Krystal’s Cafe 81

This was the first time I’ve ever had Filipino food, and all I can say is I regret not trying it earlier. My friend is Filipino and he recommended this place; we walked in and got seated immediately, which was nice. He knew enough that he ordered for us; I don’t remember quite what we got, but I do remember everything was absolutely delicious. Apparently it was authentic as well.
The atmosphere is quiet and even kind of romantic; the service is fantastic. Strongly recommend for a great meal in NYC.

THIS ESTABLISHMENT IS NOT CLOSED! They just closed shortly after Hurricane Sandy and they opened a year after that!
This is my fave Filipino Spot. I always bring friends here because it’s more authentic and more affordable than the other Filipino restaurants in Manhattan. I love their Kare-​Kare (Oxtail with peanut sauce with shrimp sauce option), I also have their vegetable options, Calamansi Mojito and their desserts. The waiters are easy going and they smile a lot.

Krystal’s is legit one of my favorite places in all of Manhattan. If you know anything about Filipino food in the city, you know Krystal’s in Woodside is the place to be, but the East Village is slowly growing into a new hot spot for your Pinoy faves — if you’ve got cash to burn. While Krystal’s in Manhattan is still pricier than places out in Queens, it’s probably the cheapest place in Manhattan for Filipino, and one of the best. My all time favorite is the all-​day Filipino breakfast, and the congee with pork and tofu is an incredible bargain. If you want to try good, relatively cheap Filipino food without trekking out to Queens, this is the place to go.
P. S. While it’s listed as «closed,» the waitress informed me that they’re only closed for renovations, so hopefully they will reopen soon.

I got dinner here with 3 of my girlfriends and it was delightful here! We got the Crispy Pork Shank — this was so so delicious. It was crispy on the outside, with just the right amount of fat, and the meat was so tender it tore off the bone. When you got just the right ratio of pork fat and meat it was a bite of heaven. The Tamarind Soup — This was a tangy broth that had a very unique taste. Very new and interesting to me. The Ba-​mi – vermicelli and egg noodles and the adobo was also quite good. We also got the garlic rice and white rice, and 4 slices of cake when we checked in on Unilocal.The entire bill came out to $ 67 dollars. THIS IS UNBEATABLE IN NYC and its the perfect place to have a girl’s dinner.

Who knew Krystal’s opened a place in the city?! If you’re a fan of good Filipino food from Woodside, then you already know about Krystal’s. If you like Krystal’s, (and why wouldn’t you?) you’d like Café 81 as well. We stumbled upon this place while waiting for a table at another restaurant nearby.
With a party of 4, we opted to go the family style route and ordered a bunch of items to share.
— Whole tilapia in coconut sauce was only ok. We wished we had ordered the fish as filet or in a different style. The fish wasn’t hot, so it might’ve been sitting for a while. Additionally, the tilapia was too fishy and didn’t taste very good. On top of that, the coconut sauce it came with was overpowering and lacked flavor.
— Chicken adobo portion was small with exactly 4 pieces of chicken. The taste was good, as adobo always is, but the portion left much to be desired.
— Beef sinigang was quite sour and filled with huge cubes of beef. The issue we had with the beef cubes were that they were too chewy and too big. The cubes wasn’t easy to bite through, it diminished the sinigang experience for us.
— Marinated grilled pork belly was crispy and tasty.
— Halo halo was amazing and refreshing, it was a great way to end a meal. Easily shareable between 2 or even 3 people. Let it melt first and enjoy every part of the dessert.
— Lastly, the staff was super nice and accommodating. They even allowed us to check in on multiple Unilocal accounts to get our free ube cake slices.
This is a nice change from the other Filipino restaurants in the area. We didn’t like the food at the other places too much as it was lacking authenticity and overpriced. Though the price here at Krystal’s is not as budget friendly as in Woodside, the food is at least way better than the other restaurants nearby.

My favorite Filipino restaurant in the City. Classy and modern with traditional Filipino food. They are not always open but when they are, you will be rewarded with all your favorite Filipino entrees such as bangus (milk fish) Kare kare (oxtail) and pork adobo. The service is excellent and the bathrooms are clean. There is even a bar and TV to watch the games and on certain Friday nights get your game on and sing some karaōke! My highest recommendations to this Filipino restaurant. I’ve taken many friends and family here and no one walked away disappointed. Cheers

Went here with a big-​ish group for a former coworker’s going away dinner. Both of us are Filipino so this was a nice family-​vibe send off for her! Definitely want to go back.

I love Krystal Café– I always come here (even at it’s old location) and bring friends and everyone loves it.
What’s not to love? prices are super cheap (esp compared to it’s Filipino restaurant competitions) and there’s never ever any wait! So the next time your contemplating on waiting an hour for a table and you’re HANGRY come here –it’s literally blocks away from the other restaurants.
My favorite dish that I always order is the longanisa (sweet pork dish with garlic rice and tomatoes and onion) For apps– I enjoy their wings and the sizzing sig sig.
they also have fun drinks here– including a volcano bowl which I just discovered recently.
I love how unpretentious this place is –it gives off a very chill and homey vibe– and the servers are so nice which makes me always want to come back.
**check in on Unilocal for a free slice of cake**

I forgot to put in a review. For me, this is a find! It is authentic Filipino restaurant in the heart of East Village!
The ambience is modern and clean with a bar which many people look for.
Very reasonably priced and accepts credit card!
I particularly like the fried milk fish or bangus, the mongo bean vegetable (which reminds me of lentil soup) and their crispy pata — which is like the German Pork hock with perfectly crisp skin.
Our bill was amazingly reasonable for such a nice place that does not look like a dive; and eat real freshly cooked food!
I definitely will go back! It’s a place one can eat every day and try their assorted menu. Why cook!

Awesome Filipino restaurant by St. Mark’s Place! When you check-​in, you can request the dessert at the end of the meal (both the mocha and ube slices of cake were delicious). Overall, the prices are great; however, I do not understand why the drinks at the bar would be cheaper than if they were ordered to the table (the drinks seem to be the same size).
Food-​wise, the kare kare and congee (with tripe) were well-​made and homey. You can request the congee with patis (fish sauce) or lemon juice (or both). The waitress and staff are very friendly and on point with our orders, refilling our waters and checking up on us. Our favorite appetizer was the grilled stuffed squid, which paired well with the sour, vinegar sauce. We loved the drinks here, especially the mango margarita, Manila Mule, soursoptini, calamansi mojito, just to name a few.

I loveeeeeeeeeeee this place so far. And let me tell you why:
The two times I’ve been here I’ve gotten the all day Filipino breakfast w tocino and garlic fried rice ($ 9) because I’m a creature of habit and I like being safe with my food choices. I promise the updated review of this place (because hello I will def be back) will detail another dish lol. Like everyone on Unilocal I admit the garlic fried rice is nice and chewy and sticky and garlicky and delicious. The tocino is also very good– albeit that I’ve never had tocino anywhere but here before. But it works in my mouth together so I’m not complaining! The best part is the ridiculously affordable prices for the dishes here (everything under 18 $). They have a pretty good varied menu for drinks as well.
Nice dim and cozy ambiance, good service, and good food! Go treat yo self.

I am a regular at this spot. not going to lie. You can catch me here every Sunday. I’m Filipino so I always get cravings to eat Filipino food. Prior to my fiancé taking me here, its usually a struggle to get a fix on that cravings. So far this is the only place that passed her taste bud test!
We tried the dinuguan, crispy pata, tocino, fried fish, sinigang, kare Kare, sisig, and pork belly. They all tasted amazing and high quality. Most of the filipino restaurants are pretty much Sh*tty. This place is the only place that’s consistent!
I would eat here every day if I can, specially the crispy pata. Keep up the good work guys see you over the weekend!

thank you for accommodating our very large, very indecisive group last night. not only were you nice about it, you were all very kind about trying to get us a table.
is hard to find blood stew in manhattan, but the bf and I were super excited about it. I ordered the filipino breakfast because there are delicious eggs and garlic rice. and I of course added longanisa. I really enjoyed the food, which came in heaping portions at really affordable prices. next time I’m ditching everyone else and coming here alone.

Gimme your love. Don’t stop. Baby, keep it comin’.
This is definitely one of those restaurants you wished wouldn’t get popular, so that it doesn’t become overcrowded, but popular enough to stay in business, because you’re a selfish selfish human being. Don’t worry, I’m at fault too. We can all go to hell together.
You… me… & that anorexic girl I’m still in love with. A love paralleled by the ardent flames of my heart for sausage… Filipino sausage ;D. I have a particular friend who would love to hear me say those words to him, but he knows all too well I’m talking about that Longinissa. Oh, longinissa, how I love thee. How I long for longinissa. How I count the days until you bless my mouth with your delicate, yet firm crust, and your tender innards. Your juices, it permeates my soul. Your smell, pierces the Heaven sky, and renders my inhibitions asunder. You, a mere sausage, makes a man out of a boy, and a beast out of a man… and all for $ 9. There is no better time to be alive.
Minus 1 star for not having chicharrons as a side dish. Plus 1 star for that cute waitress I had last time (you know who you are!). Minus another star because your garlic rice wasn’t really garlicy.
And minus 1 star on the quality of my own life for writing this at 2 in the morning. Seriously, why am I not asleep?

Bulaklak (crispy pork ruffle fat): This dish mostly just tasted like fried. Fried… something. Some pieces were too hard. I don’t recommend getting this. The vinegar sauce was good, though. Complements the fried fat.
Sisig: The flavor of the sisig was good, but some of the pork pieces were too chewy and got stuck in my teeth. I found myself trying to avoid those pieces. They added a raw egg to the top but when they brought the dish to me, it was sizzling with oil splattering everywhere and they didn’t mix the egg in for me.
Burger: Plain jane burger and fries. I guess this is the dish for people who were forced to come to a Filipino restaurant but doesn’t eat Filipino food. The burger is not bad, but it’s nothing spectacular.

One of my good friends is Filipino and we work frequently in New York so she’s been wanting to take me out to try some cooking from her homeland.
Krystal’s was so delicious!
We started with the Shanghai rolls (lumpia) which were steaming hot and so freaking good. I’m pretty sure the two of us ate all 10 – 14 in like 2 minutes.
I had the chicken and pork adobo with garlic rice and was not disappointed. The pork fell apart and then chicken was very flavorful and on the bone.
She had the rice noodles (pancit) and she said it reminded her of home.
Service was quick if not a tad dismissive.
Drinks were off the chain. We had 4 different cocktails and literally loved all of them, the mango margarita and the mojito were killer.
I will definitely be back!

First and foremost I am biased to Filippino food so you should stop reading this review.
I love it. It is what I grew up with. AND THEY HAVE AMAZING KARE KARE.

This was only my second time trying Filipino food, but I loved every part of it. It was kind of empty on a Tuesday night, but I prefer peace and quiet. I don’t expect you will ever have to worry about a wait. The restaurant can seat quite a few people, but it was small enough that I could smell all the delicious smelling dishes brought out to other people. The fried pork dishes smelled so good.
While waiting for your food, they give you a basket of warm pandesal. The bread is fresh and buttery enough that you don’t need to add extra. We asked for an extra basket and it took some time because they gave us some freshly heated ones.
Appetizer:
Shanghai Rolls pork, carrots, onions, sweet chili sauce (Lumpia) — Recommended by our waitress and also I love lumpia. They came out darkly fried, but I liked it because they were super crunchy. Lumpia is better than normal egg roll, especially with the sweet and sour lumpia sauce. It’s $ 8 for 12 small pieces.
Entrée:
The stews are awesome and good for family style. They offer white rice or garlic fried rice. Hands down get the garlic fried rice.
Adobo with Chicken — The Adobo kind of reminds me of home-​cooked soy sauce ginger chicken. The chicken was soft and not dry at all. Order extra bread to sop up the sauce from this dish.
Oxtail (Kare-​kare) — This consists of oxtail, tripe, eggplants, green beans, and other vegetables stewed in a peanut sauce. The peanut is really strong in this dish. I liked the sauce of the Adobo better, but the contents of the kare-​kare better. The oxtail was really tender and there was a lot of vegetables to pair it with.
Dessert:
If you check in via Unilocal,you get a free cake per entrée from their sister restaurant, Krystal’s Café and Pastry Shop. We had two entrees so received two free cakes.
Ube cake — This cake had an initially funky flavor that disappears the more you eat it. It’s not too sweet, so I really liked this cake in the end. In the middle, it has some kind of delicious ube paste holding the layers together.
Mocha cake — This was also tasty and not too sweet, but not as interesting as the ube cake. The middle has some kind of mocha frosting.
Halo Halo — There is so much going on in this shaved ice dessert. On the menu, it is described as shaved ice, evaporated milk, sweet beans & fruit, and ube ice cream. It also came with some flan-​like block. The ube ice cream is too smooth and creamy for me, but I really liked the different jellies at the bottom. I still preferred the cake over the halo halo.
I wish they sold the longaniza as an appetizer or side instead of as part of their breakfast menu. Still, I really can’t wait to come back.
Side note: They have really mainstream music choices.

Hi, my name is Monica and I’m addicted to crystal meth. Ohhh holdup… no I meant Krystal’s café!
I doubt there’s even a comparison really and I don’t know who this Krystal person is but, thank you for being born and operating this restaurant in a very convenient and trendy location! It’s so key to have access to your dealer. Wait… what?!
Yeah so anyways, I’m sure most of the dishes here are phenom but I always get the Laing which is healthy taro leaves simmered in a savory and fragrant coconut broth with shrimp and yeeeeeeessss-​pork belly peppered into it.
When they take your order they will ask if you want white rice or garlic rice. I’d be shocked if anyone didn’t go with the garlic fried rice since it is phenom here. Yes peeps, THE GARLIC FRIED RICE IS FETCH HERE AND YOU NEED TO KNOW THIS!!! It’s quality stuff and is very pure and very potent. Hey wait a minute here…
I’d happily eat that garlic fried rice all by itself. Come to think of it, any one item here can definitely hold its own.
I got my fix for today so I’m on cloud nine. This is legal food crack and it’s euphoric. Tell them a friend of a friend sent you or I’m ok with you ratting me out and naming names!
Happy noshing!!!

3.5 stars.
If you ever want a disgustingly large piece of deep fried meat, I recommend ordering the pig leg here. It will blow your mind. If you can finish it completely, major props to you. I ate about 75% of it before I started feeling ill. Apparently my body DOES have a limit on how much fried meat it can consume.
Anyway, my wife ordered the pork belly. It was decent, but a bit bland. Ditto with the aforementioned pig leg, which also has a sauce served on the side, but didn’t hit the spot for me.
Nice restaurant though, and good service. Reasonably priced. I’d be up for trying it again sometime if in the immediate area.

This Filipino diner hidden in the walk down basement of a cute brownstone in the East Village was fairly empty at 2pm on a Sunday.
Filipino television airing novellas and cute game shows with lady boys gently played as a few Filipino families finished their meals.
$ 20 bottomless mimosas and a lack of crowds were initial pluses, and the food kept an authentic air with only being a touch Americanized.
Calamari and fried pork appetizers were a bit greasy and not typically American with the calamari being cut in large rings, and the pork almost like chicharrones.
$ 6 breakfasts are good and economical with eggs and garlic rice, $ 8 with protein, with the pork having an interesting sauce, and the brisket seeming boringly standard.
One Filipino pork dish with curry and coconut was a stand out, and pigs blood stew as well as other dishes were balanced with less unusual entrees for the squeamish.
Purple cake and a angel food cake stuffed with yellow custard were delicious.
At about $ 40 a person this simple clean ethnic diner can be bland or a bit experimental if you want. While the unusual lack of crowds might indicate the lack of «wow» factor here, it’s still nice not to have to fight for a table, or eat elbow to elbow, especially on a Sunday afternoon.
As one friend admitted, «I’m not craving to come back.»

This was one of the best «fiesta» dinner I had in years. There was just so much food on our table that reminded me of our «Barrio» festivities back home.
Upon entering, you will be greeted by a full bar that serves original concoctions and local branded beers from the Philippines. Although, from outside, it looks more like an Irish pub than a Filipino restaurant and we almost walked past it.
The waiter greeted us as soon as we came in, and lead us to our table and handed us the menu. They served authentic Filipino cuisine here, and you may even have the appetizers as your main entrée as well.
I already lined up the dishes that I wanted to order in my head: I started with pork sisig, made of pork head and liver chopped in small pieces and cooked on a sizzling plate topped with raw egg as an appetizer, sinigang na hipon (tamarind soup with shrimp); Dinuguan (pork blood stew, crispy pata (crispy pork knuckles); and a whole deep fried tilapia. Imagine our excitement when all our orders came out at once. It was sumptuous, delicious and comatose!
The food portion was ideal for family style dining, it’s inexpensive with great customer service. This will not be my last time to visit here.

I’ve been here before the renovation and after I came back last night I was pleasantly surprised. The lights are dim and the ambiance just right, I was greeted nicely by the waiter and was seated quickly.
They gave us free pandesal which was arm and perfect with the butter. I got the gotto, my friends got the spring rolls, arroz caldo, and tapsilog which according to them were all really good. My gotto which is soap with tripe and rice was warm and oh so good in this cold fall weather.
Overall I had a great time eating here and to top it all they gave us a complimentary mocha cake. I will definitely be back!