Hungry Monkeys Moalboal — Restaurant in Cebu

The place is perfect! It’s like it came straight out of Demon Slayers – infinity castle arc anime iykyk! The only thing lacking in our table is a candle for it to be extra romantic 😆 Anyways, I'll rate the restaurant honestly to guide future customers and help the staff improve:

⭐️Service & Staff friendliness: 100/10 ⭐️ The staff are incredibly approachable and never rush us to order. They respond promptly whenever we call them, especially Miss Cristy, the lovely staff member in the photo. She was so kind and accommodating, even helping us capture some beautiful photos. Thank you so much, Miss Cristy ❤️ The front desk staff was equally welcoming. She even complimented my look, which truly warmed my heart—there’s nothing sweeter than women lifting each other up! I regret not asking her name, but she was the person behind the front desk.

⭐️Food Quality - 10/10 ⭐️ The food absolutely lives up to the previous reviews here. They didn’t skimp on ingredients, and the food quality is outstanding– just look at the photos, what you see it what you get! It’s so good that it could easily be featured in food vlogs! There’s no doubt the taste is even better than it looks.

⭐️ Atmosphere - 11/10 ⭐️ We'll definitely come back to enjoy the warm atmosphere. This will be included in our must-go’s every time we visit Moalboal as the ambiance is so relaxing and unique.

⭐️ Value for Money - 100/10 ⭐️ Every cent you spend here is truly worth it. You'll go out feeling wonderfully full—no one leaves hungry, thanks to the generous portions! I give it a 100/10 for value, allowing us to fully enjoy our meal.

⭐️Cleanliness - 10/10 ⭐️ I noticed they clean up right away after a customer leaves. They make the tables spotless and shiny; you won’t see a single grain of rice hiding around the corners. Also, their comfort room has everything you need, including a bucket of water. The place is SUPER DUPER CLEAN! some staff even go barefooted.

Overall, I highly recommend this place. Anyone visiting Moalboal needs to stop by! The vibe, the food, and the people—everything about Hungry Monkey leaves me hunger for more! I can’t wait to return and bring my friends. Thank you for the fantastic service ❤️

Areas for improvement? maybe a candle lit for couples having anniversaries! hahah just a thought.

📸...

First of all the atmosphere is really good. It’s located on the third floor of a three story building. You can see some pretty nice street views if you’re facing Pinagsama street. It’s quite hot though even by island standards. There are some ceiling fans scattered about the place but it’s still pretty hot. Luckily we brought with us our trusted Jisu fan. It alleviated some of the heat and we were able to enjoy the vibes. Maybe add more fans? Or maybe it’s just a coincidence that there was no wind that day. Nevertheless, be prepared for the heat.

When we dined, maybe it’s the just the timing or the day but we didn’t really wait to be seated. There was ample seating and we got the best place in the house. Right at the edge where all the views are. Something to note. Almost all the diners are foreigners. Just a small amount of people are locals.

We don’t really have anything to say about the service. It’s good. People are polite and me and my wife we don’t really pay too much attention on the service unless there’s absolutely something to complain about. We rarely need help from the staff while we dined and we almost always know already what we want to eat. So all’s good.

Now about the food. The food is good FOR ME. I ordered crispy pork kare kare. I liked how it’s disassembled. There was the beautiful sautéed string beans along with fried eggplant on the side with the scrumptious crispy pork belly sitting on top of a dollop of thick peanut sauce. The whole dish is accompanied by a small serving of shrimp paste to taste. Presentation wise, it’s pretty appetizing to look at. Taste’s pretty amazing. The flavors, the texture it’s pretty great but there was some pieces of the pork that was overcooked and became too tough to chew. But all the flavors are there. The buttered garlic shrimp that my wife ordered though is of a different story. The Shirmps themselves are fresh and it’s easy to eat as they’re already cleaned and peeled but the flavors are a little weird. You can taste the butter with a hint of garlic but the acid is quite overpowering. It’s a little bit too sour. My wife was expecting a little bit more from the dish since the food is a little bit on the pricey side.

Overall, we had a pretty nice experience but maybe next time we’ll pass on the buttered...

Disappointing Experience Despite High Ratings

I’m always cautious when a place has a 4+ star rating, but I decided to give this one a try. Unfortunately, my experience didn't match the glowing reviews I had read. Here’s how it went:

Food Ordered:

Beef Rendang Crispy Pork Kare Kare Full Ice Tea Beef Rendang: This dish was a salt bomb. It burned my lips and left my throat dry and uncomfortable. I couldn’t even enjoy it properly because I had to drown each spoonful in about five spoonfuls of rice just to balance out the overpowering saltiness. Was it an off day for the kitchen? Maybe, but it was difficult to eat and pretty unpleasant overall.

Crispy Pork Kare Kare: The pork was dry, rubbery, and lacked flavor. There was barely any peanut sauce, leaving the dish feeling incomplete. The portion was small, and the pork itself was tough. It’s hard to enjoy a dish when the key ingredients are just not up to par.

Ice Tea: The iced tea was sweet, but bearable. If you have a sweet tooth, you'll probably like it. For me, it was a bit too sugary, but I just added a little water to tone it down.

Portion Size: Although many reviews mention large portions for sharing, I didn’t find that to be the case. The portions didn’t seem to match the price, especially considering the quality of the food. For the price point, both the portion and taste should have been much better.

Final Thoughts: I also noticed that some of the reviews seemed overly positive and possibly biased. It's hard not to think that a couple of them might be tied to the restaurant in some way. While I understand everyone has different tastes, I personally can’t handle heavily salted dishes, and this experience left me questioning those high ratings. Not sure...