Manam Comfort Filipino — Restaurant in Pasay

I just realized the manner in which us, guest of seven were treated last night by Miss Barbie. I'm guessing she is the manager of the shift last night at the Ocean Drive branch in SM Mall of Asia. The food was amazing. Did not let us down. I was informed by the crew, Irish, and some others that they will take last orders until 10pm. It was repeated to me and understood it. Nobody mentioned that we should leave by 11pm until just 30mins before 11 while I was still waiting for my fellow guests to arrive from the airport and make their way through traffic to the branch mentioned. We had to eat up all the dishes we ordered all in a hurry like we were in a challenge or in an eating contest. I was told that Manam will be penalised by the guards or whoever of the mall if they fail to close at 11pm. So we chomped down the food without getting to enjoy and savour the delish dishes you have served. Ngayon ko na lang na-realize, hindi tama ang ginawa sa amin. We chose to dine at Manam instead of heading to Okada or going to Aristocrat or dining in Newport which was our first choice. We made a choice to dine in Manam instead of dining in other restaurants because we prefer your innovate and creative menu selections. Nakakahiya sa bisita namin who had no food for 47hrs in their flight, for me to tell them to eat as fast as they can 'cause you'll be penalised if failure to close at 11pm. Nagkaroon naman ako ng tindahan that includes accommodating guests especially mga pahabol kahit na pa-close na ang tindahan. But I owe it to them for taking the effort and preferring to get service from my store and I do not rush them. I let them enjoy what they ordered. I allow them to be satisfied. We had 10 minutes less to eat up the food served. Like we were on a count down. And in the middle of us all eating in a hurry, I asked kung magkano ang penalty na ipapataw sainyo by the hour daw kase according to Miss Barbie, baka naman may paraan to negotiate that's why I asked. She responded, "okay lang Ma'am naiintindihan naman ng guards kapag may last guests kami". Ano yun? Tinakot nyo muna kaming guests nyo? Tapos in a snap, sudden change?

Consuelo naman, tinulungan nila kami ipack up ang food we had to bring home for us to continue eating, and its not like we're going home already. We came from Batangas, our fellow guests from the airport from US. I'm not saying this as to be entitled. Pero bisita ho kami. Bisita nyo ho kami. It was not Manam's fault we arrived and dined late. But we are still your guests. We had no intentions of overstaying our welcome . We just wanted to have a decent dinner with family. Nauunawaan ko may closing time kayo and I work in the kitchen too. I understand na magliligpit pa kayo. Magliligpit pa rin naman kayo whether we dined there or not. And as we were about to leave, the crew kept telling us or inviting us to come again. All the while this was all happening, panay ang pagpapakumbaba ko sa crew ninyo. I was humbly asking for their pasensya all the while this happened. I was courteous, I was nice, I was kind to your crew. I was empathetic with your crew. This is the reason why I'm writing this. Pakiramdam ko, utang na loob pa namin na kayo napili namin kainan na establishment. Your establishment may be awesome no questions about that. But with our experience last night? July 1st, 2024 Monday evening. It was not fun and...

Had dinner with my college friends and their SOs here. Recommended by another friend. Nice staff. Good service. They are attentive. Ambiance is nice as well.

Dishes we had: -ensaladang pritong talong 10/10- i may be biased coz eggplant is my favourite but this is a different twist from the usual ensaladang talong 👌 -ensaladang namnam 10/10- super bet! Never had this before. Sour taste in different levels with the saltiness of tinapa flakes. 👌 -baby squid 7/10- its pretty good but medyo saucy for me. Not bad tho. -crispy sisig 8/10 - could have had a bigger serving but taste wise it’s good 👍 -kare kare 8/10 - the sauce is good but had peanut bits. My friend liked it that way but for me i wanted it more saucy without peanut bits. Meat and veggies cooked well. At least we know their sauce is not from a packet. 👌 -beef salpicao 9/10 - good appy. The sauce is a bit too sweet for my taste but the beef is tender 👍 -garlic rice 10/10 with garlic bits-love love it!! -bagoong rice 10/10- not too powerful of a taste, with green mango slices on top-love it!!

I got the ube sago shake drink 9/10

Lastly Lumpiang Ubod - 4/10 too much wrapper and not enough fillings. Sauce is not bad tho.

Overall, will still come back and try other dishes. I highly recommend to try dishes na hindi pa naluto ng mama mo. Or kung sino man masarap magluto sa bahay niyo. Sarap kasi gumawa ng Lumpiang Ubod mama ko kaya medyo high expectations ako hehe. Otherwise, good service overall and masaya yung ambiance kasi Filipino...

Read a lot of reviews about this place. When we were there, there were steady stream of people coming and going to dine at 3 to 4pm. Everyone can dine here, be it solo eater or a big group. They have 3 serving sizes reminiscent of usual Chinese resto, which ranges from Small to Large, but serving Filipino dishes with option of classic cooking and/or with a twist. Being that my companion eats very little, we ordered Small sizes of the Sinigang na Short Ribs with Watermelon and the Braised then Fried Chicken and Pork Adobo with Flakes. Our plain rice was Medium (which I was told was equivalent to 2 cups). The sinigang was wonderful, the watermelon had the same texture as tomatoes without it's skin. It was sour (with powdered mix, I presume), & a tinge of sweetness...almost tangy. The soup is a perfect pair with the plain rice. The meat is minimal. For the Chicken and Pork Adobo with Flakes, serving size was a bit too small, it has a sweeter taste. Again the sauce can be mixed into the rice, which I assume is the typical way to eat Filipino food which has sauce. I find that I like the sinigang better than the adobo, though maybe bec I wanted to order sisig but my companion wasn't up to the idea of sisig. 😕 Overall. Good eat. Affordable. And again, perfect for even people...