PenCities

Dining Out

• La Regalade
  Excellent classic French bistro fare prepared by Manila’s first-ever Michelin star winner Chef Alain Raye. The escargots are memorable, the onion soup is rich and generous, the steak tartare is another keeper, as is the beef bourguignonne, and the braised short ribs are but a heartbeat short of sublime.
  
  820 Arnaiz Avneu, Makati City
  Tel: (63-2) 750 2104
  
  
• Abe
  Abe is a tribute to the father of the late and much-missed eminence grise of the Filipino good life, Larry J. Cruz. The menu is a list of Abe Cruz’s favorite dishes from his hometown, peppered with a number of Filipino classics from Ilocos, Bicol and old Binondo. Choice dishes he discovered during his many travels around Europe give the menu a flavour of wanderlust.
  
  Serendra Circle, Bonifacio Global City
  The Fort, Taguig
  Tel. (63-2) 856 0526
• Bistro Remedios
  This 1950s style Filipino restaurant is the perfect place to enjoy the best of local cuisine. Highly recommended are Knockout Knuckles – pigs trotters marinated overnight, deep-fried, and smothered with fried garlic and chili; Bulalo – tender beef shank and marrow in a steaming hot pot; and Secreto ni Maria – a dessert of mango, rice cake and coconut cream.
  
  1911 M. Adriatico Street, near Remedios Circle, Malate
  Tel: (63-2) 523 9153
• Bistro Filipino
  Bistro Filipino is run by chef patron Rolando Laudico who creates the sort of Filipino food that could take off in the international scene. The interiors are lovely – diaphanous abaca weaving hanging from eaves, custom designed chandeliers, narra tables, banquettes wrapped in native fabric, diamond checked flooring. This is easily one of the most romantic restaurants in Manila.
  
  Net One Building, The Fort, Taguig.
  Tel. (63-2) 856 0634 and (63-2) 856 0541.
  Email: cheflaudico@yahoo.com
• Bollywood Bistro Bar
  The best of India is in its food and films, and Lorenzo “Larry” J. Cruz – eminence grise of the Malate good life – pays tribute to Bollywood and Indian cuisine with his latest venture. To further enhance the experience, there’s a live band playing sitar classics, Bhangra and Indopop, and video flat screens showing the latest Bollywood films.
  
  Level 3, Greenbelt 3, Ayala Center, Makati
  Tel: (63-2) 757 3536 / 757 3537
• Café Adriatico
  This restaurant is what many consider to be the prototype of the modern Filipino café. Whether it’s the casual sidewalk seating, the eclectic décor inside (baroque furnishings and architectural knick-knacks, ethnic fabrics and turn-of-the-century prints) or the tantalizing ilustrado menu, the place was, is, and always will be, a hit with Manila’s bohemian set.
  
  1790 M. Adriatico Street, near Remedios Circle, Malate
  Tel: (63-2) 525 2509
• Café Juanita
  Eating in Café Juanita is like eating at your slightly batty old aunt’s house or a dusty old curio shop because the place is chock full with old china, antique chairs, tables, cabinets, and other sorts of Filipiñana-themed clutter. They also have elaborate chandeliers made from little Chinese lanterns hanging from the ceiling, Coca-Cola paraphernalia mounted on the walls, and kitsch little European ceramic figurines all around. But you must not miss out on the food because this gem of a restaurant serves wonderful binagoongan (pork stewed in shrimp paste), fried hito (cat fish) with green mangoes, delicious beef rendang (beef stew simmered slowly in coconut cream and spices), angel hair pasta with taba ng talangka (crab roe), sticky toffee pudding, and mango jubilee. It’s a hodge-podge of everything good!
  
  21 United Street, corner West Capitol Drive, Barrio Kapitolyo, Pasig
  Tel: (63-2) 632 0357
• Casa Armas
  This restaurant has established a well-deserved reputation for serving some of the best paellas in town and in the process has built up a dedicated following. There is also a branch in Makati. Try the Chicken Iberico but put in your order a day ahead.
  
  573 Julio Nakpil Street, Malate
  Tel: (63 2) 523 0189
• Chateau 1771
  At Chateau 1771, guests are constantly delighted by the beautiful combination of great food, well appointed dining rooms and impeccable service. It provides an elegant yet festive setting to mark and celebrate life’s most significant and unforgettable moments.
  
  Greenbelt 5, Ayala Center, Makati
  Tel: (63-2) 729 9760
• Chef’s Table
  A stone’s throw away from Bonifacio Global City, this quaint rooftop garden is actually the venue for Chef Bruce Lim’s kitchen theatre, where he dishes out seven-course meals centred around updated Filipino dishes and ingredients given a new context. The savoury winners are the pakbet soup with roasted vegetables, malunggay-basil pesto for pasta, a do-it-yourself salad bar (and if you want a particular dressing, the affable Chef Bruce will whip it for you) and the roasted pork loin with sweet potatoes.
  
  1238 Emilio Jacinto Steet, Guadalupe Nuevo, Makati City
  Tel : (63-2) 917 8668080
  
• Cibo
  Acknowledged as the purveyor of modern Italian cuisine in the Philippines, Chef Margarita Araneta Fores insists on serving only al dente pasta and refuses to compromise with her ingredients. For a quick but authentic Italian meal, you can’t go wrong with Cibo.
  
  Level 2, Greenbelt 5, Ayala Center, Makati
  Tel: (63-2) 758 2426
• Conspiracy
  Conspiracy is anything but! It’s a funky, groovy place that’s part al fresco dining restaurant, art space, music room and a bar-café and a whole lot of Filipino-inspired bohemia.
  
  59 Visayas Avenue, Quezon City
  Tel: (63-2) 453 2170
• Cookbook Kitchen
  A cosy restaurant hidden in the neighbourhood bordering San Juan and Mandaluyong, this is the place to go if you’re sick of Friday night beerfests and prefer a quieter atmosphere to go with affordable meals. From the humble but satisfying pumpkin soup or tomato basil pasta to the stomach-stuffing lamb curry, you’ll have a selection of comfort food to turn to anytime you wish to drop by.
  
  8 Soccoro Fernandez Street, Mandaluyong City
  Tel : (63-2) 724 3595
  
• Eat Well
  This powerhouse of a tiny restaurant does Cantonese food of surprising quality. Tops are the 3 Cups Chicken, Crispy Mushrooms, juicy Xiao Long Bao and even good old Sweet and Sour Pork.
  
  Net Quad Building, 30th – 31st Street, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig
  Tel: (63-2) 856 9408
  
• Fat Michael’s
  An old haunt of the Intel employees based in Bangkal, Makati, Fat Michael’s is now where many thrift-store junkies pause in the midst of raiding segunda mano (second-hand) shops in the neighbourhood. While gloating over their finds, they may have salads, burgers, pizzas or pasta - or one of those thirst-quenching drinks served up in quaint glassware unearthed in the same neighbourhood.
  
  1154A Rodriguez Avenue corner Gen. Lacuna Street, Bangkal, Makati City
  Tel : (63-2) 844 2638
  
• Fleur de Lis Patisserie
  This cozy pastry shop is situated in the heart of Morato Avenue, a block away from the headquarters of broadcast giant ABS-CBN Channel 2. Best-sellers are “Cheesecake by Request” and “The Next Best Thing” – a warm chocolate cake with tiramisu ice cream.
  
  FLP Building, 305 T. Morato Avenue, Quezon City
  Tel: (63-2) 372 0631
• Kikufuji
  This place serves great yakitori and other izakaya specialties to an always appreciative, mostly Nippongo clientele, many of whom are quaffing cold brews at the end of a long day.
  
  227 Chino Roces Street, Makati City
  Tel: (63-2) 893 7319
• Lemuria
  This must be one of the most romantic dining spots north of the city. Owned by Marina Bru Schroeder, it sits on top of one of the biggest wine cellars in the city (the cellar contains an extensive variety of wines – German, Romanian and Austrian wines among others – filled up to one-third of its holding capacity of 27,000 wines). The restaurant serves Mediterranean cuisine cooked by Chef Golda-May Ranada. Must-trys are the house Walnut and Focaccia Bread with Sun Dried Tomato, Mushroom and Gruyère Soup and Tomato Consommé, Grilled Salmon, Corn and Mushroom Crépe with Spinach Sauce, Valrhona Chocolate Soufflé Cake with Mandarin Orange Glacée and Creamy Carabao’s Milk Panacotta.
  
  Lemuria @ The Winery
  5 Julieta Circle, Horseshoe Village, Quezon City, Philippines
  Tel: (63-2) 724-5211 / 722-2185
• Lolo Dad’s
  Fine dining at this small restaurant is definitely not for those with small pockets, but every bite is pure heaven. The intimate setting allows for just 30 people, making this an ideal choice for that all-important date.
  
  899 President Quirino Avenue, corner of Leon Guinto Street, Malate
  Tel: (63-2) 524 2295 / 526 7155
• M
  M or The Museum Café sits right next door to the Ayala Museum. Check out Chef Sau del Rosario’s melt-in-the-mouth lamb chops and grilled foie gras with sushi rolls, nouveau cuisine salads and soups. M’s popular cocktails are its Red Metropolitan and the ‘M’ melon martini. The stylish interiors enhance the whole dining experience with its slick style and personable servers.
  
  Makati Avenue corner De la Rosa St., Greenbelt Park, Ayala Center, Makati City
  Tel: (63-2) 757 3000 and 758 1268
• Masseto
  This is a wine lover’s paradise in every sense of the word. Owned by a group of oenophiles, Masseto serves simple, solid food that pairs well with the selection of vino it has in stock.
  
  114 Valero Street, SB Card Building, Makati City
  Tel: (63-2) 810 3564
• Nanbantei
  The cozy interiors of this yakitori restaurant make dining very pleasant. On many nights you will find the place packed and the sizzling sounds from behind the open kitchen give it a very positive energy.
  
  Level 3, Greenbelt 3, Ayala Center, Makati
  Tel: (63-2) 757 4130 / 31
• Old Manila
  The Peninsula Manila’s award-winning signature restaurant serves Chef de Cuisine Gavin Sellars’ peerless modern European cuisine.
  
  The Makati Lobby, The Peninsula Manila
  Tel: + 632 887 2888
  
• People's Palace
  People’s Palace offers authentic, traditional Thai cuisine in a contemporary Asian setting.
  
  Ground Floor, Greenbelt Garden
  Tel: (63-2) 729 2888
• Purple Feet
  If the restaurant’s name gives you pause, once you realise that it’s an extension of a wine store, it all starts to make sense. The wine making process of old included the time-honored tradition of stomping the grapes which gave you “purple feet”. The restaurant’s interiors are unfussy. Guests are surrounded by crates of wine and sit on wooden tables and chairs and wine choices are listed on pillars. Chef Marco Legasto invites diners to let their culinary imaginations run wild. You choose from raw materials that the chefs then work wonders with when you tell them your preferred preparation and flavor. It’s quite an adventure.
  
  217 Nicanor Garcia St. (formerly Reposo St.), Bel-Air, Makati City.
  Tel: (63-2) 897 3220 / 897 8167
• Restaurant 9501
  Restaurant 9501 is the exclusive and clubby corporate dining restaurant of ABS-CBN run by managing director Myrna Segismundo, who also happens to be one of the Philippines’ finest (and cutest) chefs. That said, The Peninsula Manila’s guests can dine at her restaurant by appointment only for lunch, Mondays through Fridays.
  
  Level 14, ELJ Communications Center, Eugenio Lopez Avenue Diliman, Quezon City
  Tel: (63-2) 415 2272 ext. 2231 or 2334 and 411 1434
• Sala
  Chef Colin Mackay’s decision to move his legendary Malate restaurant to Makati is a Godsend. The soups, salads, main courses and desserts are truly delicious.
  
  Podium Level, Locsin Building
  Corner of Makati and Ayala Avenues
  Tel: (63-2) 750 1555
• Sala Bistro
  Right next door to his popular People’s Palace Thai restaurant, Colin Mackay’s Sala Bistro offers delicious comfort food in the form of steak frites, slow braised lamb shank, home-made Angus burgers, and fish cooked in paper, alongside ice cream sundaes and indulgent toffee pudding. Chic ebony veneers, ivory paneling and smoked mirror interiors make it one of the hottest tables in town.
  
  Ground Floor, Greenbelt Garden
  Tel: (63-2) 729 4888
• Salcedo and Legaspi Community Market
  More popularly known as the Salcedo Weekend Market or the sosy (local slang for upscale) market, this weekly event started out as a simple neighbourhood get-together. People living in the nearby condominiums and ritzy villages would come together to sell and share their wares. Word got around and people started coming from all around to feast on the wide variety of excellent home-made food – from rich paellas, succulent grilled liempo (grilled pork belly), healthy vegetarian rolls to local sweets and desserts. Local organic produce is also available. The market opens at 7:00 am and closes at 2:00 pm on Saturdays only. Come early enough and you can sit down at one of the tables, enjoy great affordable food and people-watch at the same time.
  
  Parking lot of Torsedillas, Salcedo & Luisto Streets, Salcedo Village, Makati City
  Legaspi Market. Parking lot of Herrera corner Herrera Streets, Legaspi Village, Makati City.
• Sentro 1771
  Old Filipino favorites jazzed up, but still true to their roots.
  
  Level 2, Greenbelt 3, Ayala Center, Makati
  Tel: (63-2) 757 3940
• Sugi
  When in doubt, head to Sugi. This old favorite’s Japanese sushi, grilled gindara, and delicious daily specials never disappoint.
  
  Level 1, Greenbelt 2, Ayala Center, Makati
  Tel: (63-2) 757 3678 and 757 3679
• The Goose Station
  Run by a husband-and-wife team, this is highly personal cooking, mainly because the dishes are extensions of the chefs’ tastes and travels and collective knowledge. Fun, adventurous and very gutsy food.
  
  Ground Level, W Tower, 39th Street , Fort Bonifacio Global City, Taguig
  Tel: (63-2) 556 9068
• UNO
  A quiet bistro in perpetually buzzing Tomas Morato, chef-owner Mari Relucio has a different menu every few months, plus a daily special hand-written on the blackboard. If you’re not feeling all that adventurous, you can never go wrong with the squash soup and any of the pasta dishes. The bread, which is baked on the premises, is outstanding. For dessert, have the very light cheesecake, the puckery lemon tart or dense rhum cake.
  
  195 Morato corner Scout Fuentabella, Quezon City
  Tel: (63-2) 374 0774