Thunderroad

As much as I love the country and its people, I'm with others who don't rank Philippine cuisine among the world's greatest.

Still, there are a couple of dishes I really like. My absolute favorite is pangga (sp?), which is tuna cheeks. The cheeks are rather large, given that they come from tuna. The way it's best made is grilled, and presented with very hot chilis (I think called sili), soy sauce, vinegar and lime (or more typically calamantsi (again, sp?), a small, slightly sweeter version of lime). You mix those four other ingredients together in a small bowl to your taste, and dip the fish into it. Pangga is often served in more informal eateries rather than fancy places. There was a place called Davao Inihaw in Quezon City that served it year ago, but the restaurant may be long gone by now. For visitors, it could be that the staff at whatever hotel you visit could direct you to a place that serves the dish.

My other favorite is chicken adobo, which is a basic dish that involves braising the chicken in a combination of garlic, soy sauce, vinegar and sometimes calamantsi.

tfjim

Does anyone know if The Hobbit House is still open in Manila? What a place!

J_Hawk

The hobbit house is alive and well in both Manila and Boracay. HH moved to a new location in the Ermita neighborhood of Manila a few years ago that is bigger and brighter and cleaner than the old spot.

I always spend a few hours at HH to start my nights out in Manila. It Is lively and fairly cheap place to drink a few San Migs....

Akiestar

As I backread through the thread, I was surprised to find our that some of the restaurants I know and love to eat in are not named. Here's a few:

*KKK in Robinsons Place Manila serves excellent beef kare-kare. The price is affordable too for the quality: P330/bowl.
*Ongpin Mañosa on Ongpin St. in Binondo is known for their maki (pork in syrupy soup) and unusually large siomai (shao mai). Compared to other Chinese restaurants, the price is a bargain for the amount of food you'd receive: a small bowl of fried rice (good for 2-3 persons), for example, is P95.
*Jojoen on Adriatico St. in Malate is the only Japanese restaurant in the Philippines which serves beef sashimi. The best sashimi I've had so far however is not here, but at Nihonbashitei, which is on Arnaiz Ave. in Makati.
*Malacca on Jupiter St. in Makati serves excellent Malaysian food: the beef rendang was very tasty and the nasi goreng is the best I've had so far. Across the hall from Malacca is Mey Lin, reputed to be one of Manila's best noodle houses (they make their noodles in-house).
*My aunt once told me that New Bombay at the corner of Ayala Avenue and Gil Puyat Avenue in Makati serves Manila's best Indian food, though I've not had the chance to try it for myself.

Should I come up with a few more places to eat, I'll be sure to name them here.

ManilaTraveler

I agree, New Bombay at the corner of Ayala Avenue and Gil Puyat Avenue in Makati is an excellent Indian Restaurant. I eat there all the time.

Sweet Willie

please do^

LAChargers

A couple of others I forgot to mention:

Aubergine in the Fort Bonifacio Global City area across from the new St. Luke's hospital. Excellent food, excellent service and reasonably priced. Their steaks are pretty good also. I believe they are affiliated with a culinary school and their large, open kitchen has some of the students preparing the food.

Regarding steaks, Elbert's in Makati has the best steaks I've had in Manila. I've heard they import their beef from Wisconsin. I haven't been there for a while but it is pricey. I think a rib-eye was about $70 the last time I was there. Sides are separate.

There's another French place right across the street from my building in the Fort next door to Neo Spa that is reasonably priced and fairly good too but I can't think of the name. Meals are about $15. Maybe someone can help me out.

ManilaTraveler

I believe that you are referring to a Restaurant called Cave which is very good and they have a good selection of wines by the glass. Although, it only had a pre fix menu the last time I was there. Aubergine is excellent and it is associated with a culinary school. All of the waiters and cooks in the restaurant are students in the school and they are fun to watch and interact with. The steaks at Elberts are excellent, but extremely expensive. You can get the same quality at Reds in the Makati Shangri-la or Tivoli in the Mandarin Oriental for about a third less.

RichardInSF

There's a Pampangan cuisine restaurant in Greenbelt -- forget the name -- but one of their specialties is Pampangan deep fried crickets, which I hadn't encountered anywhere else. Worth a try if you're into unusual cuisine and balut and dinuguan are old hat for you.

There is a lot of Filipino cuisine I really like -- lechon, adobo, pancit canton, fresh lumpia, etc -- but basically none of it is healthy.

Akiestar

That would be Lorenzo's Way, which is a sister restaurant of Abe. Same with Fely J's Kitchen. Both are in Greenbelt 5.

afterglow

That would be Je Suis Gourmand. Great value.

Sweet Willie

I looked up a few songs on youtube about the Hobbit House, seems to be folk/pop oriented, is that a correct assumption?

Also, any other not-to-miss nightlife (w/my wife) spots?

LAChargers

No, Cav is next to "The Spa" on Bonifacio High Street. It's one of those places where you buy a prepaid card and put it in the machine and buy the wine by the glass. Haven't eaten here but they do have some decent wines.

By the way, there is a Mexican place across the street from Cav called Agave which is absolutely terrible. I ordered 2 enchiladas and couldn't even finish one. Cold tortillas, lukewarm meat inside with the sauce poured on top and something like American cheese on the inside. Nachos were the equivalent of Doritos Nacho Cheese chips with Cheeze Wiz or something like that. Don't waste your time there.

The place I was referring to is Gourmand which is near 26th street in the Net One building. Decent food for about 700-1000 pesos per entree.

I've had steaks at Reds but not Tivoli and wasn't quite as impressed as I was at Elbert's.

Also, the crickets were mentioned in another post. We tried them at Abe in Serendra and they were excellent. Once you get over the fact that you're eating crickets, they really tasted good. I'd highly recommend it.

J_Hawk

I would categorize HH music under the "classic rock" genre. Eagles, Boston, Journey.... Freddie Aguillar is a regular; he is a mid-1970's Filipino Rocker who was somewhat successful in the States. Inaak is his signature tune.

For a raucous, PG rated time that you won't fully understand but where you will have a great time; check out the Library, Punch Line or one of the other local comedy clubs... The stand up acts are mostly in english and the later the night progresses, the parodies begin of western music acts (think cher in drag)... Sounds corny but the crowd is having such a great time it becomes quite fun...

Singing Waiters & Cooks is also a unique G Rated good time for dinner. The best location is the one by Star City near Manila Bay.

You could always go clubbing if that is your thing. The Embassy @ Ft Bonifacio was big for a while but was closed last time I checked. There may be a new club in that location now. The Bureau on Makati Avenue was happening for the mid 20's beautiful people crowd earlier in 2010. Absinthe is in Greenbelt and if you are staying in Makati you could probably walk there, walk across the bridge from LandMark department store to GreenBelt and go up to the 3rd floor. There is also a karoake place there that I've heard is fun but I've never tried. Karoake in Manila is a private party-tyoe deal where one bar may have 20 smaller rooms for small groups to sing their hearts out....

I arrive in Manila on Saturday, October 2nd, I'll post updated information as I obtain it during the trip.

j_hawk

Akiestar

Well, Embassy is gone, but a new club has taken its place: Encore.

While we're on the subject of clubs though, allow me to quote a list of suggestions from someone on another forum: