Cafe Fleur is Chef Sau’s tribute to his mom, giving new life to her recipes and childhood stories. Chef Sau is regarded as one of the best chefs in Manila, a promise to his mom fulfilled. We followed his delicious culinary career from Villa Cafe and the original Cafe Fleur in Pampanga (now 25 Seeds), and his other restaurant projects like Le Bistro Vert and Casa Roces.
Le Petite Café Fleur is the best new restaurant—like a flower that bloomed in Brgy. Poblacion during the pandemic—now celebrating their first year anniversary as they defiantly battle through three Covid waves and lockdowns.
We recently had our New Year Strategy Lunch with our business partners with a beautiful garden cafe as backdrop and the best food by Cafe Fleur.
Related Blog Posts:
• CAFE FLEUR: Avant-Garde Kapampangan Dishes by Chef Sau del Rosario!
• LEH-LEH: Thai-Inspired Comfort food @Cafe Fleur by Chef Sau!
About Cafe Fleur
This quaint li’l restaurant located at the heart of the Brgy. Poblacion neighborhood in Makati gives you instant dining-at-your-friend’s-mom’s-home feels.
Le Petite Café Fleur
5893 Enriquez Street, Poblacion, Makati
Operating Hours: 10:00am to 10:00pm
Email: cafefleur@gmail.com
Mobile: +63 917 1928-343
Facebook: Café Fleur
Instagram: @cafefleur.ph
Website: http://cafefleur.ph
What greets you is a beautiful al fresco dining area embraced by the vertical garden, drop down lights and Pampanga lounge furniture that invite you to seat back and relax.
Inside is an air-conditioned cafe for small groups, with an intimate view of the open kitchen and a cake/coffee bar on one end. The stairs lead to the second floor for private dining functions.
The most coveted table is the chef’s table with a round table from his lola, an overhead lamp for beautiful food lighting, and a booth lounge chair for a cozy intimate meal.
Chef Sau is often in the cafe serving the guests and telling quaint stories of his mom coming alive through his food.
Cafe Fleur Menu by Chef Sau
“These are my mom-inspired recipes, nothing really complicated. She wasn’t a fancy cook but she did try some daring and challenging recipes from time to time using us as guinea pigs! Now let me honor my mother by sharing these beautiful memories with you through food“
Food: Appetizers | Soups & Salad | Pasta & Pizza | Meats | Poultry & Seafood | Desserts
Beverages: Smoothies, Fruit Shakes, Soda, Coffee | Cocktails | Sparking, White Wine | Red Wine
Starters
Chef Sau’s signature appetizer—the crispy cups exploding with a secret sisig concoction inside. Ang sarap!
(Note: This is now off the menu and will be in his new restaurant, Saw Saw.)
The Piña Colada was refreshing with just the right tropical feel to start the meal. (You can request to have the alcohol lessened if you prefer.)
Chef Sau is a master of sauces, and this aligue sauce has the right oomph of umami and creaminess that once the shrimp is gone, we used the bread to wipe it off. So good.
This French dish is so good, coming hot out of the kitchen with a creamy white wine sauce and big mussels, the shells of which you can use to scoop the sauce. This goes well with chit chat over a glass of Chablis.
Soft pillowy crab cakes with a nice crust and a calamansi aioli to cut through the creamy crab flavors.
Chef Sau knows his wines, and this chilled Italian Toscana red set the mood for the main courses. Ask Chef for wine recommendation when you dine.
Big Plates
Moroccan-inspired Tender lamb shank with kalabasa and garbanzos in lamb jus. With a clean non-intimidating plating, serving size is good to share.
This is the signature dish with chicken cooked a la plancha made special by the spicy tangy sauce of tamarind-lime sambal. Yum!
A simple grilled seafood dish. Loved the salmon that was cooked just right and the tender octopus tentacles.
Enjoy the tender kurobuta pork with a bit of the sweet apples and mustard balsamic sauce.
Desserts
Delicious cheesecake with burnt edge and a soft middle inspired by the original recipe shared by the La Viña Chef in San Sebastian.
A classic Kapampangan brazo dessert with an egg yolk crema filling and fluffy egg white shaped like a roasted corn.
Just the right sweetness, with the pomelo and strawberry tartiness to cut through the creamy flavors to end a nice Cafe Fleur meal.
When you are in a Cafe Fleur setting like this, sometimes you want to order a cup of coffee just to extend the experience a bit and lazily enjoy the company of your friends and partners.
Final Thoughts
Overall, it is a touching living tribute like a flower bouquet offering to Chef Sau’s mom legacy. The food is homey and cooked just right without overpowering flavors, with all the sauces on point and presentations in clean plating. There’s a lot of elegance in its simplicity that fits well with the neighborhood cafe concept.
Make sure to order the signature dishes: Sisig Cups, Boneless Fried Chicken, and Burnt Cheesecake. Love the seafood dishes: shrimp, mussels, octopus, and salmon. Enjoy them with the sauces that fancy your mood. This is the kind of meal you can lazily enjoy with your wine. Budget about ₱1,000/head + drinks.
It’s a cafe full of legacy stories and delicious tribute recipes, with pandemic-resilient cafe design. Congratulations to Chef Sau for an amazing concept!
Le Petite Café Fleur
5893 Enriquez Street, Poblacion, Makati
Operating Hours: 10:00am to 10:00pm
Email: cafefleur@gmail.com
Mobile: +63 917 1928-343
Facebook: Café Fleur
Instagram: @cafefleur.ph
Website: http://cafefleur.ph
Related Blog Posts:
• CAFE FLEUR: Avant-Garde Kapampangan Dishes by Chef Sau del Rosario!
• LEH-LEH: Thai-Inspired Comfort food @Cafe Fleur by Chef Sau!
Live an Awesome Life with Christ,
Founder & Digital Creator, Our Awesome Planet
Disclosure: Thanks to Nikkei Team for the experience. I wrote this article with my biases, opinions, and insights.
Disclosure: Thank you to Chef Sau for our Cafe Fleur experience. I wrote this article with my biases, opinions, and insights.
P.S. The cafe is so successful even without street parking. You have to park in the nearby designated area and walk in the Poblacion neighborhood.
