ginger iced tea.

We warmed our tummies with a hot bowl of Sinigang na Bangus. It was the perfect way to jump start our feast. I wasn’t able to get decent photos because we had to eat fast so Abes wouldn’t miss his flight. I did my best, but I guess my best wasn’t good enough! Haha!


The sinigang has a very generous serving of the bangus and vegetables. We all liked that the broth has the perfect sourness. Walang ngilo factor dahil hindi sobrang asim.

The Lechon Belly was also another big hit. The belly was cut thinly giving it a very nice crisp. It was well-seasoned making it really tasty even without the dip! It was sinfully good!


Thankfully, the Pinakbet was there to balance out my guilt from the Lechon Belly. We were all so surprised with the large serving of sitaw, talong, okra, kalabasa and ampalaya! It was a bit bland for my liking as I was hoping to taste more of the bagoong. But everyone else, including my Mama who is a world-renowned food critic (aka pintasera), said that it’s perfect for her.


I was so intrigued with the Fish Fillet & Salted Eggs. I mean, who doesn’t like anything with salted eggs? It has become a big thing from chicken wings to potato chips! Ka Tunying’s version had real salted eggs in the middle of the fish fillet, which I assumed is dory. I liked that there was crunch from the breading followed by the soft fish fillet, and then you’d get extra goodness from the salted eggs! It was truly a delight to my palates. I also liked that it wasn’t too salty albeit the salted eggs in the middle.


I always use canned tuna or Spanish sardines when I cook pesto pasta at home, that’s why I was excited to try their Daing Pesto Pasta. My version of pesto is quite piquant because I use lots of garlic and pepper. Surprisingly, I still liked Ka Tunying’s take on this despite its subtlety. In case you are going to try this, ask for more Parmesan cheese. :)


We gulped everything with the help of the very refreshing Dalandan Ginger Iced Tea. I was initially unimpressed with it because of how it looked. The ginger also scared me a bit. Sabi ko baka lasang salabat! Wahahaha! But it was really good! You’ll get the perfect balance of sweetness and acidity, and then you’ll get a faint kick from the ginger. Sana bottomless!


I know that my photos cannot give justice to my review. If you don’t believe me, then just hold on to my Mama’s words that she liked everything. Promise, numero unong pintasera ang nanay ko pagdating sa pagkain. Kahit sarili niyang luto, nilalait niya e! =))

I was surprised when I read the bad Zomato reviews for this specific branch because we really had a nice experience during our visit. The food was great. Serving was generous that we ended up taking home leftovers. Malalakas kaming kumain, promise! They can improve on the service, though, because it took quite a while for the orders to arrive. But other than this, we all agreed that we got our money’s worth.


Ka Tunying’s Cafe
Food Hall Level 4
Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3

* All photos were taken with a Huawei Mate 10