Manong's Grill — Restaurant in Muntinlupa

Food: I won't recommend eating here if you have other choices. For drinks, sure, go here. Otherwise, stay away. The highlight would be Sinigang na Ulo ng Salmon; it was really tasty. The mediocre/so-so dishes were Chicharong Bulaklak and Tokwa't Baboy because they were not oily in my mouth. The Pork Binagoongan would have been nice as well, if it did not include several long cuts of just pork fat.

The lowlights were the Calamari: which is totally unseasoned and the breading made it look like donuts; the Sisig: on a sizzling plate but definitely not sizzling anymore, ordered a second one still the same; the Sizzling Squid: also not sizzling anymore; and the Pinaputok na Pla-pla/Tilapia: tasted like muddy water and not seasoned well enough.

Service: Very slow prep of our food, 4 viands took around 30-45 mins before it got served. Most of our dishes were already cold. I was too hungry to take pictures, and the lighting of our dining area did not entice me to do so anyway. Ordering and serving of food is handled by different kind of staff. Sometimes the setup helped like asking for more ice when our drinks got served, but most times, it was harder to get our orders in.

They have a quite good system in parking. On nights nearing the weekend, it would be packed, especially by customers who drive their own cars. You can get temporary parking near the entrance, and the parking staff will inform you when a slot is vacated.

Atmosphere: Most of the restaurant is al fresco, but covered. It is very chill as long as there are not many noisy customers. You can get some amount of privacy by asking for a table with a fake shrub partition. You can also reserve a room (interior), that might probably entail additional costs (not entirely sure). To my surprise, the restrooms are...

First Visit: Not crowded and no wait when we came in around 4:00pm on a Wednesday. Comfortable inside with a/c. We ordered: Grilled Panga and Tanigiue, Kinilaw na fish, Chopsuey (I love the sweet taste) Baked Mussels, Adobong Kangkong, Crispy Pata (not much tabâ). Very good Filipino food option around this area. We’re all happy with all the food we ordered. We’ll go back again.

2nd visit: This is one of my favorite Filipino restaurant in Alabang. We’ve been here 3x for this month of December.

The following are my favorites: Tortang Talong with Crabmeat. It’s so good. Crispy Pata - perfectly crunchy skin with soft meat Chopsuey - it has carrots, Pechay, Onions, Squid, Bell Pepper. Tasted semi-sweet Grilled Blue Marlin. One will never go wrong with Blue Marlin. It’s my favorite fish so I’m biased. Baked Mussels. Very cheesy.

Well tasting Filipino food. Plenty of Parking. They know how to serve their beers. They always serve the bottle very cold with frozen Glass to pour it in to.

Service: 3 star. Not so attentive servers. Maybe because they’re busy but as we called their attention, they take care if it right away. Food always come out after at...

The ambience is so much better than the food. The squid was TOUGH and worse than rubber; the vegetables served were undercooked whilst the shrimp was not fresh (Sinigang); even the rice was served at room temperature. The only saving grace was the shrimp tempura 🍤 which was good. Had a bunch of other mediocre dishes that weren't worth their price. For the cost of their dishes and their longstanding existence (26 yrs?), one would expect better food so it was beyond disappointing. Servers were OK - nobody smiled but they did their job; had better service in "less posh" places TBH. The toilet was clean but the water flow from the faucet was terribly lacking (expect a frustrating experience rinsing the suds off of...