Cirilo Kainan – On our Table

How one family is dedicated to bringing a Filipino flair to London through food.

For many, family means food.

It is sit-downs around the family dining table. Meals cooked ‘just right’ with chatter accompanying the clinking of cutlery as everyone digs into the food in front of them. It’s the anecdotes shared from the weeks and years previous and everyone eying up the dessert sitting on the kitchen counter.

It’s that feeling of comfort that a welcoming Cirilo Ragasa, 53, recreates in his self-named Filipino eatery, Cirilo Kainan.

Born and raised in the Philippines, Ragasa moved to the U.K. in 1985, starting his cooking career as a freelance chef for high-end hotels. All changed in 2007 when inspired by his previous work, Cirilo set up his own taste of home in East London, serving healthy and delicious dishes from Pan-Asian and Filipino origin.

“I can let my imagination bring together my eagerness and passion through food.”

“When I think about what type of dish I try to provide to my customers, I always think what would serve I my family?” Cirilo smiles.

Located in East London’s Cable Street, the Kainan (Tagalog, the main language in the Philippines, for eatery) is unmissable by its illuminating white neon sign on the store’s front. Inside the Kainan, you’re met with a homey and warm space. It’s not big but it doesn’t have to be. Each table gives way to conversations of families and friends catching up over plates piled up high with succulent Pork Adobo, a dish often associated with family picnics made from slices of pork belly mixed in with soy sauce, vinegar and garlic. Once all ingredients are thrown into the pot, they are mixed following Cirilo’s own recipe to be happily devoured.

What makes the restaurant even more special though, is the inclusion of his own family in its’ day to day running’s with his wife, Juliet, daughter, Rachelle and son, Cyrille.

All are kind and radiate the same ethos Cirilo does. They make the eatery not simply restaurant but a dining space away from home where everyone and anyone is looked after.

“One of our aims is to provide really cosy food from the heart.  it’s not just about serving pretty looking food; it’s about it being something that brings family and friends together and that’s why we are here today,” says Rachelle.

The importance of looking out for in a community is not only part of the Kainan’s ethos, but of Cirilo’s too. He’s previously used his cooking skills to help out at events for the Filipino Christian Charity, Couples for Christ.

In a city of nine million, it can be a mission to find spaces like Cirilo Kainan that are embracing and filled with family and echoes of community. Food made with care can act as a bridge bringing people, whose lives would have unlikely crossed, together.

Following her family into the kitchen, the door gives way to white light bouncing off silver mixing bowls with pots and pans hanging above ovens. However, it’s the fresh produce; the thinly sliced red peppers, the vibrant green beans and circular carrot slices – that really draw your eyes in. Each are all neatly laid out in their individual open-faced boxes ready to be added into meals for the night ahead.

Jars of spices, most notably one with vivid turmeric, line the shelves above the hot plates, with all being traditional flavourings straight from the shores of the Philippines.

“(In Filipino cuisine) They always use garlic, ginger and a lot of coconut plus fermented ingredients in foods. There is such mixed influence from Spain, Indonesia and Malaysia. But I try and be selective about what ingredients I use and what I think my customers would like,” Cirilo explains.

“For increased flavour, I put a lot of my vegetables into one pot and create a reduction (a process of thickening and intensifying the flavour of a liquid mixture) for three to four days. Once it’s done, all the flavours and vitamins are there to be mixed into other dishes.”

As the sous chef passes over a stainless-steel bowl filled with vegetables to Cirilo, a small drizzle of oil hits the heated wok, popping and spitting away against the heat. Mushrooms, diced beans, onions and broccoli are all thrown in and stirred in with oil. The reduction sauce is then splashed in, mingled amongst the vegetables until everything is perfectly cooked. “I can let my imagination bring together my eagerness and passion through food,” mentions Cirilo.

His attitude extends from the kitchen to the till, with the contagious passion for providing good food been embodied by everyone at the restaurant. Rachelle and her mother talk at ease with customers who come in, treating them like friends or family of their own. It’s a special atmosphere to be a part of as people try dishes they may have never had before and seeing cheeks and smiles grow fill with satisfaction and enjoyment.

And that’s what Cirilo Kainan strives in. Not only delivering bowls and plates filled with home cooked delicacies, but warmth through and through.

Image Credit: Lydia Leonard

Illustrations: Yasmin Jiang