Comments on: Cendrillon Restaurant, 45 Mercer St., New York City

By: Marketman

Marketman — Sat, 30 May 2009 08:21:39 +0000

jon, odd that you would think that the “only Filipino restaurant that has survived that long” doesn’t need to have authentic filipino food, “who the hell cares if its not authentic filipino food”… um, hello? best to call Cendrillion Asian fusion or whatever, but it isn’t very authentic Pinoy food at all. And you must not have been there recently as I understand they have CLOSED shop at their original location, unwilling or unable to afford the increased rent, and instead relocated to Queens or thereabouts, possibly now pitting itself against a market that may be more likely to look for authentic rather than fusion food. I have absolutely nothing against Cendrilon, I just wish there were other options for Pinoy style dining in the city, considering the million plus ethnic pinoys in the tri-state area. President Macapagal Arroyo has lasted some 8-9 years in her position, and that certainly does not mean one should conclude she is good simply because she has been around for nearly a decade… the logic stinks.

By: jon

jon — Sat, 30 May 2009 04:00:42 +0000

Most of you guys are full of crap. lol. All those name dropping and you know what is pathetic. Cendrillon has been in existence for the last 10 years or so. The only Fiipino restaurant that has survived that long and continuously patronize by people from different walks of life. Very homey, beautiful and friendly host. Who the hell cares if its not authentic filipino food and besides there is really authentic filipino dishes for that matter. Sister says,”Iâ€™ve had dinner at Cendrillon half a dozen times over the last ten years or more”, if the food is that mediocre, why go back several times unless of course you are a masochist then that explains it. lol.

i totally agree with you kongwi. Every time i go home to Pinas, i hardly go out to restaurants. my grandparents, mother side is from the mountain province and she cooks the most tasty simple food, organic vegetable, rice from their rice field, chicken from the yard and she just seasoned them with salt and some unknown herbs from her garden and the aroma is delightful. My other grandmother, father side is from Bohol. she is more dramatic in preparing meals. she prefers to cook in the dirty kithchen than using the gas range and double oven in her immaculate kitchen. she uses coal for baking. you can smell the wonderful scent of the banana leaves every time she makes a bibingka lol. These are the authentic Filipino food otherwise everything is fusion. there is no such thing as authentic filipino dishes,

For those of you loving filipino kababayans who plans to visit New York or if you are already a New York resident continue to patronize Cendrillon restaurant. The food is great, the last time i was there i saw Willem Dafoe and at one time NYC mayor bloomberg [ hugh! what about that for a name droping}

By: kongwi

kongwi — Fri, 31 Aug 2007 17:45:18 +0000

come to think of it, is there ever a restaurant in manila that serves good filipino food?

By: gemma

gemma — Sun, 17 Jun 2007 22:16:07 +0000

Seven years ago, I was a culinary student at French Culinary (Broadway and Grand) which is a block away from Cendrillon. Being a foreign student from the Philippines, I wanted to try out the restaurant. An aquaintance’s negative opinion of the restuarant, however, resulted in me having second thoughts about sampling their cuisine. Knowing how disgutingly snotty Filipinos can be to their fellow countrymen (this applies most to wanna-bes), I had major apprehensions. I would like to note that I do not feel the same way with other higher-end establishment (e.g. Nobu Mr. Chow’s, Daniel etc.). I was pursuing a career in the culinary arts so eating out was a major part of my life.

I bought their cookbook recently and could not help but notice the propensity of the authors to cite sources that make it sound like a litany of the oligarchs in the Philippines. One recipe was credited to the cook of Ms. So and So and the cook’s name was not even mentioned. It wa Ms. So and So’s name that was mentioned!! Makes me feel sick…

By: Kid

Kid — Wed, 06 Jun 2007 14:55:02 +0000

Well, the Chicken Inasal was really lemon chicken, but I will give them the Lechon and the duck. I think that their efforts to make filipino food more likable to americans is a good thing… but filipinos probably have a better background of what fillipino food really tastes like at home.