Never really knew what love at first sight (and bite!) felt like until I tried this place's…read morebarbecue ribs. Situated in SM North EDSA's Sky Garden (before the bridge to the Annex), this little place serves THE best ribs in town. Half-pound of pure beef - so soft it practically falls off the bone, but not too soft that the texture feels disgusting in your mouth. Paired with their signature street rice (it's yellow with salsa on top), it's great for dinner. The accompanying coleslaw was a little too watery for my taste, and the banoffee pie hadn't settled yet. But hey, nobody's perfect - but if anything's ever come close, it's this.

Located along a strip in SM North Edsa going to SM Annex, this restaurant serves your regular…read morepasta, wings, burgers, and rice meals, tex-mex style. Place is cozy and great for hanging-out with friends or just a quick meal. It is a sit-down restaurant where the menu is handed to you while seated, but you have to order upfront. Staffs are friendly and servings are small (good for one) even if they say it's good for two. Price is affordable. Food is ok, nothing really stood out.

Great place for breakfast or anytime of the day. Everything is very organic, basically farm to…read morefork. It's a very stylish & cozy spot with a classy yet laid-back ambience. It's good for brunch, lunch, coffee, or just a casual dinner. It's very clean and has a relaxed vibe. Love the decor. Feels like nature. Love the tree right in the middle by the door but it's not real. Great place to dine with family, friends or solo. Stopped in early and it wasn't busy at all. Only one other table. Staff were friendly. The restaurant emphasizes organic ingredients, healthy & comfort food. I ordered the Garden Omelette with roasted potatoes. The garden omelette included eggs, cherry tomatoes, shiitake mushrooms, kale, spinach, fresh parsley, sauteed garlic and onions. Everything was so fresh and it was definitely quality. Loved their house made ketchup. It was so good. I also tried the halo halo and it was so good. Really good size too.

First of all, I love the fact they they accept dogs inside their restaurant! What a relief! it's…read moreso nice to see more restaurants being open to this idea! The food was okay, we had truffle fries, pork chop and this pasta which is cream based and we had a salad and calamari for appetizer then we had a carrot cake for dessert! Overall it was okay and the service was slow but I would give them 4 starts bec of their dog policy! Every restaurant should adapt this as long as the dog is in diapers and well behaved.

Came here for drinks only to get out of the post-Christmas heat. For a late Wednesday afternoon,…read morethis place is not very busy. We tried to go to Bayleaf's rooftop bar but it wasn't opened until 4pm. For the third floor, it has a nice view of the city and some of the Fort's walls. The restaurant is known for wood fire pizzas but they have pasta too. Casual dining and maybe seats 50 people. Kuya Alvin was very attentive to us.

Ever thought of spending your Sunday lunch in a quiet, "secret" place? You might want to visit…read moreIntramuros and check out Bay Leaf Hotel. In this hotel, you will be able to find 3 different restaurants. One of them is Raffaelle, the hotel's Italian restaurant. Located at the 3rd floor, the restaurant is overlooking the walls of Intramuros. Pretty nice view. I must say I was really impressed with the food. For my appetizer, I got to try the Gambaretti. It's gambas ala Italian style with almonds even. I absolutely love this dish. Finish up the sauce with the house bread! The pastas, Frutti de Mare and Sea urchin pasta were killer! Noodles were cooked right, the sauces were good! For the pizza, I like the seafood pizza more than the four cheese pizza I ordered. Overall, this is my new favorite pasta place! It still needs improvement in the pizza dough but other than that I love this place!

I came here with my family on my last night in the Philippines. Balboa is located at Shangri-La…read morePlaza. We ordered a bunch of food like pasta, lasagna, calamari, laksa and pizza. Most of it was fantastic. Although the calamari was a stingy portion so I'd skip on that. The Pizza was delicious we got the one with bacon, egg and apple. The lasagna was also very tasty and the laksa too. We really enjoyed our meal here and I'd highly recommend it if you're looking for a good dinner place in Mandaluyong.

This restaurant presents an elegant set-up for a lunch meeting. We are seated at the window-side…read more The staff is really attentive and we get our requests in no time. Shared the Ceasar Salad (P528), Spinach and Artichoke Dip (P288), Beef Stroganoff Fussini (P568), Truffle Oil Mushroom Pizza (P658), and the best-seller Truffled Oysters (P368). In consensus, I find it overrated. Serving size is adequate but the food seems average. No bursts of flavors even the truffle in the oysters didn't float.

A foodie friend referred me to this place a few years back. He said that they have the BEST pasta…read morein Manila--perhaps in the Philippines--perhaps one of the best you will have in your lifetime. I've always wanted to go but never found the time or opportunity, until last night. The rumors were true. Despite the peculiar choice for the location--a gas station in the middle of EDSA, for crying out loud, Va Bene served us some of the best pasta dishes I've ever had. We were greeted by their friendly, very accommodating staff, and it turned out to be a deliciously beautiful evening from there. The interiors, in my opinion, were nothing extravagant: glass-top tables overlooking paintings underneath, dark-painted chairs with tacky glossy varnish, and on one side a floor-to-ceiling shelf with their wines, cookbooks, and pasta-making paraphernalia for sale. I wouldn't say this was the work of a professional interior designer, but I felt the heart and the unassuming authentic Italian taste. Then came our food. I ordered the Lasagna a la Michele--lasagna with Italian sausage, bolognese, and parmesan cheese sauce. Presentation-wise, it looked like your typical lasagna served on a large hot plate instead, but it tasted far from the ordinary. Each forkful of the pasta layers was rich and heavenly. All I could think was, "I wouldn't want to gobble this up so quickly, it's too good!" The only thing missing was a piece of bread on the side or a glass of wine, so you wouldn't feel so "umay" if it was the only thing you ordered. But I have no complaints at all about the flavors and portion size. With this plate alone, I'm one more happy customer. I tried my friend's Black Ink Tagliolini--mixed seafood, marinara sauce, light tomato cream sauce, and it was nothing short of flavorful too. The sweetness from the seafood was the best partner for the very "malinamnam" black ink pasta. I wouldn't change a single thing about the dish. Va Bene also offers other main dishes if you want more than just pasta. We also ordered their Ciao Burger--chicken breast bruger served with homemade mayonnaise, semi-dried tomatoes, sauteed mushrooms, buffalo mozzarella, arugula leaves, and crispy potatoes. And my for an Italian restaurant, it's one burger I truly enjoyed. The ingredients, especially the arugula, were so fresh and green and it just made me feel happy stuffing them in my mouth. So when all the food was gone and we were happily paying for the above-average price of our bill while complimenting our server for the amazing food, he offered us some Lemon Drop shots--some lemon syrup with vodka that tasted good but was actually pretty strong. Will Va Bene ever run out of surprises? Overall, after just my first time here, Va Bene has become one of my favorite restaurants in Manila. (I'm eyeing that Parpadelle for my next visit.)

OH MY GOD THE HYPE IS REAL. Va Bene is the best, THE BEST Italian Restaurant I have had the…read morepleasure of dining at. Why this place is located in a gas station in EDSA is beyond me, but my god what an incredible restaurant. There was nothing put on or artificial about the whole experience, and you do get the sense that the staff knows what they're doing. The restaurant itself is bright and inviting, and while it had none of the lines we so associate with headliner restos, Va Bene always had customers in the two hours we stayed in there. Yes, two hours. As for the food, the names escape me right now but I had a pasta dish with lamb, and my friend had a mushroom/truffle pasta. I still have dreams over both dishes, ESPECIALLY the mushroom/truffle pasta. Incredible.

Good for what it is. It's convenient for me as it's located near school. It's a decent Chinese…read moreplace, though I only tend to eat here once a month as I usually prefer to go to the neighboring restaurants. For my last meal here, we ordered lechon macau, 2 servings of hakaw, radish cake, spicy prawns, & bichu. My mom liked the lechon & said it was very crispy. It's what she usually gets when we go to Mann Hann. The hakaw was pretty standard, but the wrapper was wrecked on one of them. It tasted fine, but I wouldn't have served it. The spicy prawns were flavorful, but could be spicier imo. The bichu was pretty good and very chewy which I like. Other items I've gotten in the past: *Fish Tofu Rice - I used to go to Mannhann more often last year & this used to be my go-to. However they raised the price of this dish from P180 to P210 & since then I've just found other restaurants more worthwhile to eat at. *Prawn Tempura - you get three, but they're a good size & well-cooked. *Yang Chow Fried Rice - really like this & it's not too oily. *Chicken Corn Soup - pretty standard chicken corn soup, serves as a decent appetizer.

Mann Hann's food tastes like you stopped by your Filipino-Chinese friend's house after work one day…read moreand pulled up a chair at the dinner table. The food is never too greasy or too risky. It tastes familiar, satisfying, and safe. I would recommend coming here with friends and ordering the rice toppings or even going family-style with your loved ones. My highlights here include -Yang Chow Fried Rice. It's done so well here! Not too greasy or salty and every bite is chock-full of flavor and ingredients. I'm always impressed at how much egg, pork, and veggies find their way into the rice. -Lechon Macau. The lechon here is crispy outside and moist inside and their house sarsa has the perfect sweetly-acidic bite to complement the rich and fatty pork. The lechon Macau is a perfect Filipino-Chinese marriage of flavors. -Fresh Lumpia. They literally make it in front of your face if you order takeout and write "consume immediately" on the box so you know it's fresh. I like how their lumpia is on the nuttier side and the vegetables are just the right crispiness to contrast against the soft egg flour wrapper. The included soy garlic-based sauce and hot sauce also complement the lumpia super well. -Fish fillet with black bean sauce/tausi. I've had this both as a rice topping and shared as family style. The fish fillet is a generous portion and it really satisfies, especially over a bed of fresh white rice. I do wish they had a bit more ingredients mixed in though. -Chilled taho. Although it does cost double what taho from a street vendor would cost, the chilled version is a welcome respite from the heat and makes for a sweetly satisfying dessert.

This place is awesome - pay for the cultural show its buffet, it's worth it!…read more It's located near Intramuros tourist areas and the ambiance is so pretty! Many tables of tour groups but the service is excellent and I absolutely loved the cultural show taking you through Philippine history. Very well executed!! The buffet is quite diverse and a great way to try Philippine cuisine en masse. Highly recommend!

Barbara's is a solid choice for lunch if you are visiting Manila in the Philippines. We had a…read moreblast! What stood out about this restaurant was the exceptional customer service and the cultural dancing while you eat delicious traditional Filipino food buffet style. I don't know if it's because they cater to tourist that makes this place so special but I left here feeling very full and very happy from the cultural performances. What was also fun was after the performances they invite the visitors from different regions of the world up to the stage and taking a picture with the dance performers. It provided a great keepsake to take back home. They also perform different songs from around the Philippines and the different dialects they speak and where they are from providing an educational opportunity. One of the songs was from the region, where my mother's father is from which is why I took a trip to the Philippines to learn more about my grandfather's culture and homeland. This touched my soul deeply and will never forget my time at Barbara's. The food was outstanding and very tourist friendly. I went up two times to partake in the delicious offerings from the buffet. I think the best thing about this place too is to have experienced all of this in an air-conditioned building. It was a nice reprieve from the 90+ degrees Fahrenheit with humidity weather that I endured in Manila. I also attended another restaurant with the cultural performance, and it was outside, and the experience was not as special due to the weather. So that's why I can't say enough good things about how I was treated and the yummy food that I ate and the beautiful cultural performances I admired at Barbara's. Highly recommend Barbara's while visiting the Philippines .

We stopped by for a round of pre-dinner drinks. The location was convenient with a decent selection…read moreof hard liquors. Ambience was relaxing and the seats were very comfortable. I do have a few gripes about the overall experience. First, the service was very slow. We only ordered drinks and found the wait time to be about 30 minutes. We ordered an old fashioned with makers mark, watermelon mojito, and margarita on the rocks. The old fashioned had more ice than alcohol. The watermelon mojito also had a ton of ice and was not even stirred. The margarita on the rocks was served in a martini glass with a slice of citrus. We ordered a couple of grand marniers and waited another 20 minutes, however only one was delivered and charged. Overall, I would've given a better rating had the staff checked-in on our orders, offered waters, and better wait time.

Classic Margherita Pizza: As far as the flavor's concerned,…read moreit was good! But, the dough of the pizza softened up pretty quickly. In fact, it was already very soft when it arrived at our table. Nevertheless, I still enjoyed my crust! :) Crispy Vietnamese Spring Rolls: These were also good but not something I'd regularly look for or feel excited about. Grilled Lemongrass Prawn Pad Thai: I can't recall not enjoying any pad thai in general, so this one passes too! But the prawn...perhaps more would be better.