Finding good restaurants in Manila has never been a chore. You find sublime world cuisine at local prices. Fresh ingredients and innovative preparation are essential, with flavours that linger longer than the posts on your social media feed. Here’s where to eat just like that in Manila.
Va Bene Pasta Deli
It is no wonder why this Italian eatery from the Michelin-trained chef Massimo Veronesi is regarded as one of the best in Manila. The menu highlights fresh produce and is very pasta centric (one of the few places in Manila with 100% handmade pasta), but by no means is it just spaghetti. That means you’ll have plates like the molten egg yolk raviolo (an oversized ravioli), stuffed pasta with crab in saffron sauce, and creamy mushroom risotto with gorgonzola. Order anything off the menu and watch the streets of Makati slowly transform into marble-paved alleys of Verona.
Gino’s Brick Oven Pizza
When you get the pizza cravings in an unknown part of town, it pays to look for a big wood-fired pizza oven (or follow your nose to one). Nestled in the Salcedo Village, it has a typical Italian diner decor and a brick oven, as the name suggests, and sends out freshly baked pizzas at an impressive rate. Although the menu focuses on twenty-something different pizzas, Gino’s still has space for their in-house mozzarella bar and homemade cheeses made from the milk of local water buffaloes (carabaos). People have fun, wine flows, and food stands out — eating here is an authentic Italian experience.
Donosti
Something of a rarity in the city, Donosti is a real Basque eatery in Taguig. They have interior walls with stone cladding and handwritten daily specials on a chalkboard, and all that’s missing are the Iberico hams hung above the bar. The menu, from chef Pablo Lopez, takes in a range of Spanish favourites and Basque signature plates — think homemade sausages like butifarra, various pintxos, and fried-to-a-crispy-crust seafood paella.
Toyo Eatery
If Manila had a Michelin guide, Toyo Eatery would be in it, hands down. The kitchen, helmed by the inventive Jordy Navarra, an alumnus of Heston Blumenthal at the Fat Duck, celebrates the rediscovery of Filipino food. You might argue that a dish named garden vegetables has a place at the best restaurant in the Philippines (according to the World’s 50 best restaurants). But visit Toyo Eatery, and the answer is yes. Named after a famous nursery rhyme and the 18 vegetables mentioned in it, bahay kubo, the dish combines textures and flavours hidden in a humble bowl of edible soil. Claim your table good time ahead, and arrive hungry.
Mamou
Walk down the checkerboard floors of Mamou, and you find yourself in a cosy family-friendly bistro on BHS (Bonifacio High Street). With the right mix of local and international dishes, Lorenzo’s truffle cream pasta stands out. Smothered with truffle oil and topped with a mound of Grana Padano cheese, this pasta is one of Manila’s best comfort foods.