Yeah, yeah, I know. The restaurants you frequent are comfortable and the staff already know your name and your “usual.” You know what to recommend and what needs to be improved in their menus like you’re a business partner. But you may find another abode in one of the recently opened restaurants in the metro. Besides, it’s the long weekend—perfect time to try something new.
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Watch how the experts carefully assemble your bowl of udon in front of you in this new Japanese self-service restaurant in Bonifacio High Street. Here, you can customize your order—choose what kind of udon you’d like, sides to go with it, and of course condiments. It’s also relatively cheap as you’d probably need to prepare roughly P500 for two.
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Bao Bar is the latest food stall in Escolta’s First United Building. They have a simple menu serving Asian street food at very affordable prices: P65 for steamed buns or baos and P100 for their egg noodles with chili oil, ginger-scallion sauce, fried garlic, sesame and soy sauce. Pair the fare with jasmine tea.
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Thinking of having specialty coffee in big cups while on a budget? Satisfy that craving in Prominent. Situated in Quezon City, near Banawe and A. Bonifacio, this coffee shop is also a retail store, which will be launched soon. But for now, delight in their grilled cheese in sourdough and creamy puff-based cheese rolls while loosening up in the comforts of their minimalist and clean space.
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This two-floor establishment has an interesting concept. Dulo MNL is a café from morning to midnight, a restobar after six in the evening, and an art hub and events space all the time. They offer Filipino-Taiwanese food such as mushroom baos inspired by one of the owners’ stay in Taipei and clam miso soup. They also serve spiked coffees, sake sour, and melon juice concocted with vodka.
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Kazunori is a three-in-one Japanese concept beside Mazda Showroom along Chino Roces Ave. Extension. In front, you’ll see its café. Walk inside further for an omakase sushi bar and traditional izakaya restaurant. This is the latest venture of the owners behind famed Ramen Yushokena and Mendokoro Ramenba, so expect top-notch soba, katsudon, and nigiri.
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Located in The Fort Strip, BGC, the burgers this restaurant offers have U.S. Angus and wagyu beef sandwiched in Hokkaido milk tea buns. Aside from their fare, indulge in this gourmet burger joint’s Instagrammable vintage interiors with vinyl records, old movie posters, and personal memorabilia on the wall.
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Not a restaurant, but a stall. This addictive potato chips and fish skin in salted egg flavors from Singapore is now in SM Megamall. They just opened earlier this month and can be found at the mall’s Fashion Hall Wing. They’re perfect to munch on while binge-watching TV series (we also have an impressive list of shows to watch this long weekend).
Read more:
We gathered the best cafés in the metro so you don’t have to
Where to get good, authentic, and cheap dimsum that isn’t Master Siomai
A local’s guide to the best Siargao eats