I'm glad the Metro Angeles Food Tour 2014 (#MAFT2014) took the road less traveled by choosing Cottage Kitchen Cafe to try their authentic Cajun and Creole cuisine.


Even in Manila, establishments offering these southern American cuisine are quite few.  I've only tried Gumbo and Cajun Red Rock (I only tried their burger and that was ages ago).  So I'm quite ecstatic to venture more on these cuisines.

I even had to research what the difference between Cajun and Creole cuisine is.  I learned that Cajun cuisine is rich in spices (onion, celery, bell pepper, garlic, paprika, thyme, file, parsley and green onions) and makes use of every part of a slaughtered animal.  Being rich in spices however, does not imply that all are spicy. On the hand, Creole cuisine is more extravagant.  It makes use of tomatoes, cream, butter, seafood and exotic herbs.  While Cajun is classified as country-style cooking, Creole is categorized as city-style cooking.
The place was dimly lit with candles on each table.  There's a bar area, a casual dining area with a good view of the stage and a more private area with curtains on the side.  The ceiling had a glass portion where you can see the clouds or dark skies with stars at night.  Diners are a mix of foreigners and locals.

Food

Appetizers & Starters

♥ Zing Wings (235 php)

If you love spicy dishes, I highly recommend the Zing Wings.  It got a pleasant spicy kick with a hint of rich herbs and spices.  The chicken skin is fun-tastically crispy and the meat was tender and juicy.

Deep Fried Potato Wedges (180 php)

For some finger food, there's the Deep Fried Potato Wedges served with thousand island dressing.

CKC's Corn Bread (100 php)

The CKC's Corn Bread is delicious!  This block is quite dense and heavy.  It is served with herbed butter.


Soups & Salad

Creole Onion Soup (180 php)

The Creole Onion Soup is a creamy heavvily spiced onion soup with cheese and crouton.  As you can see, it is very peppery.  From this point, I've acknowledged that creole and cajun cuisine seems like an acquired taste as some of my companions was overwhelmed and wary of the spiced flavors. 

Chef's Salad (250 php)

The Chef's Salad has greens, egg, ham, tomatoes and carrots with thousand island dressing.  

♥ Cajun Shrimp Salad (270 php)

We all loved the Cajun Shrimp Salad with wasabi dressing.  Every element was harmonically aligned to please the palate.

Southern Specialty Cajun and Creole Dishes

♥ Shrimp Jambalaya (450 php)

The Shrimp Jambalaya made it irresistible for me to lessen my carb intake.  Aside from delivering a really wholesome herbed and spiced flavor, it was topped with shrimps, mildly spiced sausage chunks and chopped green bell peppers.  It is served with dinner bread.

Cajun Fried Chicken and Dirty Rice 2 pcs. (300 php)

The Cajun Fried Chicken was pretty good.  It was more on the peppery side.  But, I prefer the Zing Wings over this.  I loved the Dirty Rice.  I hope they offer that separately.


Blackened Cajun Dishes

Blackened Chicken (385 php)

The Blackened Chicken is a spice and herb crusted chicken breast fillet.  As you can see it was succulent.

♥ Blackened Catfish (400 php)

Between the Blackened Catfish and the Blackened Chicken, I prefer the former.

CKC's House Special BBQ (All barbecue entries comes with coleslaw, baked beans, bread and choice of either: mashed potatoes, potato salad, fried, corn on a cob or steamed rice.)

♥ Original Baby Back Pork (575 php)

The Original Baby Back Pork is really good!  It had a sweet and savory BBQ sauce and smokey lean, tender and meaty pork meat.  This is a must try!

♥ Barbecue Beef Slab Full (800 php)

The Barbecue Beef is just a bigger and chunkier option.  Basically, it has the same barbecue sauce.


Desserts

♥ Peach Cobbler (180 php)

The Peach Cobbler was finished in a flash!  It is a pie filled with sweetened peach with hints of cinnamon.

♥ Apple Pie (180 php)

I liked the Apple Pie more than the Peach Cobbler.  But, they are equally good.  It's just a matter of preference.

Pecan Pie (180 php)

The Pecan Pie is very sweet with its rich and gooey consistency.  It had a generous amount of pecan.

♥ Specialty Cake of the Week: Peach Cheesecake (180 php)

The Peach Cheesecake served chilled was so heavenly!  This is my favorite among all the desserts we tried.


Drinks

Iced Tea

Other Metro Angeles Food Tour (#MAFT2014) Posts
Abe's Farm
Angeles Fried Chicken 
Binulo Restaurant
Historic Camalig Restaurant
La Rose Noire (factory visit) 
Mother's Cake House
Prism Lounge
Sab Bistro
Salt Restaurant (Breakfast Buffet)
Tsinoy Foodies Verdict
Cottage Kitchen Cafe delivers authentic Cajun and Creole cuisine like no other.  In addition to its great dishes, the ambiance is superb and the staffs are nice.  Bring some company as dishes are in sharing portions.

Gumbo has a casual dining interior with cozy tables and chairs.  It has frames and lamps hanged against its plain walls.  

Food

Complimentary Appetizer

We had a Complimentary Appetizer of Garlic Bread with Spinach Artichoke Dip.  It was pretty good.  I've always enjoyed Spinach Artichoke Dip and Gumbo's version is satisfactory.

♥ Smoked Norweigan Salmon (395 php) *not whole pizza

The Smoked Norweigan Salmon pizza is topped with crunchy green bell peppers, smoked salmon slices, white onion bits, basil leaf shreds, tomatoes, slices mushrooms an anchovies.  This sophisticated pizza is praise-worthy.  The medley of colors, flavors and textures offers an upgrade to the usual pizza experience.  

Seafood Spaghetti (195 php)

The Seafood Spaghetti has a generous amount of shrimps, mussels, calamari, clams.  Together with the pomodoro sauce, this dish has a great blend of sweet and zesty taste.  

Bottomless Lemonade

Gumbo's Bottomless Lemonade is a great refreshing complement to any dish.

Tsinoy Foodies Verdict
I don't know any other restaurant in the Metro that offers a "Taste of New Orleans" like Gumbo so I can't quite gauge it by the type of its cuisine.  However as a dish in itself, their dishes are delicious with generous ingredients and serving size.  The price is a bit on the high side.  But for the experience they offer, I guess it's worth it.  If you want a song to be sang for you by their lively staffs then you should try ordering their Seafood Jambalaya.