QC’s Pandan Asian Café is a delicious demonstration that Southeast Asian food, despite seemingly different, is pretty much the same

Shortly after opening Talisay, the Filipino family restaurant in Maginhawa, author, TV personality, chef, and restaurateur Myke “Tatung” Sarthou is back at it again, this time looking to his travels for inspiration in opening Pandan Asian Café.

If Talisay is inspired by home and family, Pandan Asian Café is borne of Chef Tatung’s travels across Southeast Asia. You see, before he became a chef, Chef Tatung was a writer in Cebu, and it was his wanderlust that fueled his pen to write.

In Pandan, Filipino food is very much present, but this time, accompanied by a delicious mish-mash of the chef’s favorite dishes from Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, and Malaysia.

“I love traveling and of course when you travel you get to try so many new things. And sa kaka-try ko, I realized that almost all of us in this region (Southeast Asia) use pandan in one way or another. So that was a unifying factor for me, that’s why we called this place Pandan Asian Café. And the flavor profile of our cuisine [in Southeast Asia] has some similarities, but at the same time the nuances make it more interesting,” Chef Tatung explained.

This two-floor property on Scout Limbaga could comfortably sit 50 guests at the main dining area downstairs and roughly 60 to 80 guests upstairs where there are three private dining areas perfect for intimate gatherings.

The food at Pandan is simple but never simplistic. Here, Chef Tatung and his team serves Asian food as it should be: delicious, unpretentious, and straightforward. If it’s good food you love, then that’s what you’re going to get.

Here’s a peek inside Pandan Asian Café and a few suggestions on what you should order.

For drinks, try the refreshing Cucumber Lemonade (great palate cleanser) and the Pink Milk Tea. — LA, GMA News

Pandan Asian Café, 76 Scout Limbaga St., Brgy. Laging Handa, Quezon City. +63917 7748999