I went to Indonesia a couple times last year, and my several trips to the city's food streets have…read moreleft me with such a big craving for the trademark spices and preparations of Indonesian cookery. Although authentic Indonesian food is quite tricky to find in Manila, I find that Malaysian restaurants come close (but not quite, yet I can't be choosy). Fortunately, when talking about Malaysian food, I know a handful authentic ones that serve really good, cheap, Halal and affordable food options that remind me of my great days in Jakarta and its neighboring cities. One of such restaurants is Pamanganan Malaysian Restaurant, which is smack in the middle of the Muslim community in Quiapo. This place primarily serves Malaysian food, but they also have Halal versions of food items that non-Muslims usually consider as street food - Halal pizza, non-pork Siomai, etc. They also have Yakan regional cooking, which is rare here in Manila. The Yakans are one of the Muslim tribes in Mindanao, and Pamanganan offers home-style recipes that are really familiar to the Yakans. Anyway, if you are looking for Malaysian and Indonesian food, they have really good nasi goreng, which I always get since it is quintessentially Indonesian. I have also tried the martabak, which is also sold in Indonesia. The martabak is an Arabic crepe that is usually stuffed with savory fillings, but there are also sweet versions. The place quite a shabby yet cozy feel to it. I just wish they didn't spray the dining area with that chemical solution that smells like fabric conditioner (their idea of air freshener). They also advertise an iftar meal platter, which is a nourishing set of dishes that are to be eaten after a Muslim breaks his fast every sundown during Ramadan.

Love Jollibee pancit palabok with fried chicken. You need to go early in the day as by dinner time-…read moreno palabok is left. Busy restaurant but staff kept the line moving and had an efficient way to get your order depending if you are dining in or takeout.

My first time here, sometimes the food is slow when the shop is packed but I love the chicken i…read morejust hope it's halal. habibi come here. i love the place its okay no problem habibi

Favorite place for authentic Arabic style non veg meals. Solace to get refreshed with variety of…read moremeals and well served. A right place if you are looking for authentic Arabic style food and yet Halal.

It is surprising how ignorant I am about Filipino Muslim/Moro food and culture despite having loads…read moreof friends who hail from the colorful and beautiful region of Muslim Mindanao. I have heard many stories about the rich culture down there, but I haven't gone there so I couldn't get a visual of what it looks like. Thankfully, halal food, especially Maranao regional cuisine is prevalent here in Metro Manila because of the large Maranao population in certain districts in the metro. I have had the privilege of sampling the best of Maranao cuisine at Mofara's, which is a small hole in the wall near Quiapo's Golden Mosque. A quick word about Maranao cuisine: the people of Lanao are resourceful freshwater fishermen, and most of their diet is fish and seafood, but they also have great beef dishes such as the Indonesian-inspired randang (rendang). Mofara's looks like your typical carinderia, but it is always spotless. There are no flies buzzing around, and dishes are cleared away immediately after a table is vacated. If you have a taste for fiery curries and spicy food, Maranao food should be next on your bucket list. Order Mofara's randang and be prepared to down cupfuls of ice water. I like spicy food but nothing prepared me for the heat of their randang, which was thick and very rich, making it a dangerously viscous vehicle for the spice, with the biting piquancy of the meat lingering like napalm in your throat. It's a good and refreshing shock to your system that gets the blood pumping. You can cool down with their herbal tilapya curry, which is also creamy but not as rich. The chicken papar, a Maranao specialty mustn't be missed. The tender chicken cooked in thick coconut milk and coconut flakes just hits the right buttons for me.

Hands down my favorite place to eat in in Taft Avenue!…read more Ababu opened about a year ago and hasn't lost its momentum since, well at least for me. They serve Persian and Mediterranean foods which are two of my favorites! The best part? It's just a block away from my building so if you do visit, there's a possibility of you running into me there (don't forget to say hi!)! Ababu's food is very affordable but unlike most cheap eats, Ababu serves amazing food! Their Beef Kebab Rice Meal is my favorite! It consists of charbroiled ground beef with egg, corn, onions and tomatoes on rice. They also serve bottomless iced teas with the meals though I believe they use powdered iced tea. The only drawback is that the place can get really hot and a little smoky when they are cooking the meat and the poor air-conditioning sure doesn't help.

When, like my sister and me, Mediterranean food is your comfort food and you want to eat it in a…read moresimple, no-frills place like we do, head to Ababu Persian Kitchen. Good thing there's one located across my office! I love their Chicken Rice Meal, which, at Php 139, comes with grilled chicken breast, a cup of rice, a slice of butter, some corn, tomatoes, onions, and a sunny-side-up egg. A bit of warning, though: the grilled chicken is really just that. It's not grilled barbecue-style so it's sauce-free, which is good news for weight watchers. It's a heavy meal, enough to fuel you from lunch to dinner. In fact, it has become my go-to lunch for days when I practice hot yoga after office and afternoon snacks are a no-no. My sister, the shawarma lover, loves their Shawarma Rice--no surprise! Their meals include unlimited yogurt dressing (of course!) and unlimited iced tea! Don't be surprised when they offer you one pitcher though you're dining alone. Though certainly amusing, that pressured me to drink more iced tea than I normally consume!

Ordered the chicken and gyros platter for lunch. Looked very appetizing but while I was mixing the…read moresauce with the contents of the plate, I found a very thick hair. I'm not actually sure if it's human hair but the thought of it was disgusting. (You can see it if you open my photo below and zoom in close enough) I informed them about this experience through Facebook and they said they will look into this and deeply apologized. And "to make it up to me", they offered me a free meal.

I guess I'm just disappointed by the hype. Don't get me wrong, it's delicious - I wish there was…read moremore meat and less rice. I had the falafel/chicken combo and the falafel was really overfried. Not my thang. Thankfully we went during a rainy day so there wasn't too bad of a line. If you're looking to bypass the wait I suggest going on an off day!

This is the new food court found in the new wing of SM Megamall, SM Fashion Hall. It's completely…read moredifferent from the "normal" food court you'll find in Manila. The food kiosks here are a bit more expensive. But, I believe what you're paying for here is the ambiance and also the food quality. :) The main difference between this food court to the other older food court is that this place is very clean! They have a bigger staff here and they are dressed more like "hipster waiters" (sorry, I don't really know how to describe their uniforms). The downside, again, is that the number of people who eat here. So, tables are limited. Like what I suggested before, if you're eating here with a group, have one person sit at a table and everyone else will buy the food! My favorite places to eat here are Frankie's (for their chicken wings), NAV (for their Thai food), SP Steak and Paella (for their Paella, enough for 4 people), Waffos (for their waffles), and Sweetea's by Da.u.de. Of course, this is where you will also find The Halal Guys (I'm not a fan though). This is a good place to rest and have a break from shopping or a meeting place for friends after work! Just remember that you have to shell out about Php250-300 for a meal here. :)

I think Megamall's Food Hall is a brilliant move! If you're shopping at the Mega Fashion Hall and…read morewanna take a break or get some grub or two (that are not fast food), you can venture to the Food Hall. The food haunts that are at the Food Hall are not as cheap as the ones found in Megamall's Food Court but are not as pricey as the stand-alone restos at the Fashion Hall either. Safe to say you'll need 200 to 300 pesos per person. They only have a handful of grub spots here but all these are of very high quality. I know because I've practically tried them all. Hahaha. At the Food Hall you will find Frankie's New York Buffalo Wings, Miguelito's, Tex-Mex, SP Steak and Paella, Sweetea's by da.u.de, Nav, Yakitori, Waffos and Dojo Diary. Soon enough, they will also be house to a US-favorite street grub, Halal Guys. The food hall is pretty spacious and the interiors are very chic! It's definitely a nice place to stay at if you're waiting on your girlfriends to be done with shopping or if you just want to catch a break and hangout.

Any search on Halal restaurants in the Manila area would undoubtedly yield Moud on the top results,…read moreand for a good reason. The restaurant is actually quite shabby, and it has that really sketchy quality to it - it's storefront is quite rundown and a bit chaotic, and the place (as with the rest of the buildings in the area) has fallen into a wild sort of decay throughout the years. Looks can be deceiving, though, as in most cases. This Quiapo institution has Halal Filipino carinderia staples, but nobody really goes there for anything else but the star of the show - their roast chicken. The chicken is one of the best I've ever tried, hands down. The certified Halal roast chicken is flavorful up to the very last morsel. The first time I ordered a quarter chicken from Moud's, the serving that I got was even a bit lukewarm, but man, the meat was so flavorful and so mouthwatering that I just had to order another serving. The roast chicken is moist, tasty and tender. I'm guessing the chicken was marinated in a simple brine, but the flavor was quite robust .. The spicy dipping sauce is also good, with chunky bits of bell peppers and angry morsels of fiery siling labuyo. I once asked the owner what was in the sambal, but she kept mum and looked at me like I was a blathering idiot. The upstairs dining area is a bit dingy, and they don't even have plates (they serve the chicken in a styro pack) but for me, the flavor of the food is all that matters. Moud's doesn't need ambient music, either. If you go in the afternoon, you might catch the unmistakeable Muslim call to prayer (which is sweet music to my ears) from the mosque nearby. A sign in their dining area also advertises that they sell fresh dressed Halal chicken for P120/kilo.

When you hit the Muslim Quarter in Quiapo, it's easy to miss this place. Unless you really know…read morewhat you want to get, and that's their halal roast chicken. Considering its price (less than 250 pesos for a whole roast chicken), it is one of the softest, most tender and delicious roasted birds I have ever had the pleasure of stuffing into my mouth. The woman who owns it refuses to divulge the secret to the marinade, and with good reason! I came back last Sunday with my cousin just to let him try it. The chili sauce that comes with the chicken is also pretty good, I'm guessing it's made with sweet and sour sauce and mashed siling labuyo. The turo-turo offerings are kind of meh-looking, but you're not there for those things. You go there for the chicken. Inshallah, that's good.

We like this place, first time to try it was last week, we tried the roti with chicken curry…read morechunks, hainanese chicken and their rice noodles and I also tried their cheese roti which is my favorite! The roti was soft and chewy and had a good taste the curry was a bit strong more On Indian curry with very much lots of cumin! The hainanese chicken was good and so were the noodle. It's a very basic restaurant the cutlery was basic and so were the plates so nothing that much to show to social media. Service was quick too and they have a place to bring your furry friends! Ambiance was busy but clean. Overall I would recommend this place for a quick bite.

Looked like an average place when we were checking out places to eat in this section of the mall…read more We ordered only roti with curry sauce and devoured it and ordered rest of our food which was delicious. Service charge was totally acceptable ( we didn't like how in the mall in the Philippines they had this charge automatically added) as the waiting staff was excellent from the beginning to the end. We ate here twice in our 2 weeks Manila stay and will definitely be back next time.