San Mateo Cafe Restaurant

We used to frequent this restaurant when it was a wonderful French restaurant, so we decided to give Filipino cuisine a try.

I had an excellent lunch today! All menu items are delicious and stay true to the restaurant's heritage.

I visited here to have dinner as I had not tried it since the new owners took over. I ordered and entree spring rolls and chicken wings. A taste of fine but did not excite me. For main I had the crispy pork hock and yes indeed it was very crispy and tasted good. If it's a 10 with some fries for salad it would have been much better. My friend had the beef stir fry which again was ok but not exciting. I ordered a gin and tonic however they didn't have any tonic. So then I ordered a scotch and dry. You got it didn't have any dry. I had a Chardonnay and a shiraz off the wine list and they were reasonable wines for the price. The owner assured me that next time he would ensure that there was Tonic and dry ginger should we require it.

Something appears to have changed with this restaurant since reading a number of recent reviews. Items people are talking about appear to have disappeared from the menu and there was only a limited range of Filipino items on the menu. We were a table of 4 and each person had a different main course from the Filipino offerrings. There was no tapas and no Filipino identifiable entree items. Entree choices consisted of standard Aussie fare e.g dimsims, spring rolls, garlic bread. We didn't bother with entree. The menu consisted not only of Filipino dishes but also an extensive list of cafe and pub style dishes, so there was plenty of variety if you didn't want Filipino (but isn't that why you come here?). Dessert choices consisted of cakes and slices in a glass display cake. No traditional desserts appeared available. Staff were friendly, service to take our orders was prompt and the food also served promptly. Mains were served with either a side of chips or steamed rice. The Sizzling Sisig was a good sized serving but visually looked uninviting - basically looked like minced pork and onion. While it tasted OK it was not at all spicy or well seasoned as it was described on the menu. The Crispy Pata was served as cutup pieces of pork hock, served on a plate with nothing else except a small pot of soy dip and a side of chips. It was not crispy and described by my friend as tasting and looking like boiled pork hock. The 3rd person had the Philadelphia grilled smoked short ribs. It at least was accompanied by a serve of mixed vegetables as well as the side of chips to make it a decent sized meal. It was described as tasty enough but nothing out of the ordinary. I had Chicken Inasal, which was served as a small chicken maryland with a side of 2 pots of dipping sauces and steamed rice. While dry steamed rice wasn't a good accompaniment for this dry meat item I didn't fancy chips. Surely there could have been some other traditional item that could have been served with this to make it more appealing.The portion was small and did not taste of anything other than rather dry grilled chicken. Prices were not expensive but I would have rather paid a little more if it meant a little vegetable style accompaniment was served on the plates to make the meals look a bit more attractive and authentic. The restaurant itself consists of a front area with several tables and 2 back rooms which can cater for functions. The restaurant was quite pleasant and parking was easy to get outside. It is both BYO and licensed. The restaurant doesn't quite seem to know whether it is a Filipino restaurant or an everyday cafe serving the usual standard cafe fare with something for everyone. While overall the night was not expensive due to the use of a discount card, I don't think I would go back with it's menu as it is currently. The meals look nothing like the photos on it's Facebook site

Just stopped there for lunch ! Beautiful , tasty tapas ! Crispy prawns with lovely sauces , including hot chilli ! Chicken skewers and pork spring rolls ! Dellish !! Followed by a delicious yam cake to share ! Gorgeous purple colour ! Great helpful staff ! Loved it and will be back soon !!