A place where you can go to relax, recharge, and enjoy organic farm-made meals, and more.
Nourish your appetite with heart-warming, healthy food and your soul with the captivating environment — a sure way to get over the work-week stress.
It was one weekend when my family was introduced to this fledgling eco-farm and café in Alfonso, Cavite. It’s near to my in-law’s ArtFarm property also located in Alfonso.
The urged to eat good food for dinner had led us to Sentro Botanikos. It was getting dark and we didn’t find it right away the location. The signage was unnoticeable and we almost missed the gate leading to the homey restaurant. We even thought that the restaurant was closed. Just the same, we proceeded. As we alighted from the car, we were greeted with a tender breeze from the cold night air that filled the entire farm.
As my eyes wander, I found the facilities austere yet very relaxing, it makes you breathe with its wide-open spaces and surrounded by nature. The surprise is in the food they offer – only farm-based meals and farm-made products. Its principles are centered around community, sustainability, vegetarian and environmentally-friendly choices. They also started to produce farm-made food items for everyone to enjoy.
Our food choices for dinner included palabok, adobo ni lola, sisig, bulalo, and turon ala mode. All the dishes were delicious! But we were greatly surprised with bulalo, on how they made it so flavorful! Bulalo is normally made with beef shanks, and gives you a heavy feeling after a meal. I really did not know that a vegetarian bulalo can be so tasting and healthy! Most times, they said, they use a wheat/soy fillet as a replacement to “meat.”
And they also shared some farm-made products that make their dishes appetizing, like the vegan seasoning. I bought one bottle which will last for a month and plant-based M’chon sauce similar to an all-around sauce under the Solera Botanikos label.
With its plant-based meals, Sentro Botanikos has been added to our list of go-to-restaurants when in Alfonso, Cavite. We are delighted to have discovered this new place, most especially beneficial to my hubby, who is a vegetarian for 10 years now. We are always on the lookout for similar establishments offering fresh, healthy, delicious, and vegan meals.
I am not a hardcore vegan, but because of my hubby’s influence, my daughter and I have learned to embrace a vegetarian lifestyle on a 50-50 ratio (meaning: we are semi-vegetarian and forgo pork, but still consuming chicken, beef, fish, and egg). When at home, we only cooked plant-based meals, and when we eat outside, that’s the only time that my daughter and I eat meat dishes.
It has been said that following a plant-based diet is healthy for our bodies and the environment. A vegan diet can be one of the healthiest ways to live. Plant-based diets should contain plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains, beans, legumes, nuts, and seeds. Because vegan diets often rely heavily on these healthy staples, they tend to be higher in vitamins, minerals, phytochemicals, and fiber. Healthy vegan diets are abundant with vitamins B1, C, and E, folic acid, magnesium, and iron while also being low in cholesterol and saturated fats.
No wonder, every year more and more people are making the decision to go vegan, and for good reason! A big lifestyle change is easier to sustain if you wholeheartedly believe in your decision.
Good thing, more and more vegan restaurants are opening and catering to the growing health-conscious Filipinos.
Sentro Botanikos is located at 217 Buck Estate Road, Brgy. Buck Estate Alfonso, Cavite 4123. It is open from 12:00 noon until 9:00 p.m.
Featured photo: Flavorful Vegan Bulalo
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