Maura's Place by Mela and Mai — Restaurant in Rizal

At first glance, I was stunned with the place. I was imagining outside what it should look at the inside. Unfortunately, there's nothing much to expect literally.

We've booked a reservation hoping that we won't be having difficulty finding a place to sit. End up, they're unprepared and having difficulties where they can allocate us a seat. Seriously?! Then whats the point of booking it? So, we were moved to the 2nd floor in the veranda, we were like dried fish after a few bites. That's because the heat coming from the roof downstairs is just being bounced on us. Not to mention with a huge bee buzzing at us while we're eating.

Secondly, our schedule was set as early morning breakfast. But, the music is pretty loud adding in the noise of the other guests that's not even following the protocol of social distancing. I wanted to take a photo but I'll leave it up to them.

Food yeah, can do. But, the serving of the cake, it took ages and we kept on asking them about it...default answer was we're preparing it. I was thinking is there a gold or any peculiar design that I can look forward to for a snap. And when they serve it, I was like are you kidding me. This is it? I thought they're planning to give me 3 tier cake that's why it's taking that long. Sigh.... Not to mention that food are already pre-ordered.

Now, here comes the bill. Ta da! If we didn't check it, we'll be charged for another 500php which we paid for the advance booking. Isn't their task to be more organized? So we asked them to redo the receipt as we can't wait to leave the place.

Breakfast for me should be calming and hassle free as you want to prep up for the day with a good vibe. However, it turns out the other way around.

The only reason why I've given them 2 stars is because at least their staff are still courteous and the food is still somewhat edible for me.

But I guess one time is enough for me for this place; the view isn't that as great if I were to compare with the others that...

We went to Maura’s Place saturday afternoon. We drove here from Manila and because it was weekend expect traffic. The road was kind of steep going there but manageable. Just be careful since you’ll pass thru a market place and residential area. When we arrived, we’re fifth in line so we did a little bit of tour around the area while waiting.

As expected the place is very calm and not crowded. Even though there’s a waiting list you won’t see the volume of people. Maybe because of the design of the house and the placement of tables. Mostly alfresco I think.

The view of Metro was also relaxing. The weather at the time we went was cloudy so we felt a bit of humidity. Regardless, the place was still astounding. There were viewdeck areas where you can take a picture and having a phone holder/tripod where you can place your phone for a selfie is a bright idea. So you can do unli selfies. LOL. Which we did btw. There were 2 viewdecks there with great views so you can either choose or go for both. We went to both. LOL.

Now, the food. So like other cafes and restaurants with views, expect that their menu will be a bit expensive. It ranges from 250 to 500 php. Coffee are around 200 to 300 php. The food was satisying but not extraordinary. I liked their pizza and pasta, coffee was okay too. So from rating of 5, I’ll say it’s 4.

Overall, my experience with Maura’s place was great. If you want a place that are not too crowded, maybe you can go here. It’s also great that they control the crowd, I believe it’s for the guests’ experience as well. Staff were very accomodating and attentive. Kudos to them for that! So I’ll say we will come back here and will try their...

Went on a Sat night and waited for about 30mins for a table since we did not have a reservation. I noticed they had an open area that was closed off and when I inquired if they can be opened for us (many) waiting patrons, I was told no, it's just closed. I suspect they don't have enough staff to attend to said area.

We were seated at a far off table in the open aea and noticed some unplesant smell especially when there is a breeze. We asked to be transferred to a different table and was told there are still waiting patrons to be seated and they will try to transfer us, but didn't really happen.

We were so hungry by the time our food arrived and I noted it didn't take long for orders to be served despite their rule of ordering only upon being seated (we used to wait time to choose our orders from their menu). Food was okay, not bad but not great either. My dad ordered the beef belly and asked the waiter if it's good for sharing, we were told yes but it was only single serving when it arrived.

Overall a pleasant experience, you pretty much pay for the view. I think they also need to train their wait staff better, ours seemed very new, did not know their own menu. I asked for extra parmesan for my pasta and I finished it already with no extra parmesan arriving. It never did. We skipped dessert as we weren't enjoying the dining experience overall. Bill took a while to be given as well. Everything just seemed slow, definitely lots of room for...