There are places that are worth going to even if they're totally out of the way or tucked in the…read moremiddle of nowhere. For me, one such place is the Dutch Bread Hauz. This quaint shop is first and foremost a bakery but they also offer meals, coffee, and snacks on the side. The smell of chocolate and bread in the oven wafting from the kitchen greet customers the moment they step inside this bread house. On the counter you will see various types of dinner rolls, croissants, buns, and breads. Although they serve familiar dishes, like lechon kawali with rice and chicken shawarma, I chose to try Dutch specialty snacks which -- according to the staff -- were made using traditional means from the Netherlands. I was a bit adventurous so I got Berehap (slices of meat ball and onion on a stick served with peanut sauce) and Bitterballen (small meat-based balls served with mustard, a favorite snack from Holland). My wife was hungry this time and she was not in the mood to try products she can't pronounce so she decided to have parma ham and cheese sandwich. The attendant asked her to choose the type of bread for the sandwich and she picked spelt, a type of bread made from hulled or dinkel wheat that's popular in Europe. Of course, both of us had coffee. I was glad that we decided to drop by this place because the coffee was good as expected from Lavazza and the food was different but surprisingly savory. The spelt bread was tough and heavy so I don't think anyone could finish one order of sandwich using this bread. I liked my order of Berehap. The sausage was a bit salty when eaten on its own but a bite of the sweet onion and a dab of the peanut sauce neutralizes the saltiness. My wife liked the Bitterballen dipped in mustard. She said it was similar to croquettes because it's crunchy on the outside but a bit gooey on the inside. The place is clean, well-maintained, and generally peaceful so I think this is an ideal place for a meeting. It's also worth noting that their restroom faucet comes with hot or cold water. Parking can be a problem but if you do not mind walking for one or two kilometers, you can park your car at Power Plant Mall and just walk your way to Dutch Bread Hauz.

An imposing and elegant dining area. Floor-to-ceiling arch windows. Great ambient light. Polite,…read moreeager-beaver staff. My list of reasons why I love Chateau 1771 goes on and on. Despite the name of the place, they are not exclusively serving French food. They have pasta, steaks, and seafood. If anything, Chateau 1771 is a modern European restaurant serving favorite French, Italian, and Swiss food. When I first visited the place years ago, I was actually anxious about that moment when the waiter would hand me the check. European dining in the Philippines has always been equated with expensive fine-dining. But to my astonishment, the price was actually reasonable. I mean, it's not affordable and one would be crazy or filthy rich to eat in this kind of place every day. But for special occasions, I would recommend this place. My most recent visit was during my wife's birthday. It was a table for two and we had a late lunch. After a few moments of browsing through the menu, she asked for Croquette Salad, while I went for Butter-baked Oysters. For main, she had Vanilla Brick Spring Chicken, or grilled chicken served with vanilla bean dots. I ordered the Potence, the house specialty. It's basically steak where the meat is served hanging from a potence, or metal frame, and then set alight (by the waiter) with brandy. Their Pomelo Fruit Juice is a must try. I would recommend having a reservation when dining at Chateau 1771. While the place typically fills up during dinner, I find it perfect for a late afternoon hangout. The ambience can truly transport you somewhere in Europe.

Every time I come to this place, I'm already too full to eat and I'm just in the food for a cold…read moredrink or hot coffee and sometimes their dessert. You know how other shops have fresh fruit shakes but when you drink it it just tastes like sugar? Well, Chateau 1771's shakes are fresh, cold and it's the actual fruit. Oh, their flambeed coffees are amazing. Try their Irish coffee. You'll want more. For dessert, it doesn't matter whether you order a Creme Brulee or a Coffee Bean Sansrival. All of their desserts are excellent.

Balkan is a newly, revamped, relaunch place in Legaspi. They started from humble beginnings from a…read moresmall resto in San Juan that serves their local dishes to a newly converted restaurant and bar. We had an opportunity to be invited to their launch and we were served platters of cold cuts, some kebabs and dip. Roasted whole lamb, and plejskavica. The roasted lamb was soft and tender. It easily tears apart that was well seasoned. It was just too seasoned on the skin part, but then again, it was really good. No sauce pr anything, just plain ole' lamb. Plejskavica, is still nice, juicy, burger stuffed with cheese, like what I had back in their San Juan branch. The taste and quality is still the same. It was a perfect beer match. I like how Balkan transformed from a hole in the wall restaurant to an upscale bar and restaurant that caters to lunch-dinner crowds to the after dinner market. #TheFoodCrawlers #OngsFoodprints #TheLostDiego

Tucked into the quiet side of Legaspi Village, Balkan along Perea St. is one of those restaurants…read morethat you never knew existed until someone mentions it, and you have absolutely no idea what they might possibly have there. I'd never heard of Yugoslavian cuisine before I first ate at Balkan, but one taste was enough to keep me coming back at least once every two months for a full year. My wife and I only ever eat 2 dishes when we're at Balkan: their famous Serbian stuffed burger, which is essentially a beef patty folded over cheese and grilled 'til the stuffing melts, and their stuffed chicken batak, deboned chicken thighs stuffed with smoked salami, mushrooms, and cheese. I didn't realize that cheese was such a big hit in traditional cooking in that part of Europe, although a wild guess of mine is that it was a later addition. Whatever the case, Perea St. and the whole of Makati is grateful for it.

Sala is Makati's old guard. A well-heeled institution of a restaurant that has seen lesser…read morepretenders come and go, Sala is one of the restaurants that deserves its storied reputation. Okay, I honestly thought I wouldn't be able to try this restaurant out anytime soon, as it literally takes a small fortune to eat here. I was lucky, however, that my boss treated the team out to dinner at Sala. I did have a minor heart attack upon seeing the menu, but it does look inviting. I had an order of Lamb Cutlets, which was cooked to perfection. The dessert was absolutely divine as well. I'd love to come back here someday, preferably with a hot date. Need to pull out a mortgage first.

I'm not sure why I never cared to ask what the"free" and tiny hors d'œuvre is officially called,…read morebut it seems that everyone I know who's experienced it absolutely loved it!

What an impressive place. It's nice to see that the Nielson tower, a piece of history has been…read moretransformed to a nice dining restaurant. My relatives here in the Philippines treated my husband & I to a sumptuous Sunday lunch here. For starters we a bottle of cab sav with the prawn scotch eggs. I had the Thai Chicken Curry noodle soup. My husband had the Blackbird burger. For dessert we truly enjoyed their sundaes, burnt butter and banofee. Such an enjoyable Sunday lunch at this place.

Came here for lunch with my family and love the interior. Food is great. I enjoyed the seafood…read moreplatter and the potato cubes

Remarkable Filipino food. If you don't mind spending on good Filipino food, this is the place…read more Highly recommend the beef salpicao and beef tapa. Nice variety of drinks, too. Cool ambience. Only concern is that there were too many mosquitos outside the restaurant but that's about it. Service is also satisfactory. Overall, solid place.

Ordered chicken sausage, corned beef hash, some drinks. Everything was pretty good. I like that…read morethey made their potatoes crispy and the chicken sausage was delicious.

Food was just okay. Tapenade (ground floor) is so much better. The coffee, though, is pretty good…read more (Hence 2 stars) Service was god awful. I will note that we were a party of 9, but the only ones dining at the entire restaurant! Not only did the wait staff get our order wrong, she was adamantly insisting that we were wrong (stressed it at least 3 times) without any apology or remorse or offered consideration or compromise. When we got the bill, they said that our room "specifically" (ouch) was not allowed to charge to the room and when we asked where that came from the staff said she "confirmed twice with the front desk" (to rub it in) and yet when we went down to speak with the front desk, they apologized for that experience even when they claimed that no such call or order was made. While it seems like they are pointing fingers, I always had a pleasurable experience with the front desk and would like to think that the Flame restaurant staff just offers terrible dining service. Very sad considering the caliber of the hotel.

My husband and friends wanted a nice steakhouse to celebrate my friend's birthday for our last…read morenight in Manila. The restaurant is located on the 16th floor of Discovery Primea hotel. The views are wonderful during the day and the night. There's also indoor and outdoor seating available. My friend decided to choose this spot since we saw that they had oysters, foie gras, and all that good stuff. For appetizers, we ordered Steak Fries, Crispy Salmon, Duck Gyoza, XO Oysters, and Grilled Bone Marrow. My husband and I didn't care too much for the fries and crispy salmon, but we definitely enjoyed the duck gyoza, grilled oysters, and the bone marrow. I really wanted to try the scallop ceviche and snapper crudo, but we were hesitant on trying anything raw since we we're from out of the country. For our entree, my husband and I shared an Excel Ribeye from Colorado topped with seared foie gras accompanied with a green peppercorn and brandy sauce. We enjoyed our delicious steak with the foie gras, but we didn't really care for the green peppercorn sauce. My friend and her fiance ordered the Miso Glazed Chilean Sea Bass and the Prime Tenderloin. We ordered our steaks with a side of Truffle Cream Mac N Cheese and Pan Roast Mushrooms. Both sides were fantastic. So good! We had leftovers and had the 3 items again for breakfast, and they were still amazing! The mushrooms were especially my fave - that sauce? Mmm, chef's kiss. Now, onto our desserts. My husband and I ordered the Panna Cotta, while our friends ordered the Pineapple Consomme and the Miso Cheesecake. All the desserts were beautifully made. They were literal works of art. The panna cotta didn't feel like a panna cotta to us - not sure how we would describe it since the white part of the dessert had a firmer texture than the orange part. The pineapple consomme was very different. It was cut up pieces of fruit, with some kinda of pineapple juice or sauce poured over it. Similar to a fancy fruit platter. However, the miso cheesecake was definitely the crowd favorite. Loved it. Overall, I would definitely recommed this spot if you're craving some kind of steak. The service and quality of everything was immaculate. Super glad my friend chose this spot!

Fantastic crepes. Two words that describe Cafe Breton best. But of course, a café isn't just their…read moredelicious crepes. As it is popular, the place is pretty busy at all hours of the day so if you're unable to relax in good company and enjoy a discussion while your order is being prepared you might want to find it within you to just chill. Cause the wait is worth it, and we can all find the time (unless you have a meeting you're running off to!) The atmosphere is perfect for unwinding and relaxing over a chat with your friends and family, with cheerful splashes of color, ambiance to match the café mood and a nice view of the pretty surroundings in the neighbourhood. They serve awesome coffee and awesome frappes that naturally go so well with crepes. A good pairing in my opinion, it's what I tend to get, is their Lost Paradise with a nice Café Liegois. And naturally I would suggest going so far as getting a savory crepe and then finishing with a sweet crepe. Tops.

I LOVE CAFE BRETON It is my favorite places to go to for…read morecrepes. They have the BEST crepes, I promise these crepes will not disappoint. Although Cafe Breton does offer savory meals, it's really their crepes and coffee you should try. The crepes here aren't soft and pancake textured, or too thick, or tasteless. The crepes themselves are light, super thin, and flavorful. They also cook it so that the edges kind of crisp up a bit (BEST PART!). They have so many different crepe combinations and you can even DIY them! They have blueberry cream crepe with blueberry compote, vanilla ice cream, and whipped cream (they're very generous with their whipped cream) which is stellar. They have classic combos like nutella and mangoes. BUT what you really really NEED TO do is ignore all those fancy crepes, all you need to order is their simple and classic BUTTER & SUGAR crepe. I know, what am I saying. Really? YES, REALLY. It may sound unexciting but trust me when you taste this you will feel the excitement. This crepe is loaded with butter (THANK YOU) and sugar and it forms are crisp outside cause of the sugar, the inside is so buttery this almost reminded me oddly of an egg tart. Their coffee is local, they don't sell it commercially but trust me when you taste it you wish they did! One of the best coffee in the Metro.

Great selection of desserts to grab on the go. Clean interior and friendly service as well. It's a…read morebit pricey, but well worth it for the quality. A great spot to try out!

I have been going to this Bizu for numerous years. It was always my go to place for macarons and…read morecappuccino. I never realized that they had an Afternoon Tea from 3pm to 6pm. Of course, I had to go there for their afternoon tea. I believe that it is a really good deal. The following is included for 995 Pesos: Canapés Petit Croque Monsieur Smoked Salmon Tartare Roast Herb Chicken on Crostini Shrimp and Mango Croute Watermelon and Feta Chorizo Croquette Earl Grey Scones Clotted Cream and Dark Cherry Jam Chocolate Truffles Opera Gateaux Macaron de Paris Served with your choice of loose leaf tea The Afternoon Tea is perfect for sharing. You receive 2 of each item. The only difference is that you will receive 2 different chocolate truffles and macarons de Paris. If you like cheese, then you will definitely like their Croque Monsieur. It is my favorite sandwich, and this is one of the best places that make it.

I miss New York. Aside from the vibrancy of the people, Central Park and awesome museums, what I…read moreparticularly miss about New York is the food. I've had some of my best meals in some of the most unassuming places such as in small cafes, food trucks and New York delicatessens. I still remember the most incredible sandwich I have ever tasted - soft bread, fresh lettuce and meat slices 2-inches thick. I miss New York. And I miss their sandwiches. Unfortunately, the closest thing that I have ever tried to a yummy New York sandwich are those available at Sandwich Guy. While not as excellent, they're good enough. What I like about this place is that they offer some of fresh ingredients especially with their tomatoes, onions and lettuce. While I'd like to have more pieces of meat in my sandwich, the freshness that they deliver every time is good enough. They also have some incredible staff members at this particular branch, always willing to help with any requests. Parking is limited so I usually have mine to go.