Cocina Juan: Part 3 of The Great Maginhawa Food Trip

This post is the third of a five-part series called The Great Maginhawa Food Trip.
Part 1: Tomato Kick
Part 2: Friuli Trattoria
Part 3: Cocina Juan

Part 4: Sancho Churreria
Part 5: Cha Dao Tea Place

UPDATE: As of September 2013, which is when I last visited Maginhawa, Cocina Juan is no longer open for business. You can check their FB page for updates!

Part 3 of The Great Maginhawa Food Trip is about Cocina Juan F. Gallery. The F. Gallery part refers to the restaurant's double function as an art gallery, with its walls displaying some paintings and other pieces by local artists. I'm not an art critic, so I'm not going to comment but even to my unrefined eye, the art is certainly interesting. (I'm not that sure what the F stands for but I'm assuming it's "food".)

Cocina Juan, one of the more unique finds in Maginhawa, serves Nicaraguan food. I'll wait here while you look up Nicaragua on Google... Good? Okay. Nicaragua, as you might have learned already, is a country in the Central American region, which is right between North and South America. Easy, right? It's also right below Mexico, which explains some of the menu options in Cocina Juan, which seem to be Mexican-inspired, if not actual Mexican dishes. What sets Central American food apart is their use of meats, grains and various herbs and spices. Their cuisine was also influenced heavily by the Spanish, much like Filipino food.

Now enough history/geography lessons! It's time to focus on Cocina Juan and their fantastic food! 

The restaurant itself is a cozy little house, brightly-painted and with assorted foliage covering the front, so much so that it might be hard to catch the tiny signage in the front. Just make sure to watch out for the big red chili pepper when you look for this location.

Tomato Kick: Part 1 of The Great Maginhawa Food Trip

If you live in the Quezon City area, you've probably heard of Maginhawa Street, that artist-culture-foodie haven located in UP Village, Quezon City. A nice quiet street by day, a crowded youth hub by night, this place boasts some of the most unique food finds this side of town!

Because Maginhawa's not-so-hidden treasures cannot be contained into one post, I'll be covering five of Maginhawa's best in this series which I dub The Great Maginhawa Food Trip. (Which, I know, is a ridiculous title, but there are just no other words fit to describe the sheer awesomeness of the Maginhawa experience.)

Just a quick teaser of the upcoming posts in the series ;)

This post is the first of a five-part series called The Great Maginhawa Food Trip.
Part 1: Tomato Kick
Part 2: Friuli Trattoria
Part 3: Cocina Juan

Part 4: Sancho Churreria
Part 5: Cha Dao Tea Place

For this post, we'll be starting off with one of the most well-known spots in Maginhawa: Tomato Kick.

A popular watering hole for students of the University of the Philippines, Tomato Kick has a laidback casual vibe that makes it the perfect hang-out. When you see the sign, you'll probably have trouble finding the entrance as we did, but it's actually on the second floor.