Mio Cucina

On our first night at Los Banos last Holy Week, Michelle and I were looking for a place to eat when we discovered Mio Cucina. We were initially planning to go to LB Square but when we got there, it didn’t look like an appetizing place. So we headed back along Lopez Ave. and just before we reached Halcon St. we saw this small sign that read Mio Cafe though I couldn’t really see a restaurant. I asked the security guard and he directed me to an extremely narrow driveway. I vaguely saw a doorway to my right as I concentrated on not scraping the sides of the car. This is literally a hole-in-the-wall resto.

The place is as small as the sign and the parking area. It looked like it can accommodate only 20 people tops. It was already a bit crowded with a party of about a dozen people who were there ahead of us. But it was well-lit, well-furnished, and very homey. Kinda like a smaller, more upscale, better-lit, and less cluttered Dona Juanita.

They serve Filipino food and we ordered fish fillet and squid adobo. Both were pretty good. The fish fillet serving was generous. It was good enough for two and maybe a half. The squid, on the other hand, was the opposite, just about good for one person. We also ordered lychee shake and grape shake. I asked that no sugar be put in mine. Michelle thought they were both too bland but they were both just right to me.

Prices were a bit higher than you would expect from a small far-off town, but then Los Banos is no ordinary town. Just as Pagudpud has its beaches and tourists from the Metro, Los Banos has UPLB and intellectual snobs. Academic discourses are best when nobody around is talking about the latest episode of… whatever Tagalog soap opera is supposedly hot these days.

Recommended if you happen to be in the UPLB area. Not quite a good reason to go there though.

Rating: 3/5

Mio Cucina
10395 Lopez Avenue
Los Banos, Laguna
(049) 536 3311