Café Mafioso: Good Grub for the Hungry Mob

One of my many guilty pleasures is ribs. It is what I look for in the menu of every new restaurant I go to. Lucky for me, most places in the city do serve their version of the dish. While loads of restaurants claim to have the best ribs in town, only a handful is actually worth coming back for. A couple of weeks back, my Instagram feed was flooded with photos of a hip new place downtown with a mafia-inspired dining concept. Café Mafioso piqued my curiosity after learning that they pride themselves of their “Mafioso Ribs”. After reading plenty of good reviews of the restaurant on social media, we decided to try it firsthand.

Café Mafioso’s “Hitlist” gives you quite a number of entree dishes to choose from be it fish, pork, beef, or chicken. They serve paninis, salads, pasta, hotdogs, and burgers if you’re not in the mood for a full meal. They have a wide beverage selection as well- softdrinks, hot or cold coffee, frappes, smoothies, and beer.

We decided to try some of the dishes that stood out to us in the menu. Their famous ribs were first on our list. They say that the best kinds are those whose meat slides right off the bone. Mafioso Ribs did just that. The meat was very tender and smoky but had a little more fat than I cared to eat (In the end, I still ate it anyway). While it was a little more on the saucy side, their barbeque sauce was full of flavor and complemented the meat quite well. At P179, the Mafioso Ribs is enough for one person to enjoy. And for someone who loves her rack of ribs, this dish is a winner to me.

Mafioso Ribs. I highly recommend Mafioso first-timers to try this dish.

Another dish we tried is the Crispy Cornflake Chicken, Café Mafioso’s unique take on chicken fillet. They dipped the chicken in batter then rolled it in cornflake crumbs and the result? Shatteringly crunchy, addictive chicken. Your P159 is well worth it.

Their Crispy Cornflake Chicken is an easy favorite.

For fish, you should try their Fish in Basil Pesto (P159). It is pan seared cream dory with a generous serve of fresh lemon basil pesto sauce. The fish was well-cooked but the sauce was the real star of the dish, capturing that distinct pesto flavor with just the right amount of lemon. It did not disappoint.

Pesto lovers will definitely love Mafioso’s Fish in Basil Pesto.

The last dish we ordered was the Fillet Mignon Steak (P189). You can choose how you want the meat to be cooked. We asked to have ours cooked medium rare and the meat came out very juicy.

Fillet Mignon Steak smothered in a generous serve of gravy and mushrooms.

On a whim, I tried out their coffee. The lady who took my order suggested the mocha but I got myself a cup of cappuccino. Coffee-drinkers like me would be pleased to know that there is another place in the city to grab that daily dose of caffeine from.

Latte art on my cup of cappuccino.

Located in the corner of Noblefranca and Sta. Catalina Streets, you won’t miss Café Mafioso’s iconic red walls. The atmosphere inside the restaurant is dark and shady, but far from dingy. I was impressed by the interior because it captures the mafia-theme so well. Another thing that I liked about the cafe was the service. We didn’t need to wait long for the food and the staff was really friendly and accommodating. With its good food, great service, and ambiance, by the looks of it, Café Mafioso is sure to attract a steady following.

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Corner Sta. Catalina and Noblefranca Street (Near Holy Cross High School), Dumaguete 6200, Negros Oriental, Philippines.

Cellphone: (0915) 2635 857

Hours: Mon – Sun: 11:00 am – 11:00 pm

Check out their Facebook page here.