Manam Café — Restaurant in Mandaluyong

One of my favorite restaurants. Good food, ambience and service.

This brand is solid, and this branch is one of the best, if not the best. Being in posh and serene Podium is already a plus, but the restaurant itself is nicely done. Bright and airy, with appealing decor.

I like this branch a lot, because unlike other branches, like the one in Megamall for example, this one isn't crowded. They have just the right amount of tables, so even when the place is full, it doesn't feel crowded, and, most of all, its not too noisy. I think the restaurant's high ceiling also helps with the reduction in the noise. This makes dining here very pleasant and relaxing. I hate it when I eat in restaurants where you can't even hear your companions when they speak because the place is so noisy.

Like I've said, the Manam brand is solid. They have one of the best takes on Filipino cuisine. All balikbayans and foreigners should be brought to a Manam restaurant at least once in order for us Pinoys to showcase what good Filipino food tastes like. Manam should also consider putting up branches in the US so that Filipino food is better represented there.

Back to my experience in this branch. I and my wife ordered some of their kare kare. It had 'tuwalya' and beef chunks. It should have included oxtail, but, unfortunately, they didn't have any at the time we ordered, so they just added more beef chunks to compensate. It was still good though. The sauce was very thick and peanut-ty. We ordered a medium and we didn't finish it so we took home the leftover.

We also ordered a small order of their garlicky fried bangus. It was a mistake. I should have ordered a medium. It was so good and I finished it by myself, leaving none for my wife. Good thing she was more interested in the kare kare that she left the bangus all to me.

We also ordered a small beef tadyang. This was the only dish we ordered that I didn't like so much. It was good but it was too pricey for the serving size.

Even the white rice here is of good quality and cooked well. A sign of a good Filipino restaurant.

Even after we stopped eating because we were already full, we couldn't stop looking at the food being brought to other tables. They all looked yummy. We took a mental note of the other dishes we would like to try next time. For sure we are going to try the pancit with the squid ink. It looked amazing.

Besides the beef tadyang, I think the prices are reasonable here. The quality is very good that you wouldn't mind paying for it. It would be worse if you paid a bundle and yet you weren't satisfied with the food. I would eat here again and again if I...

I recently had the pleasure of dining at Manam, a Filipino restaurant known for its delectable cuisine. The food they served us was undoubtedly delicious, and I thoroughly enjoyed my dining experience. However, there were a couple of aspects that left room for improvement.

Let's start with the positives—the Filipino dishes at Manam were absolutely delightful. From the first bite to the last, every dish was bursting with authentic flavors that truly showcased the rich culinary heritage of the Philippines. The menu offered a wide variety of options, ranging from traditional favorites to modern interpretations, allowing guests to explore and savor the diverse tastes of Filipino cuisine.

However, despite the excellent food, there were a couple of areas that left me slightly disappointed. Firstly, the service fell short when it came to the billing process. It took an unusually long time for our bill to arrive, which resulted in an unnecessary delay and a slight dent in an otherwise enjoyable dining experience. While this may have been an isolated incident, it would be advisable for Manam to address this issue and ensure a more efficient and prompt billing process for their patrons.

Another minor issue that affected the overall ambiance was the presence of flies flying around the dining area. It was a bit distracting and took away from the otherwise pleasant atmosphere. While I understand that controlling pests can be challenging in any establishment, it would be beneficial for Manam to implement additional measures to minimize the presence of flies, such as regular cleaning and strategic placement of insect traps or screens.

Despite these minor complaints, I would still highly recommend Manam to anyone seeking an authentic and flavorful Filipino dining experience. The delicious food and diverse menu options truly showcase the culinary delights of the Philippines. With a bit of attention to the billing process and further efforts to address the issue of flies, Manam has the potential to elevate its already excellent dining experience to new heights.

Overall, Manam provides a delightful culinary journey through the flavors of the Philippines, and I look forward to returning to indulge in their delectable...

The food is great, but the service is terrible. We went here past lunch time, but the service was really slow. We had to repeatedly get the attention of the staff to have our requests catered to.

We ordered the following: Beef Salpicao & Garlic (2/5) It's pretty chewey and too salty for my liking. Definitely needs to be partnered with rice.

Garlic Rice (3/5) Classic sinangag, the garlic taste is not overpowering — though, I personally want it to be overloaded with garlic.

Mangga't Bagoong (2/5) Disappointing, for something this expensive for it only to be half a cheek of unripe mango with a side of bagoong. The mango is really sour (which is good) and crispy, and the bagoong is good, but I will not pay 100+ pesos for this.

House Crispy Sisig (3.5/5) Texture! This dish is really entertaining to eat, it truly is crispy. It's also seasoned well, and came in pre-calamansied. It lacks the smokiness component of sisig though, but its good.

Sinigang na Beef Short Rib & Watermelon (5/5) My favorite dish here. They did not backdown on the sourness of it. The taste of the broth is so good, sour with a slight fruity sweetness from the watermelon. It also has the fruit meat that absorbed the sour soup — it explodes in the mouth when you bite into it. Meat is tender. Sadly the greens that it comes with is lacking. But this is really good if you like sour stuff.

Caramelized Patis Wings (4/5) Crispy wings covered with sweet-salty-fishy glaze. It's interesting, you can really taste the fishy-salty flavors of patis. It also has a slight spiciness into it. The chicken is crispy and tender.

Camias + Lemongrass Shake (4/5) Such a refreshing drink. The camias is not too sour, but you can taste the fruity-sour hints of it, combined with the freshness that lemongrass gives. The combination is good.

Food is really amazing, but there's a lot of room for improvement in the...