My family and I wanted to get out of the house one weekend last February and so I was tasked to search for places to eat where kids were allowed. Due to the ongoing pandemic, restaurants allowing minors are still few since most LGUs still comply with the ‘No Minors’ allowed rule.
I was originally leaning towards Tagaytay but they changed their rules a few weeks back. So I called the Brick Oven Cafe after recalling that my friend Claire recently visited the place. More than their Filipino-Spanish design, I was intrigued by their advocacy which is promoting sustainable packaging for their famous classic wood-fired brick oven pizzas which in turn gives our local weavers a stable source of income.
We arrived past 1 PM at the restaurant. We drove from Sta. Rosa, Laguna to Pila, Laguna and we were all pretty excited to be in a new place. The place was quite full when arrived since it was a Sunday. Most came with children/minors so I think that was a plus for them. Business was good so we expected a little delay.
We were greeted upon arrival by a local parking attendant. But I think he looked like a local barangay official. He directed us where to park. After alighting from our vehicle, we were greeted by the staff and led us to our assigned table. My sister-in-law called in prior for reservation.
However, things turned out sour for us the moment we sat. We noticed that there were too many customers for the cafe’s too little number of staff. Though they were all polite and accommodating, I think they were very short staffed that day. Our order came in not too soon and we have to do multiple follow-ups to have those delivered. Some of our orders actually never arrived even after reminding the staff numerous times. Nevertheless, we enjoyed the food.
We ordered a variety food.: Tampipiza 16″ with eight toppings (a must try!), Carbonara, Longsilong (Lukban Longganisa), Adobosilog, Wings in Weave (chicken wings) and Caprese Salad. (Check out the menu below for the prices).
The other thing that bothered us was that there were so many unavailable items on their menu. I guess they were unable to stock up for the weekend. My little nephew got into tantrums since all he ordered was not available. Poor kid! I just hope that the management/owners will see to it that they make sure to stock up on their supplies since the cafe only has a limited menu. We expected that for such a minimal list, at least only one or two items were unavailable. Even better if there was none.
The BrickOven Cafe Menu
We took pity on the kind attendants so even though the service was lacking, we just treated everything lightly and exchanged jokes with each other. We told them of our feedback and they also apologized for the inconveniences.
The cafe offers alfresco dining which is very ideal in this time of pandemic. The interior designs are Filipino-inspired which I really liked! I roamed around when there not much customers and took photos of the surroundings. However, I think the place already needs sprucing up. Medyo masukal na iyong paligid. But the rustic ambience made up for it.
I would love to come back again at the BrickOven Cafe (they write the restaurant’s name this way). Save for the many mishaps we encountered, I am sure there can still be room for improvement.
Facebook: The BrickOven Cafe
Contact No: 0917 981 9628
E-mail: pdennisejocel@yahoo.com
