Asador Alfonso — Restaurant in Alfonso

Just the most gorgeous spot... The pictures online don't do it justice. This is an excellent place that truly transports!

I'm ecstatic that a new spot with real depth has opened here. While I actively look for new, upscale spots to enjoy a good degustation, there are soo few in Manila that make me feel the way this does. You're not just having dinner: you're signing up for an experience. If you are looking to impress a date, family or a company flying in for a visit - Asador Alfonso is the place to take them.

Here are my thoughts: 1.) The lovely architecture and interior design is only half of what makes this place so unique. The ecosystem they've fostered and built a story around is unlike any other. They explain how they take care of everything prepared for your meal; this in itself enhances what you're tasting! Side note: For anybody calling their food "bland": let me rebut that it takes a LOT more skill to make something taste DELICATE!! If your reference for "good food" is flavor "intensity", go to the nearest fast food spot or buy a pack of magic granules...

2.) The service is impeccable. The attention to detail - from the second we parked to the wait to be seated - was top-notch. We started with great aperitivo: perfect carbonated cocktails for the weather outside. The pinxtos - house-made boquerones, delicately dressed with quality olive oil on home-made sourdough bread - sent me into orbit! I would love to go back just to have this exact thing by the pool, ideally with my laptop open for work. Petition to turn this place into a lifestyle club?!? On the same note, it should be known that every request was taken care of, and extremely speedily for that matter. I've not seen a bar-back warm fresh milk soo fast. Not even a cafe! Lol.

3.) The food was perfect. I know I just mentioned this. But simply put... all the dishes were very well-thought out and curated. PS, the jamón is unlike any other! I found myself feeling veeeeeery guilty after each bite... just so decadent. PPS, the tomatoes are equally great. It's unfair that they've accessed such delicious tomatoes!!!!

4.) The drive is so worth it. You'll find yourself wishing it was longer. We spoke about the experience all the way back to the city...

If you've made it this far: let me conclude that any negative review placed here is just snobbish. Don't bring the "Crab" just because their menu doesn't include it yet 🤪

From the food down to the vibe, Asador Alfonso is terribly well-worth it and deserves to be looked at with appreciative eyes. It's a wonderful thing to experience it in its earliest stage of success. I truly believe it is a restaurant that will bring more international attention to the Philippines' food landscape.

Fingers crossed I get a plate of their jamón for writing this diary entry..!!!!!!!! If not, I'll still happily make...

Prior to their opening in May I had already seen some of their marketing pics and videos and had already made up my mind that I wanted to go to Asador Alfonso and have a meal there. Except I’m not living in Manila.. nor Cebu.. both even in The Philippines.. I live in Singapore. I haven’t been back to The Philippines in almost twenty years and had never driven there before let alone know where Alfonso was. But I managed to hook in two friends crazy enough to join me on this culinary journey for 24 hours, leaving my home in Singapore for a pre-dawn Grab ride to Changi Airport, take a three-and-half hour flight to Manila, took about 30 minutes to sort the logistics of our car rental, and off we went for a two hour drive to Alfonso, Cavite.

As advertised, the space was stunning.. one of those places where the visual treat being there in the flesh was even better than in pics and vids. And then came dinner. I’ll be honest, comparing to my many meals in Spain and Singapore, some of the smaller plates could have be better.. but most were good, the Sourdough Bread and Anchovy Butter was not-overly hard and bouncy, served hot and yummy. Croquetas were one of the best I’ve had outside of Spain and even better than some IN Spain, Cochinillo Asado was also very good, also one for the best I’ve had outside Spain.

But that lamb… Oh.. My.. God.. that lamb.. absolutely zero gaminess, moist and tender, cooked literally to perfect doneness.. sublime!

After reading some harsh reviews earlier on about the service levels, I am happy to say that our experience there SUPER! Every team member was professional, warm and sincere in trying to be the best they can be, and special mention to Cyril, who we chatted with and is actually from their Flagship Gallery by Chele, his attention to detail, even noticing that we had two different champagne glasses, was immediately rectified and server was discretely coached about it. Awesome, so much so that I now want to return to Manila for a second meal at Asador Alfonso, AND at Gallery by Chele!

Some have said that the meal here was expensive.. In my honest opinion, given the amount of investment (both financially and emotionally), I felt that our Journey Menu at under USD100 was actually sensational value, and impossible to be had in Singapore (for what was served as part of dinner course).

Twenty four hours after I arrived at Manila Airport I was back at same airport to catch my flight home. And I am already making plans to gather a slightly larger group for another meal at...

If I could rate the service 0 stars, I would. Our experience at Asador Alfonso was very disappointing. I do not recommend it at all. The place looks modern and aesthetic, food was decent and there were a few good dishes, however the service was not at par with how you would expect a restaurant at this caliber to be like.

Here are a few of my concerns during our visit: There were many flies flying around and we even found 2-3 dead ones on the ground under our table. My 5 year old niece even killed 2 additional flies before our dinner started. Their portion sizes were inconsistent. They served us salad for 3 vs for 4 with the exact same size, only to find out by the end that this was refillable. They never even bothered to explain this to us. This was also the case for other dishes. The servers were inattentive and did not know what they were doing and clearly not trained enough to know how to explain the dishes. We had to repeatedly ask for extra napkins, extra utensils, etc., which in the end, we never received even after asking multiple servers. We had an issue with one of the dishes because the server placed the chocolate dessert (as seen in picture below) in the center of the table. We asked to clarify if this was for one person or for 3 people to share. She said it was for one person so we asked her to bring out the rest for the 2 other people who also got the same set. After waiting for a while, it wasn't arriving so we followed it up, only to find out that it was supposed to be for 3 people. The way they handled the situation did not help as well because they would just make excuses that the restaurant was still new for their poor service. They tried to clear out a dish that still had a huge piece of lamb in it without even asking if we would take it out or not.

They tried to rectify the situation by offering us another chocolate dessert which we no longer took because we just wanted to get out of the restaurant asap. They sent 2 managers/supervisors also to appease us but it only made matters worse because they kept asking for feedback after we already gave it multiple times. It was like they only sent people over to do damage control instead of having genuine care for the customer's satisfaction. Overall, it was a disappointing and frustrating experience and it was definitely not worth the drive...