Nonya Cafe — Restaurant in Makati

I came here for dinner with genuinely high expectations—especially for the Mee Goreng. I mean, it’s a staple dish, right? Hard to mess up… or so I thought. But wow—I was not ready for what I experienced.

Let me paint you a picture: the dish looked promising at first glance—generous portions of chicken, plenty of vegetables, and a fried egg on top. It had all the makings of a satisfying plate. But the first bite? Immediate confusion. I took another, thinking maybe I just missed the flavor. Nope. It honestly tasted like someone stir-fried some cabbage, threw in some boiled chicken, cracked an egg, added a dash of curry powder… and called it Mee Goreng.

No soy sauce. No salt. No sweetness. No umami. Just bland, watery stir-fry masquerading as Mee Goreng. I was stunned. The very soul of Mee Goreng—the rich, dark, sweet-and-salty punch from kecap manis and soy sauce—was completely absent. This wasn’t just a bad take on a classic dish. It felt like the chef was boldly inventing a new genre: Emotionless Noodles.

And yes—I even added salt and pepper. Then I requested sambal, desperately trying to salvage the dish. But there was just no hope.

Whoever made this dish, I say this with kindness and utmost respect: please reconsider making Mee Goreng again. Or at least taste it before serving it. Because I genuinely don’t know what that was.

That said, the meal wasn’t a total disaster: • Chicken Satay: 5/5 — Absolutely amazing. Tender, flavorful, and authentic. The peanut sauce? Spot on. • Laksa: 4/5 — Decent. Not mind-blowing, but enjoyable. A bit mild for my personal taste, but still comforting. • Free Soup: 6/5 — Yes, seriously. It was unexpectedly delicious and packed with more flavor than the Mee Goreng, which says a lot.

So despite the Mee Goreng letdown, I’ll still come back. The rest of the food shows potential, and maybe I just caught the kitchen on an off night. But please—someone rescue that Mee Goreng recipe before it causes more confusion and sadness.

Update: I went here again and tried their Nasi lemak w/ beef rendang, and I was surprised it’s good..

Make...

My husband and I had lunch here earlier today. We entered the restaurant and seated ourselves — I was expecting a staff to greet us at the door and accompany us to our seats, but it’s okay since all the servers were friendly and courteous and attended to us right away. They gave us peanuts to munch on while waiting for our food. We ordered mushroom soup, pumpkin soup, chicken satay, hainanese chicken rice, and crispy kare-kare. I also ordered a can of coke zero.

The soups were creamy. I was able to taste both, and I liked them. I prefer the pumpkin soup. My husband, however, found the soup too creamy for his taste. He would’ve liked it better if he tasted the vegetable more.

Chicken satay was delicious. The peanut sauce was flavorful, the chicken was juicy and tender.

Hainanese chicken was a bit dry and bland for my taste. There was no skin on the chicken. Not quite what I expected since I’m used to the hainanese chicken of other restaurants like Tiong Bahru and Hawker. Its flavor will come from the sauces. I was able to ask for more sauce without any charge so plus points for that.

The crispy kare-kare, according to my husband, tasted like the chicken satay. I think they used the same peanut sauce. The bagoong that comes with it was on the sweeter side. The price is cheaper than the other meals so we were expecting a few chops of meat and a lot of vegetables as filler, but we were pleasantly surprised to see that they were generous with the serving.

The can of coke zero is too expensive at ₱145. It’s the same price as the soup.

Lastly, I don’t know if it’s just the weather today but it would be nice if the place was colder.

Overall, it was a nice experience. I would be happy to come back, but I will not order the hainanese chicken anymore.

HIGHLIGHT OF OUR VISIT - the friendly and...

I was staying at the hotel, connected and came in for a few glasses of wine. The menu had all their glasses listed at 300 each with bottles at 1000. The place was completely empty and I had to track down a person for a second glass. When it was time to pay for my two glasses I was surprised to see a bill of $1075. I asked how it's so high they said tax and service charge but that made no sense. The manager said the menu had been updated and wine was now 475 he brought the new menu to show me as if this made me responsible for paying a price I never saw. I had to ask him why he expected me to pay a higher amount than on the menu given to me for him to reduce it.

Best case scenario this was a momment of bad management, In which case I'd say to the manager please own up to the mistake and immediately apologize and fix it..Don't act as if the customer should pay because you didn't replace your menus.

Worst case this is some kind of scam and other customers get the wrong amount billed. I hope that's not true but it's why I'm leaving...