Nono's | KL Tower — Restaurant in Makati

I have always thought of this place as my place of comfort with good fresh quality food and great service. This morning however was not a good experience. Arriving at around 9am, the place was packed. At least a couple of tables were vacated but still full of used up dishes. Other tables had reserved signs. No place to sit. Had no choice but to sit where there were dirty dishes. A lady server smiled at me but it took a while before anything got done. Meaning I sat there not being helped with dirty dishes in front of me. It was long enough that I was able to move to a table with dirty dishes also but still no one paid attention to me. I had to call attention. When the lady finally came, she first cleaned the table I was not sitting in. I guess that empty table was more of a priority than a paying customer who has been waiting for a while. When she finally got to my table, she sprayed the cleaner so hard it went to my face. Yup the cleaner that is probably toxic and surely should not be sprayed on customer's faces. As a cancer survivor, this was too much for me. I asked for another server. I ordered a simple croissant and Gibraltar. Both were served lukewarm. The croissant I love about Nono's is when you break the bread, the steam from the baking still wafts out. No such luck. The coffee was just blah. Oh and the server, this time a male, asked me what croissant I wanted. I didn't say chocolate etc... He said most of their items are croissant - which is a patently false statement. A croissant is a croissant. I did eventually get one but it was just ok, and not the quality I am used to, the melt in your mouth quality, the one with crumbly crust. No it was not like that. I used to say that Nono's croissant is the best. Today not so much. I also had to wait to eat it because there were no forks, spoons or knives or even a single napkin on my table. I had to ask a server to give me napkins but a concerned customer just gave me hers. I was never given water, the usual lovely lemon and herb water I have come to expect in this location. It was nowhere to be found and I ever actually got one. I wanted to leave quickly so I took my payment to the cashier. I stood there right in front of her with no one else around and she did not een look at me. She did eventually speak but she did not listen to my request to pay already. She also decided to serve a gentleman who arrived after I did while I waited directly in front of her. There is nothing as disheartening in dining establishment as when one is repeatedly treated as invisible. The Nono's I used to know had servers who remembered me and treated me as if I were a visible human and valued customer. This was not a good experience from a semi-regular and I want Nono's to be...

Nono’s Food Review

Overall Rating: 3.5/5

Nono’s delivers a casual dining experience with a mix of hits and misses, making it a decent spot for comfort food cravings but with room for improvement, especially in drinks and service.

Drinks:

The drinks were mostly underwhelming. • Nono’s Iced Tea (3/5): Lacked flavor and leaned too much toward being watery. A stronger tea flavor or better balance with the honey lemon could elevate this. • Gibraltar Coffee (3/5): Small serving size and a bit too bitter for casual coffee drinkers. It could benefit from a smoother, richer blend. • Lemon Mint Cucumber Shake (3.5/5): Refreshing but dominated by mint. The cucumber was just an aftertaste, and squeezing the lemon manually for added flavor felt like extra work for the diner.

Food:

Nono’s comfort food offerings were the highlight, with some standout dishes. • Caesar Salad (2.5/5): Generous with the greens but lacking in variety. Sparse bacon and croutons, with the croutons tasting old and soggy. The dressing was mediocre. • Garlic Steak with Mushroom (4/5): Steak was slightly chewy but flavorful. The mushroom sauce paired perfectly with the rice, which was cooked just right. • Honey Sriracha Chicken and Waffles (4.5/5): The star of the meal. Chicken was juicy, well-seasoned, with a great balance of sweetness and spice. Waffles were crunchy but a bit flaky. • Baked Spaghetti (4/5): Creamy, seasoned well, and the pasta was perfectly cooked. The garlic bread complemented the dish nicely. • Sizzling Pork Sisig with Rice and Egg (5/5): The standout dish. The sisig was flavorful, with the right amount of heat. The raw egg cooked on the sizzling plate added richness, making it a must-try.

Service:

Rating: 3.5/5 Service was average, with noticeable gaps during peak hours. No assigned staff per table meant getting attention took effort. The team seemed understaffed during lunch, and some requests (like the gravy) were forgotten.

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Verdict:

Nono’s is a solid choice if you’re after satisfying comfort food, particularly the Sisig and Honey Sriracha Chicken & Waffles. However, drinks could use a refresh, and service needs to be more attentive, especially during busy hours.

Would I come back? For the sisig and chicken waffles, definitely. But I’d skip the drinks next time.

Overall...

We had high expectations, since there was a lot of good reviews.

Well, we were terribly disappointed and underwhelmed.

We came in early, right when there were just around 2 or 3 families with us at the same time.

It took a looong time (almost an hour) just to receive the onion soup. Which did not taste like onion soup at all. It was gelatinous gravy, with onions and bread just to poorly mimic what an onion soup is supposed to be. Topped with 2 lazy slabs of unmelted cheese that was too tough to scoop, slice, or even bite.

Fortunately, the beef tapa was decent enough though the quality and flavor was just on par with Tapa King (which was half the price). Only peeve is how they cooked the egg whites - like, how can they be both crunchy/toasted YET uncooked at the same time?! Should've just picked one.

Tinapa rice was mediocre and dry. My partner was not happy, wished we ate elsewhere.

Good thing the chicken sliders were acceptable for our kid.

Coffee was laughable. I could have made better coffee using Kopiko Brown, and it wouldn't taste as sour/acidic.

Maybe other Nono branches are okay, or maybe the staff during this shift was just in a bad mood or something. But definitely a waste of money...