Cydnei's Cafe is one of those small operations that can instantly make you feel at home. For me, partly because it's near my home.
The place has six tables, which makes it cozy. But for seemingly small cafe, it offers a decent selection of rice meals, pasta, sandwiches, and hot and cold beverages. If you're lucky you can also chance upon their cake selection. I'm not always that lucky.
Aside from meals, they also carry snacks to go like nuts, candies, local specialty chocolate, plus local coffee beans.
My favorite rice meal is their crunchy ampalaya. That's saying something because I hated ampalaya since age 5, when my dad made me drink a blender jar's worth of pure ampalaya smoothie for my asthma, so I would cough up my phlegm. I coughed up my soul.
Since then I avoided ampalaya like the plague. And okra. But one one of my visits to Cydnei's, I was so hungry and their crunchy ampalaya was the only hot meal that could be veganized (ask to omit the egg).
So I bit the ampalaya-flavored bullet -- and my eyes turned into hearts. Garlicky, mushroomy, and slightly crunchy, their preparation beautifully balanced out what little bitterness the main veg had. The hot garlic rice was also delicious.
In that first bite, all those 30-odd years of my bitter feelings were erased by that well-prepared ampalaya. They also don't saute it in tomato, whose tanginess tends to accentuate the bitter flavor.
Since then, I've always ordered that ampalaya meal with a nice mug of their freshly brewed black coffee (local roasted beans).
Today, I brought my son along to try Cydnei's ampalaya for the first time. He loved it too, and he hates bitter food.
Other goodies we recommend: French fries, Tater slices, cakes, hot tablea, shakes and slushies, and of course, their coffee.
Also, their servers are friendly and accommodating so please be nice to them when you visit. read more
