Romulo Café London enters the 2018 TATLER Restaurant Guide

By Gina Consing McAdam
London
November 10, 2017



(London, November 2017): Recognition that Romulo Café London has firmly planted the flag for fine Filipino food abroad has come with its inclusion in the 2018 TATLER Restaurant Guide, the A-list of top restaurants in London and the UK.

Romulo Cafe was opened less than 2 years ago by owner Rowena Romulo as the first international branch of her family’s successful restaurant business in Manila. Her aim was to bring ‘a taste of the Philippines to the heart of Kensington’ while paying homage to the memory of her grandfather, the late Filipino statesman and diplomat, Carlos P. Romulo.

The 2018 TATLER Restaurant Guide was launched at the 15th annual TATLER Restaurant Awards held in the Ballroom at the Savoy, London on Monday, 30^th October 2017. The champagne and canape reception was hosted by Kate Reardon, Editor-in-chief of TATLER, and Jeremy Wayne, TATLER Restaurant Editor. Attending the event on behalf of Rowena Romulo and Romulo Café were Chris Joseph, Director and co-owner, and Gina Consing McAdam, Marketing & Communications Director.

To compile the guide, Wayne said TATLER had ‘scoured London for the best. From Haggerston to Heathrow, from Fulham to Finsbury Park, we bring you the cool, the cosy, the classic and downright unexpected.’

In the guide, Romulo Café is described as ‘modelled on a comfortable Filipino house and delivering delicious Filipino food with modern flair…Cocktails, complex and highly Instagrammable, are paired with dishes such as prawns with crab roe and green beans, or pork-belly sisig with pickled apples to great effect.’ It went on to single out Romulo Café’s ‘family friendly feel’.

Besides Romulo Café, other new entries to the guide include  Jean-Georges at The Connaught, Mere (whose patron is BBC MasterChef judge Monica Galetti) and Henrietta in Covent Garden, now sharing the limelight alongside TATLER favourites such as Chiltern Firehouse, Yautcha and Wild Honey.

Chris Joseph said, ‘It is remarkable that Romulo Café has been included in the 2018 TATLER Restaurant Guide. This is the go-to list for discerning foodies in an undisputed, extremely competitive food mecca. This can only mean that Filipino food is truly making itself known in the UK. It’s a solid win for Philippine cuisine. This is down to the hard work of the team, Rowena’s brilliant leadership, head chef Lorenzo Maderas’ fabulous talent, and of course the truly great support we’ve had from our fellow Filipinos as well as an increasing number of international foodies.’

Rowena Romulo, speaking from the 14^th Filipina Leadership Global Summit in Toronto where she received her award as one of the ‘100 Most Influential Filipinas in the World’, said, ‘My family and I are so proud that Romulo Café London is included in the 2018 TATLER Restaurant Guide.

The 2018 TATLER Restaurant Guide is distributed in the latest issue of TATLER, out on 2^nd November in the UK.
Romulo Café in London is located at 343 Kensington High Street W8 6NW. It is open 7 days a week, from Monday to Sunday, serving lunch, merienda and dinner.

For more information on the life and times of General Carlos P. Romulo, visit www.carlospromulo.org and on Romulo Café restaurants in Manila, visit www.romulocafe.com. Romulo Café’s charity partner is Wonder Foundation www.wonderfoundation.org.uk.

·       This is the first international outpost of Romulo Café in Manila, founded by Rowena’s sister Sandie Romulo Squillantini and her husband Enzo. They now have 3 branches: in Jupiter Street in Makati; in Tomas Morato in Quezon City; and at the Azumi Boutique Hotel in Alabang.

·       Romulo Café, like its sibling restaurants in Manila, is a tribute to General Carlos P. Romulo, the great Filipino global statesman. Hence the walls are lined with his photographs and memorabilia, and the interiors have been named to honour stages in his life: the General’s Bar, the Ambassador’s Lounge, the Diplomat’s Dining Room and downstairs, the UN Corridor, and the CPR Library (a homage to his journalism career for which he won the Pulitzer Prize).

·       The menu of Romulo Café consists largely of heirloom Romulo recipes, as curated by Rowena’s grandmother, Virginia Llamas, and her children. The kitchen is led by Dubai-born, British-raised Filipino Chef Lorenzo Maderas, who used to work for Sushisamba and the Tanner Brothers, and who today recreates such Romulo favourites as Lola Virginia’s Chicken Relleno and Tito Greg’s Kare Kare.
·       Romulo Café is positioned as a restaurant for all Filipinos and good food lovers. It has been designed to depict a ‘comfortable Filipino home’ while blending into the Kensington neighbourhood.

·       In the year since it opened, Romulo Café has put Filipino food firmly on the UK culinary map. In autumn 2016, it was named ‘Kensington’s Most Loved Restaurant’ at the Time Out Love London Awards. Time Out has also given Romulo Café a coveted 4-star rating. It has also consistently been labelled an Open Table Diner Favourite, and has received wide and favourable coverage in the UK trade and consumer press and media, as well as in Manila. Rowena was the subject of a recent 24x24 segment of ABS-CBN’s Lifestyle Network. Romulo Café took part in the first London Food Month, held in June 2017, curated by Tom Parker-Bowles and Grace Dent, and also in the London Restaurant Festival in October 2017. Romulo Café and Rowena Romulo were also finalists for ‘Outstanding Independent Operator of the Year’ at the 2017 Eat Out Awards.

·       Romulo Café has worked in partnership with the Philippine Department of Tourism in the UK, specifically as exclusive caterers at:
Philippine Tourism Weekend at Potters Field, London (August 2016)
World Travel Market 2016 at Excel, London (November 2016). In November 2017, Romulo Café were the exclusive caterers at the Philippine Tourism Week showcase in Westfield London.
Romulo Café London:
Address: 343 Kensington High Street, London W8 6NW
Telephone: 020 3141 6390
Telephone Number: +44 020 3141 6390
To book:  [email protected]
Opening Hours:
·       12am – 12pm (Monday-Saturday)
·       11.30am – 11.30pm (Sunday)
Website: www.romulocafe.co.uk
Facebook: www.facebook.com/RomuloCafeLondon
Twitter: @romulolondon
Instagram: #romulocafelondon

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See related articles:
·        Rowena Romulo named one of the ‘100 Most Influential Filipina Women in the World’
·        Romulo Café named ‘Most Loved Restaurant in Kensington