Tatatito — Restaurant in Makati

Overall Experience: We had a fantastic time celebrating my daughter’s birthday at this restaurant. The experience exceeded our expectations, and we’re already looking forward to visiting again to try more of their specialties.

Food: The food was delightful, with flavors that stood out. We especially enjoyed the fried okoy, which was perfectly crunchy with just the right amount of cornstarch to bind it. It paired wonderfully with their vinegar. The sarsaparilla pork liempo BBQ was the highlight—extraordinarily tender, with a delightful smoky flavor that was perfectly balanced. The kansi was unique, offering a good blend of meats with a touch of sourness, though a hint more lemongrass would have been ideal. The pork sisig was close to our homemade version, with a satisfying crunch and authentic taste thanks to the use of mashed liver instead of mayo. The gising-gising was tasty but a bit average; the sigarilyas stayed crunchy and the bagoong was subtle. It could benefit from a bit more cooking of the coconut cream and a touch more chili. We also sampled their chocolate cake, which was moist, smooth, and not overly sweet.

Service and Ambiance: The service was top-notch. Our reservation, made a week in advance, was handled impeccably, including our seating preference. The store supervisor /manager (not sure) took our order and demonstrated impressive knowledge of the menu, recommending the best dishes and appropriate portion sizes. His honest insights about which items stood out and which were less remarkable were greatly appreciated.

The restaurant itself is a modern Filipino haven—clean and stylish with a blend of class and comfort. The atmosphere was both opulent and homey, enhancing our dining experience. The restrooms were also clean and well-maintained.

Conclusion: This restaurant offers a dining experience comparable to Victorino’s and Manam’s, but at a more reasonable price point. Despite some minor improvements that could be made, we highly recommend this place for its balanced flavors, excellent service, and inviting ambiance. It's definitely among the few restaurants we’re...

Tatatito offers Filipino food with a “classier” twist, but I’ve always felt there’s a limit to how much you can elevate traditional dishes to justify the higher prices. While the food here is undoubtedly delicious, I’m not convinced it’s any better than what you can find at places like Kuya J or Barrio Fiesta, where prices are significantly lower. If you’re introducing foreign guests to Filipino cuisine, however, Tatatito (or Locavore) is a safe choice.

What really let this place down, though, was the service. The staff were not unfriendly, but getting their attention was nearly impossible. It felt like they were deliberately avoiding eye contact with customers—either staring at the floor or looking anywhere but the people they were serving. This kind of inattentiveness is hard to overlook and felt like poor service, even if it wasn’t intentional.

Another downside was the ambient noise. The acoustics in the restaurant (or perhaps the noisy customers) made it difficult to have a conversation. At one point, I could barely hear my colleague sitting two seats away. It was distracting and took away from the overall dining experience.

As for parking, it’s going to be nearly impossible, particularly on working days, as the restaurant is located in Makati’s bustling central business district. Finding a spot will be a challenge, so be prepared to circle the area for a while.

Despite the challenges with service and noise, Tatatito remains a solid option if you’re looking for a more upscale setting for Filipino food. However, for the price, you might find yourself questioning whether the experience is worth the cost, especially when more affordable and just-as-tasty alternatives...

Absolutely 1000% recommend the roast pork lechon adobo. It's imperative that everyone tries it! The lemongrass clam soup tasted amazing. Clams were, unfortunately, still full of sand, though, so don't slurp it straight from your bowl. Use a spoon to slurp up the sweet clam broth. The gising-gising was okay; it was as expected, nothing spectacular about it except for the 4 pieces of really fresh shrimp that they extravagantly added to it. Speaking of shrimps, we also got the sweet & sour camaron. It came up to par; just wish the crispiness of the camaron withstood against the sauce. The beef shank kaldereta, though, was phenomenal.

The only downside? Their halo-halo. The leche flan they used was kind of weird. It was coated with this extra burnt sugar that was strange, plus its texture was just not to our taste. The pinipig was not crunchy at all and just stuck into every nook and cranny in between our teeth. The halo-halo's saving grace was that it was packed full of ingredients, including ube halaya beneath the generous serving of ube ice cream used as topping.

Everything above including 4 cups of rice & the restaurant's service charge cost us a little more than PHP3,300.00. Expensive for 4 pax, but since we're not in Makati that much, that's fine. In fact, we're still talking about the roast pork adobo and still wishing that they gave us more of the amazing adobo sauce.

Despite the disappointing halo-halo, we thoroughly enjoyed our non-Lenten meal today...