Lena and her husband Diody first came to Kunming, China in 2000.
They came to China with a plan.
First, learn the language and secondly scout out locations for a business, they eventually decided to setup in Haikou, Hainan Island.
The Porch Cafe opened its doors in October 2012, which back then just served coffee. The family chose Hainan as it’s geographically close to the Philippines and the weather is comparable to their home city of Manila.
Situated a stone’s throw away from the Hainan University north gate, the restaurant attracts a lot of students as well as the long-standing expats of Haikou city. Locals in the area also make frequent visits to the Porch Café for its home away from home vibes and welcoming atmosphere.
The Porch serves Western, Mexican, and Filipino style dishes, some of the most popular being quesadillas, (Mexican), adobo, pancit and lumpia, (Filipino) and lasagna and pizza, (Western).
Lena learned to cook Filipino food from her mother who has always worked in the catering business, her mother is now in her 70’s and is still running a successful restaurant back home in Manila.
She learnt to cook Western-style foods in her 20’s when she spent 7 years working in 5-star hotels across London.
Lena initially began her career as a waitress, but this soon turned into a passion for learning how to cook, and from a young age she knew that she would open a restaurant someday.
The Lasagna is also one of Lena’s favorite foods on the menu, which is originally her sister’s recipe.
According to Lena, Hainan Island was the perfect location for her and her husband Diody to both start a business, and start a family.
Produced by tropicalhainan.com, copyright HIMC
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