Kain 3: Kumpares Original Pares

Cavite is a province located in Luzon, one of the surrounding lands around Manila. It's full of farms, small mountains, some beaches, and is known to be inhabited by a fierce, protective individuals. With its close proximity to the capital, Cavite is now closely gaining ground in development particularly in real estate, and as such, lifestyle- as well as food choices- are also slowly trickling in from the metropolis.

Yes, Unli in Cavite!

Let's concentrate on the food for now. Jump!


Among these food choices is a recipe that boomed in the late 80's and 90's called pares, or "pairs". It is a simple recipe of beef soup that's commonly paired with other staples, usually fried rice. As a sabaw (soup) kind of food, it's best served in chilly weather or rainy days, but for Filipinos, it'll work even on a hot summer day. Especially if it tastes really good!
Take for example KUMPARES, a new pares joint right in the heart of Molino, Cavite. Its name is seemingly taken from the word "kumpadre" - in Spanish, "compadre" meaning a close friend. They offer a tempting catch for those who want to try: unlimited rice and soup. Seeing this, my girlfriend and I decided to give Kumpares a try.

True enough, it's 24 hours open for all pare's and mare's.

When we arrived there, close to midday, a decent-looking guy in sunglasses greeted us good morning as he fixed the tables - probably the owner, or at least the manager. While we weren't able to ask him any questions, we proceeded to getting our lunch. One of the things we noticed was the area's cleanliness: surely it was not built with high-end dining sets, but everything was neat, and the crew cleaned up quickly after those eating had left.

I never thought you could have Siomai Pares. Anywhere.

I ordered Beef Pares for myself, while Bing got Beef Spareribs for her. The menu looked interesting: they had variants like Chicken Pares, Nugget Pares, and other short-order items that one could take home.

Hallelujah it's a fine meal!

We waited about ten minutes for our food to arrive, and when it did... boy it was a welcome surprise. It looked and tasted better than we expected!
Even as we were hungry that time we did our best to judge the warm bowl of heaven-filled meat and soup in front of us. Unlimited soup and rice, YES.

The garlic was a nice touch. I wish it was also in the condiments...

First off, the rice. Of the set, this was probably the least to impress us. The first bowl of rice was topped with diced, baked garlic. Definitely tasted good with the pares soup. The rice itself was like many you'd find in roadside carinderia's: a little porous and the soy sauce/flavoring was not evenly distributed. The following cups no longer had the garlic so it wasn't as good as the first.

Beef Pares.

Beef Spareribs Pares

Next, the pares itself. Now I wish it had some veggies in it packed within the soup, but alas, there was none! All it had was a garnishing of spring onions on top. Good thing it had going for it was the soup and the meat - both were stuff for second servings! The meat, albeit in small pieces, were very tender and tasty. You'd want to save some for more servings of rice later. It didn't carry a rough texture that says the meat was cooked very well. 

Now the best thing of all was the soup. 

It's not enough posting these photos. You gotta taste them!

The soup was just right- not too thin, not too thick or sticky. It has a consistent feel to it when you sip it through your lips. It's also very tasty and makes for a perfect combination with the fried rice. While saltiness is subject to personal taste, for me it was at that just-awesome level: it accentuated the flavor of the meat without overwhelming the tongue if you eat it in itself, and amplifies the flavor of the rice too. 

After about three extra cups of rice my stomach finally decided to give up and call it a day. We left with our tummies happy and wishing to return someday to try the other options.

What else have we left out? They have barbeque at night. Yes. Barbeque! Yet another nice side-dish to pares. That, we guess we'll try sometime in the future. Perhaps when the weather is cooler again. 

KUMPARES is located outside of Camella Lessandra Homes along Molino Road, Bgy. San Nicolas II, Cavite. Here's a vicinity map for those who want to try their offerings:

It's near a spa and computer shop, if you get to see a school you've gone past it.

Red arrow on the map. When commuting, take the jeep that would pass by SM Molino.