Happy Garden Cafe by Bizu — Restaurant in Makati

Claims they offer gluten-free dishes but they actually don't! Celiacs, be careful!

I came here with my Celiac boyfriend because they brand themselves as a restaurant who offers gluten-free dishes and because I read stellar gluten-free reviews about them. However, when we came last night, we were so disappointed. They have a loooot of dishes marked as 'GF' on their menu but after asking for confirmation from the waiter, we were told they're actually not gluten-free. What a dismay!

This is a reminder for Celiacs and any other people with food allergies/intolerance to always confirm with your servers, even though it's already labelled in the menu, no matter how annoying you think it is!

An example: 'chapchae' was labelled as GF, but soy sauce was listed as an ingredient, so we confirmed if they use GF soy sauce. The waiter came back and said no, they don't use gf soy sauce. WHAT? Why would you label it GF on your menu if you're not using GF ingredients!?

Korean Beef Stew was also labelled GF but was confirmed later by the waiter that the soy sauce that the beef was marinated in, is again, not gluten-free.

Palabok is another dish that's labelled GF and later confirmed to be not GF.

These are the only 3 we were able to confirm.

When we asked what was ACTUALLY GF in their menu, only the shrimp cauliflower rice was pointed, nothing else.

I, as a non-Celiac, still ordered the Korean beef stew and to be fair, the taste was great. Meat was soft and tender.

I also have no complaints against the poor waiter who had to go back and forth between us and the kitchen to confirm the dish for us - he was very apologetic and understanding.

This is an issue that needs to be solved by the restaurant management. I hope they realize how dangerous it is to label a dish as gluten-free when it is in fact NOT gluten-free. Please educate yourselves about this. This is not just a simple diet choice. Some are actually allergic or have intolerance to it so perhaps...

I am a colon cancer patient and I have difficulty getting restaurants to accommodate me. It is only here at Happy Garden Cafe that accommodates my gastronomic needs. My favorite her is tofu with black rice in black pepper sauce, spinach ravioli and chocolate cake.

Case in point: Recently, while looking at their menu, I saw that they have kale congee. Kale is part of my daily diet together with black rice. Sherlie, their manager, accommodated and tailored fit the Kale Congee based on my diet. Fermented condiments and any kind of meat is prohibited. She worked with the chef to make the Kale Congee "eatable" and not to have a bad reaction to my body. After 5 years, I was able to eat congee once again.

See, I am a colon cancer patient and have not undergone Chemotherapy. However, my diet is quite restricted. I eat salmon , black rice with steamed shitake mushroom, broccolli, spinach, Kale, bell pepper 3x a day and part of my diet is kiwi, papaya and mango.

So far, I have passed my medical test. I have been a regular client for the past 5 years.

In this coming year, I wish to extend my gratitude and heart felt thanks to management and staff of Happy Garden.

More power...

Everytime we would pass by this restaurant on foot or by car, we would always think it was some kind of flower shop. But thanks to a social gathering for someone dear to us, we finally set foot inside and saw how beautiful their interior was. Truly enough, they had a relaxing outdoor vibe. The famous Bizu caught us by surprise, keeping us excited for dessert later on.

Buffet experience was very, very enjoyable! We loved, pretty much, EVERYTHING! Notable mentions would be the tenderness of the 10-hour Roast Beef, the fragrant herbs of our chicken and bread rolls, the dressing and delicious alfalfa of our salad, and the fish, so soft you can eat it without using your teeth. 😊 And of course, nothing beats good bonding time with friends and loved ones.

Service was very quick on beverage refills and taking plates out. Everyone was friendly and accommodating as well. Thank you for a good...