Pan De Amerikana - Marikina — Restaurant in Marikina

My wife had heard good things about Pan De Amerikana before our recent trip back to the Philippines, and her cousin in Manila was good friends with the owner Jun who was absolutely awesome to meet! We were in Manila for a few nights before flying home to California and had a dinner date with her cousins the first night, so we headed to the restaurant. Jun waited for us to arrive after we attempted the two hour evening rush hour Manila traffic from Okada to Pan De Amerikana. It was a Tuesday evening and when we arrived around 8pm, the restaurant was thankfully not too busy. I'd read other reviews about how packed it can get, since supposedly "every picture is IG worthy…”. That ended up being totally true! Jun greeted us warmly and introductions were made. He was gracious and friendly and gave us a quick tour of the incredibly painted and decorated restaurant; from the intricately curated Eugene Torre chess museum with various international chess sets, the tunnel made of lights and wind chimes, the antique wagon (yes you can actually sit in it and take pictures wearing a hat from the collection of fantastical hats on a rack nearby), the other various set pieces and photo backdrops, to the bathrooms and wash stations which had custom interiors and artistically decorated sink basins and soap dispensers. Every table and seating arrangement will provide a memorable experience here. There's no bad seat in the restaurant :) Jun generously provided us with the special air conditioned room for large groups next to the chess museum, which has large glass windows to see the restaurant while you eat, although it would have been fine to also sit in the restaurant, as even though it was a warm evening in Manila, the inside temperature was pleasant. On the way to the restaurant, inching our way along packed rush hour streets, we looked at the dishes and were ready with our selections soon after receiving the menu. We had several outstanding dishes including the Sinugba platter full of tasty grilled fish and pork barbecue, the pork Sisig with calamansi (I'd been comparing various Sisigs from different eateries in Pangasinan the whole trip and this was my favorite), delicious Pinakbet, and the perfectly seasoned Pansit Bihon Special. The garlic rice was also super tasty. The wait staff was very attentive and friendly. Despite the restaurant beginning to close for the evening while we were eating, Jun was even able to scrounge up some of the famous wheat Pandesal the restaurant is renowned for. It was truly delicious. My favorite is still Durong's Pandesal, but that's a different recipe altogether. Pan De Amerikana’s Pandesal is certainly unique, scrumptious, and one of the healthier recipes. Jun suggested the green Moringa w/ cucumber drink and brought a pitcher. Good thing, too, since it was totally addictive. We also had the red iced tea, which was not overly sweet and thirst quenching. The entire experience was delightful, unforgettable, and fascinating. You’ll have plenty of good food, memories, and photos to share with family and friends after you eat at Pan De Amerikana. Ask for the owner Jun when you go and I'm sure he'll proudly give you a tour of his famous chess museum and point out all the beautiful installations and decorations throughout the restaurant. Even the outside of the restaurant shouldn't be missed, from the front door all the way to the corner of the street. Inside and out, Pan De Amerikana is a wonder to behold! Thanks, Jun, for giving us such a special memory to take back home with us. See...

Every nook there are decors, antiques, lanterns, pictures of celebs, which gives it a sorta busy feel, figurative and literally. Seems all the servers are frazzled.

There's even some ponds adding to the charm.

Full house on a Sunday late afternoon dinner. Almost no vacant in parking that makes it seem like all customers flocked here compared with the other nearby cafes and restos.

A bit hot with all the bulbs and not enough fans, yet warm lighting was dim (not bright lit).

Even the toilet and the separate handwash area is aesthetic.

Price is affordable enough. Food tastes just okay. Would not call it the best.

The tilapia, said our companions, were lasang gilik or doesn't taste fresh. Bulalo soup tasted quite bland. There should have been patis, calamansi and chili served along with it. Can't say anything about the barbeques but I liked both the fresh ubod and the fried vegetable lumpia, and the moringa juice. We also had the halo halo which was good, generous ingredients.

The tilapia feast was last and too long to arrive as well. We understand the wait or long serving time because there are numerous patrons.

Despite being open air, the place was not malangaw. There was only one fly which was attracted to the seafood.

We were a big group yet table napkin was scarce, had to request for it. Seems like they were nagtitipid or stingy with the tissue and condiments.

Our order of everlasting was forgotten. It was charged but never came. Good thing we checked the receipt so it was given as take out.

For the breads I suggest buying them before 6pm or it might be out of stock or ubos na later. Got pandesal for 8 and ensaymada for 17. They are freshly baked and big.

Best part of the trip here was the Eugene Torre chess museum and that they are pet friendly (as long as your pupper is...

I've been here a few times mostly for snacks. I usually order halo-halo and the food taste is standard, the place has a theme and instagramable. However, my concern is regarding my last visit here. We ordered watermelon shake, palabok, spaghetti with meatballs and sisig with rice. After a few minutes we received the watermelon shake, it tastes raw like just like a home made blended fruit but the thing is, the big seeds of the watermelon is not removed from the shake causing me to choke because of the semi crushed seeds! The shake is very unpleasant because of how it is done. The dilemma does not end here, we waited for more than 30 minutes (we are very hungry already) only to get a soggy spaghetti and no meatballs to be found. I am not sure if the tiny bit of meat is the meatball. I am frustrated that point and the palabok did make me decide to rate this a 1 star restaurant. They topped the palabok with fried garlic and visible big fish thorns from the fish! It is not that usual soft thorn from the fish bones, it is BIG visible and cannot be unseen. I am really hungry so I just set aside almost half of the topping and proceeded to eat the noodles itself. To be fair, I will rate them 3 stars if only I ate their halo-halo but this experience made me rate them 1. Hoping for...