staff: family run business. Servers are friendly and helpful with suggestions. service: it was not busy - we might have come after the lunch rush. Server checked in often, she took our orders quickly and food came out relatively quick. establishment: nice open space with bright light. Lots of tables. Lots of parking outside. food: I have never had Filipino food other than the food made by friends. I was pleasantly surprised. Great portions - we had left overs! Good flavour. The dishes we ordered were not spicy but did have good flavours. read more

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Wow. What an amazing experience! The service was great and the food was outstanding. The restaurant itself is a little hole-in-the-wall place located in a strip-mall just off 127th. The interior isn't bad, but it seems like take-out is more of a priority than dine-in. It was kinda middle-of-the-road when it came to dining atmosphere. The food, however, was fantastic. I ordered the peanut pork Kare Kare. The pork was golden crispy on the outside, but melted in your mouth in the inside. While it wasn't lean by any stretch of the imagination, the discerning food lover will know that fat=flavour. The sauce was a sweet and savoury peanut sauce mixed with vegetables. It went well with both the pork and the massive "side" of rice I ordered. My son ordered the coconut pork Bicol Express served with beans and eggplant. It had a flavour similar to a very mild Thai green curry, though the Filipino coconut was pink in colour. The vegetables and the sauce were incredible and also went very well with the rice. The pork was lean and crispy and highlighted the dish. There is so much more on the menu that I would like to explore and I'll definitely be back. read more

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Customer service was awful. The person in charge of taking my order that time was RUDE! No idea why the server got upset when I decided to dine in. I wanted to cancel my order right away but opted not to so I could avoid petty argument. I already lost my appetite because of how rude the server was. It happened July 6, around 5:30pm. She could be the owner for all I care, but that doesn't mean she could be rude to a paying customer. Worst Customer Service I encountered here in Edmonton. read more

This is a nice, casual little restaurant to grab some Filipino food. I was impressed with the menu. They have a comprehensive selection of traditional dishes to choose from. To be honest, it was a bit tricky to decide. Coming from a Filipino background myself, I opted for my favorites. My parents sometimes make these at home but I wanted to try this restaurant's take on these dishes. I noticed the servers were eager to help us. One lady had already taken our order, when another lady came to ask us again. It seemed a little disorganized to me. But in the end, our food was served in a relatively short amount of time. Our first dish was Sizzling Sisig (savory minced pork served on a sizzling plate) for $14.95. This dish was in the "Pulutan" section of the menu, meaning "a dish that you can eat if you're out drinking with your friends." Consider it an appetizer. The Sisig was served on a sizzling plate. The meat was super tender and very easy to eat. I enjoyed this! This dish went well with an order of garlic fried rice for $8.95. The bowl of rice was quite big. Definitely large enough to share. I also ordered the Crispy Kare Kare (crispy pork belly, peanut sauce and mixed vegetables) for $15.95. I was curious because my parents don't make this dish with crispy meat. I was impressed with the nicely deconstructed presentation. Usually the meat, vegetables and sauce are all mixed together. This dish was served on a long plate. The vegetables, sauce and meat were all nicely separated. This way the crispy meat doesn't get soggy from the sauce! Makes sense! Overall, I found the dishes a bit on the pricey side. My boyfriend and I had 2 dishes, one bowl of rice and one Coke (interestingly served in a disposable cup even though we dined in). The total cost was about $48. They automatically include a 10% tip for 2-4 people. Despite my opinion on the prices, I plan to come back here. They really serve quality authentic Filipino food. The menu selection was great. The portion sizes were fair. We were full from our meal and still had some leftovers to take home. I recommend this place if you want to try some Filipino food. read more

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Manilla Grill Express, located in a strip mall near large grocery stores, a Tim Hortons and lots of other express food places. I mentioned this because Manilla Grill seems to holding it's own and thriving in the midst of chain fast food places. That should tell you something about how good it is... While I'm not an aficionado of Filipino cuisine, I'm also not a complete newbie. We were stopping in for a mid afternoon snack so it wasn't really lunch or dinner. That being the case we ordered 2 dishes and shared. All was delicious and good. The service is extremely friendly. Sometimes one can feel like an outsider at restaurants that have a lot of regulars. Not so here. Although it was our first time, several staff made a point of welcoming and inviting us back. It's just a nice feeling. I hear they are opening a new, bigger place in the west end soon. We will check that out. Lots of parking and shopping nearby. read more

Manila Grill Express - Painting - Filipino Near Me - Edmonton, Alberta

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Dissapointed in this place, went before was amazing, then today ordered something and it was wrong. I got a negative reply when i called, as if she did not care at all. Sad that customer service was lacking, probably will not order from here again. Unless they improve the customer service and someone else tells me about it. It doesnt matter if you make good food or not, if you can't keep customers happy you will lose business. read more

Located in the same parking lot as Lucky Supermarket and directly across from Golden Bee BBQ HK Cafe, it's a little hidden from the streets. I didn't even know it was there and I live relatively close by! It's a pretty small restaurant, seating maybe 40 or so seats, and a long counter suggests that take-out is common for Manila Grill Express. First dish to come out was the Bicol Express, a dish highly recommended by our server. Bicol is one of seventeen regions in the Phillipines, and unlike the other regions, they enjoy a little spice in their dishes! Named after a passenger train from Manila, capital of the Phillipines, to Bicol, the idea is that you'll run like a train to find some water! Obviously there are variants, and this might have been one of them as I didn't find it too spicy at all! The sauce was coconut milk based, which was really reminiscent of Thai food. Eggplants and green beans served as the mainstay of the dish, but pieces of lechon kawali (deep fried pork belly) made the dish hearty and dangerously addictive. Yum! Two more dishes rolled out as we munched away on the Bicol Express and side orders of rice. The chicken adobo is what I would call the Phillipine's signature dish as it's the only dish that I could distinguish as Filipino. Spaniards gave this Filipino sauce the name, and coincidentally, it also uses vinegar as its European predecessor even though it was independent of its influence. In combination with soy sauce and garlic, it's a marinade used with a pork or chicken. I was a little underwhelmed by the dish and wasn't quite sure if that's Manila Grill Express' fault or just the overall cuisine. It tasted quite simple to me, even with the vinegar as a prominent flavor. The meat platter was a better success, a combination of grilled chicken, pork and beef. Our favorite was the pork, nice and tender, and very similar to Vietnamese grilled meats found in vermicelli bowls. The side of spinach that came along with the meats were I think more for decor, as the salsa was overly seasoned, even for my salty palate. The pièce de résistance arrived last, a whole deep-fried pork leg, "crispy pata". Oh boy. We were so perplexed on how to tackle it that our server took it to the back to cut it for us. We must have been really obvious! Delicious! Not one bit of this was healthy at all, but mmm, you can't go wrong with a deep-fried pork leg! Similar seasoning as the deep-fried pork belly of the Bicol Express, but clearly less fat. While my friend Jody and I were humming and hawing away through dinner, the restaurant filled up just as quickly as it emptied thereafter. Most were Filipinos, which is always a good sign. I've read that as a culture they don't dine out as much, preferring to have homecooked meals and hosting big family dinners instead. Lots of take-out orders as well. Seemed like almost every table ordered the crispy pata, a family favorite! I'd like to think we ate at least half of what we ordered but that's an exaggeration. There was a lot of leftovers for the both of us! That didn't stop Jody from wanting to try the Halo-Halo though, a dessert of shaved ice, evaporated milk, green beans, sweet potato, and taro ice cream. There's a good reason why the direct translation means "mix-mix". Not entirely new to me, as Vietnamese desserts are quite similar with a mix of ice, evaporated mix, a jello or tapioca of sorts, and green bean, but the sweet potato really threw me for a loop. It looked beautiful though, served in a to go cup, probably a hint to us that we ordered too much! The dessert was not overly sweet, creamy, and bits of perfectly cooked sweet potato actually turned out really well! The taro ice cream was a great top off and this was a great way to end our meal. Good call Jody. We were so engrossed with the dessert and chatting that by the time we were done, we realized we were the last table there. They close at 8pm, and we were there well pass the time and nobody had told us! Our server was so kind and super helpful. Service was excellent as she regular checked up on our table. An open kitchen showed us their clean up for the night. Thank you for the great hospitality Manila Grill Express! Overall impression? Filipino cuisine is quite simple, they like meat, it's not spicy like Thai food, and they do not use chopsticks. You learn so much from eating new things! Would I return? Most definitely. That Bicol Express was delicious and the grilled pork easily rivals their Vietnamese counterparts. And you can't forget the deep-fried pork, although the leg should probably be saved for tables more than 2. I will definitely be back, with either Joe or my family in tow. I've got a long way to go before I can say I know what Filipino food is, but at least I got a good start at Manila Grill Express! read more

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I love filipino food... The only time I get to eat it is when I visit my parents or go to family parties. I am kind of glad I only get to eat it once in awhile because it is very rich, rich in flavor, smell, texture, and fat. It's really good food trust me. I came here when they first open and since I moved to the south end I've always wanted to come back. I only come to the north end to visit my family so it defeats the purpose of going out for filipino food. Well I decided I was going to come today and I was hungry. O my were they busy. It's a small restaurant so there are limited tables and you are definitely going to have to wait till someone leaves to get seated. I waited I didn't care. They don't serve alcohol which is good because I bet ppl would over stay. I decided on an orange juice and my companion had a diet coke (they ran out of regular coke). Our server was an older filipino lady who was very kind and patient. I don't know how they are able to handle the rush, it was insane I felt bad so I didn't care about the slow service. We decided on bicol express, lechon kawali, a pork dish (I can't remember the name), and rice. It smells so good and I was sooo hungry. It took a bit for our food to come out but when it did omg it was yummy. The lechon kawali came out and it was crispy and the pork had just the right amount of saltiness. I always use the mang Tomas sauce but they provide soy/vinegar dip. The pork dish ( I think it's pinakbet) was okay, the last time I came it tasted alot better so I don't know whether it was just me or they changed the recipe. Then the bicol express .. yummy! The veggies were cooked perfectly and with the coconut milk mixed with bagoong (I can't spell, it's shrimp paste) made it sweet and salty with a light purple color. I love it! I love this stuff seriously, it reminds me of home that's it and that's all. I'll be back. read more

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I was at the 127th branch around 4Pm. At the counter, the guy with glasses gave me the menu and continued to play his game on his phone. Didn't even bother to ask me if I'm ready to order. I thought it was very unprofessional that your front of the line had the audacity to play a game on the phone while attending to a customer. To make matters worst, your male cook kept coughing on the food he was cooking. Didn't bother to cover his mouth. Haven't you guys learned anything from Mama Nita's Binalot? It completely turned me off so I decided to leave. I don't know if you change the owners but the original people who worked there were so good. I didn't know anyone there tonight. Not sure I will go back and will let other people know about my experience tonight. read more

Love. Love. Love this place. Stumbled upon it trying to find a place in the north end, and was smiling as soon as we walked in the door. The food was fresh, very reasonably priced, and absolutely delicious. The staff were extremely friendly and helpful, and were so gracious when answering our questions and making recommendations. I want to try everything on the menu. As someone who has worked in restaurants in Edmonton for over 20 years, it's truly wonderful when I find hidden gems like this little place that make my day. Truly made my heart smile. read more

very poor service they don't greet customers when they walk in and yelling at you asking for your order or asking if you order already in a rude way. read more

Their food are expensive and personally think its not worth for its price. Typical fillipino food, its ok nothing special. What really disappoint me was their service, its not good. I have to asked their server to give us all the things that we need like bowl since we ordered nilaga (for the broth ), saucer, plates etc. While the caucasian customer on the other table, was courteously accommodated and automatically given all the utensils and condiments that we kept asking for several times. One more thing their restaurant enforced automatic tipping on your initial bill. Its not voluntarily giving what you want to give them, they forced you to give the tip that they want you to give. You'll just know it once you already paid and gave your receipt so you have to watch out. read more

This Filipino restaurant has the best version of "lugaw." When we first eat here, we ordered "crispy pata", "palabok", lugaw", and "taho". The place itself isn't that big, but it's always busy because people are really getting what they're paying for which is a flavorful, high quality, affordable and true Filipino food! You won't waste money when it comes to the serving as well. read more

Amazing food at a reasonable price. The fried pork belly is ridiculous!! Also really enjoyed the meat platter. They also do a really food breakfast read more

This place gave my wife and myself food poisoning. The crispy pata came out looking like something i would throw to my dog and the sevice was horrible and they included a manditory 10% tip on the bill for a party of 2 i have never seen this anywhere else read more

This Filipino restaurant had just opened not too long ago and honestly it is probably the best in the city . To start the food is authentic serving from Bicol express to crispy pata to Palabok to even diniguan. They even have filipino BBQ which I must add is so tasty I am craving it just thinking about it. The prices are very reasonable and the quality of food is excellent. This is definitely a place to try if you are looking to try something new. read more

Thought we would try something different. This place is fantastic! The noodle, pork, meat and seafood platters were amazing. It was very busy and not many tables, but the service was still very good. Will definitely be going back! read more

We have a bad experience last time we were here, very disappointed with the service, drinks and seating capacity. When we came resto was full so they use their spare prep table to seat us. We got excited with the taho and sagot gulaman so we ordered 3 of each. It taste nothing as if they only put a pinch of sugar in it so i ask them if they can add sugar. we have been waiting for 20 mins for our order to be taken. We are hungry so i decided to go to the counter and order our food, and the lady says "oh i thought ur order was taken already". ;-/ and when I went back to the table, my chair is missing - taken by the people seating beside us. For 5 -10 mins the staff look around for a chair to give me. Last Saturday, we decided to give it another try since we are craving for Filipino dishes. It is not busy when we came in. We were seated right away and this time we only ordered 1 sagot gulaman to check the taste first. It taste fine this time so we ordered 3 more. We ordered crispy pata, sisig and sinigang - all taste good. Our dining experience is perfect until this old lady came and rushing us to leave and told us where to pay. We still have some foods on the table and she ask if we want it to be wrapped up, since we were surprised by her rudeness i just said we are not taking the foods home. Then she says again "do u want me to accompany u to the counter to pay?" WE WERE PISSED ON HOW THIS OLD LADY WITH NO MANNERS TREAT US. She could have ask nicely or apologize for rushing us because its getting busy and we will rush to finish our food and drinks and leave. After she rushed us to leave the table we were standing in front waiting for our bill for 10 minutes. I hope the management will train and brief their staff or relatives the right manners on how to treat customers so they wont lose customers. WE ARE DEFINITELY NOT COMING BACK. read more

Nothing special really...I could've cooked it better myself and I'm not a good cook...It's not something I would gladly share with friends... They do know how to ignore people though. We waited soooo long before someone came to check on us. It would have been ok if we're enjoying our ordered food. The fish was so dry, dinuguan was salty...barely touched it and just left it. Rice portion is too small and price is too expensive for the quantity you're getting. read more

Food was amazing can't complain, the only reason why I gave poor rating is because the service is so unprofessional and very ackward. My husband and I ordered adobo yesterday for take out, this short grumpy lady took our ordered then gave the debit machine then walked away without saying anything. Not even saying thank you, that is totally rude and unprofessional! then she came back to the counter chat with her co-worker with her back turned to us. after about 40sec I was frustrated and got her attention at which point she looked over with a grumpy expression then I asked for a card holder copy (reciept) then she gave me a wrong reciept without me realizing till I got to the car (reciept says I payed cash but I didnt). When I went back to pick up our ordered I asked for my debit Reciept unfortunately she throw it away, she had began searching thru the trash bin for it, at that point I told her not to bother. she didn't say sorry or even goodbye she just look at me with a grumpy/ confuse face like I did something wrong. We don't have plan to go back there again due to this unfriendly unprofessional transaction. We love this restaurant but she turn us OFF badly!!! I wouldn't recommend this to my friend as I don't want them to be disappointed with the service. read more