Cardiac Delights Marikina: The Ultimate Putok Batok Eatery

The name, Cardiac Delights Marikina tells you everything you need to know. Don’t worry, I am going to go into great detail about this Marikina restaurant, but put two and two together and tell me what you think they serve? With dishes like CPR, brain damage and High Blood I am sure you can guess that they are serving the most unhinged over-the-top Filipino dishes you can imagine.

And it’s not an accident. They have literally come to feed you into an early grave if you don’t have some self control. Fortunately for us, I have no self control and I long for the relief that death will bring. So I offer myself as tribute to tell you all about their menu and what crazy twist on classic Filipino food I was willing to shove down my gullet. Afterlife, here I come.

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About Cardiac Delights Marikina

Cardiac Delights in Marikina is the original location. Sure, they’ve got a Kapitolyo branch and even a branch in Molino now, but this is where the madness began. Alvin, the owner, explained to me his goals when he started it. Bringing those incredibly expensive, special-occasion Filipino dishes to everyone, without the insane price tag. Think nostalgic Filipino flavors, but for the masses.

Then 2021 hit. The internet went wild over the absurdity of the dish names. Instantly, Cardiac Delights became the Marikina destination for anything putok batok. Here’s the kicker, though: Alvin, the man who built this empire of overindulgence, doesn’t touch his own food. High blood pressure, he told me. The irony in that is thicker than their bone marrow. So yeah, it’s just another Marikina restaurant that’s constantly packed. And trust me, you don’t walk into this place by accident.

What is Putok Batok?

If you’re not Filipino or unfamiliar with the Tagalog language let me briefly touch on it’s meaning. Putok batok literally translates as “burst neck”. It’s a slang term used to describe food that may cause high blood pressure or even a heart attack. In other instances it could mean blown out arteries. As best I can tell, everybody translates it a little differently. But it is always used as humorous sarcasm about how the food might kill them.

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Cardiac Delights Menu

The menu here will give you a heart attack, or at the very least some serious stress, just reading it. No joke, they have gone full on ridiculous with the dish names. “Asim-Tomatic”, a play on asymptomatic, is their sinigang na baka (beef) with tendon. At first glance the roasted beef and tendon would tell you it is going to be a rich, savory and fatty dish. But then the “asim” (sour) hits you.

Or how about “Goutfather”, which is a dish of papaitan with bone marrow? Papaitan is a soup of animal innards, usually goat or beef, and is soured with bile from the animal. Animal innards in excess are well known for causing gout, hence the name.

While some dishes wear their warnings on their sleeves, others are purely a masterclass in morbid humor. Take their “Liemphoma” for instance. A dish of sizzling breaded liempo (pork belly) and rice. It’s purely a darkly humorous pun that links the dish’s name to the broader theme. Indulging in rich, potentially unhealthy food and the general health hazards associated with them.

Cardiac Delights Marikina has fully embraced the idea of over-the-top Filipino dishes. Not just in dish names, but in the food that carries the names. It’s overindulgent, it might kill you, and it’s worth every damn bite. The process at each location is simple. Walk up to the window, place your order, and have a seat. That is all there is to it. And for less than ₱300 you might just get to meet your maker

What I Ordered at Cardiac Delights

We have clearly established that I have zero qualms about meeting my early (maybe not so early anymore?) demise. So let me tell you about my pure gluttony as I sat down at a small table in the corner of this packed Marikina restaurant. Dish after dish, 5 in total, landed at my table. Each one more menacing than the last, staring back at me with evil intentions.

Crispy Pata Rice (CPR)

If you have followed me in any capacity, you know this is one of my weaknesses. Crispy pata rice or CPR as it is more affectionately known is putok batok in a bowl. It starts with a bed of garlic fried rice topped with a damn tower of deep fried pork trotters. Is it going to kill me? At some point, most likely. Do I care? Not in the least.

The skin of the pork is the kind of glass shattering crunch you can only hope for. A savoury, salty, and juicy fatty meat sits underneath while the garlic fried rice helps balance the saltiness. Mix up a sasawan (dipping sauce) of your choice and enter eternal bliss. A huge bonus is, directly across the street sits a hospital, so if you need actual CPR you’re covered. Run over, get some chest compressions and you can be right back to finish your meal. Tell me Cardiac Delights didn’t think this through?

Liemposuction

It’s true, I probably could use some liposuction, but I prefer a Liemposuction. This play on words is exactly what you think it is. Liempo, which is grilled pork belly. It comes with java rice and kimchi and you’re goddamn right they added a Korean element to the dish. It’s not like any rules have been followed anywhere else, so why start now?

Ditching the deep frying, we are being a little more health conscious here. Ok, who am I kidding? The 50% fat to lean meat ratio of the pork belly makes this no more healthy than a tub of lard eaten by the spoonful.

On a more serious note, this may have been the most disappointing of all the dishes. Flavor was fine but the pork belly was a bit overcooked. I love crispy edges, but this was charred throughout drying it right out. Sasawan (that dipping sauce again) is the only thing that made this edible. The java rice was perfect and the kimchi with its spicy and sour flavor is a great addition. I give them full marks still because when I tell you this place was packed, I mean packed with a lineup out the door. Kitchen staff was definitely busting ass on my visit.

High Blood

Cardiac Delights in Marikina pulled at my heartstrings with their High Blood, both literally and figuratively. Literally because they were surely trying to kill me, and figuratively because I have a bizarre love affair with its main ingredient, dinuguan. If you’re new here, dinuguan is a Filipino stew made with pork blood and vinegar.

The dinuguan is packed with both offal and pork meat that’s simmered in the aforementioned blood and vinegar. It’s savory, slightly sour and sweet all at the same time. But the dinuguan isn’t what’s going to kill you. Well, you might give yourself a heart attack thinking about eating blood, but in and of itself, it won’t kill you.

That comes from the crispy bagnet that it’s topped with. Pure unadulterated pork belly that’s been deep fried until extra crispy. Both the dinuguan and bagnet sit atop a bed of freshly steamed white rice, once again balancing out the saltiness.

And if you came here to quote me Leviticus, take it up with your god next time you’re choking on sisig.

Kare-Kareng Bagnet (KKB)

Not everything on the menu at Cardiac Delights in Marikina is an announcement of your impending doom. Kare-Kareng Bagnet is one of those examples. This dish is simply kare-kare + bagnet. While they haven’t come right out and announced your date with destiny, the bagnet should be an indicator.

This is another dish that starts out with a bed of pillowy steamed rice. Who the hell am I kidding? Every Filipino dish starts and ends with rice. Anyway, the rice is topped off with a thick and rich peanut sauce and crispy bagnet. You get the same crunchy, salty and fatty pork belly with a layer of kare-kare sauce. And kare-kare is never complete without the addition of bagoong which is a salty and umami shrimp paste that works perfectly with the peanut sauce.

If you watched my video of my visit I kept referring to this dish as kbb and not kkb. That’s mostly because I’m American and we’re stupid. Now it’s a race to see what kills me first. The ungodly amounts of bagoong I try to murder myself with. My stupidity. Or the crispy bagnet.

Brain Damage

Just when you thought it was safe to breathe, we are right back to over-the-top Filipino dishes. Cardiac Delights is throwing Brain Damage at you. This is our grand finale, and it’s a goddamn masterpiece of excess.

This is a sizzling bulalo steak drowned in rich gravy, served over garlic rice, with a beef shank split wide open, oozing bone marrow. That plate hits your table still screaming hot, and the beef is so fall-apart tender it practically dissolves. The gravy? Pure, beefy bulalo comfort. But the real star is that bone marrow. It’s rich, buttery, and a little sweet. I could eat tubs of it, just mashed into the rice.

Will this dish give you actual brain damage? Unfortunately, no. I’ve eaten enough questionable things by now to confirm it. But it’ll definitely push your blood pressure to new heights.

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Marikina’s Most Over-the-Top Filipino Food

Cardiac Delights stepped on the gas and leaned into excess in the most glorious way possible. They built a brand around it and today are looking at franchising opportunities. Marikina is a city known for comfort food, so this was a huge gamble. They have taken that reputation and gone completely off the rails. Every element, from the menu names to the stacked portions, is designed to push the joke just far enough without losing the plot.

Marikina already delivers some of the best low-key eats in Metro Manila. What Cardiac Delights does is take that comfort food energy and load it with theatrics. They haven’t reinvented Filipino food by any stretch of the imagination. What they’ve done is take classic Filipino dishes and shoved them in your face with a smirk and dared you to finish it.

The best part? People keep lining up for more

Cardiac Delights: Prices, Hours, and Location

Prices
This may be the best part of Cardiac Delights, the prices. Almost every thing on the menu falls between ₱140-₱300. Only a few items exceed that and that is the CPR at ₱650, which is a great price for crispy pata within the NCR. And then a few other that go as high as ₱350. Very affordable meals across the board.

Hours:
Marikina Location: 12:00PM – 9:00PM Mon – Fri. and 11:00AM – 9:00PM Sat. – Sun.
Kapitolyo Location: 11:00AM – 9:00PM Daily

Locations:
Marikina Location: 59 D Katipunan St, Marikina, 1807 Metro Manila
Kapitolyo Location: 16, 1603 E Capitol Dr, Pasig, Metro Manila

Cardiac Delights Marikina: Final Verdict

Cardiac Delights Marikina is one of my favorite restaurants in the NCR. It’s ridiculous and delicious at the same time. If you’re like me and love the overindulgent Filipino food vibe this place is a can’t miss in my opinion. Trust me when I tell you that this is one Marikina restaurant you won’t want to miss.

So spit on it. Have you been? What is your favorite dish? Haven’t been yet? Tell me what you want to try. Drop a comment down below and let me know

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