Restaurants in Manila

Fine exponent of Pampanga country cuisine served in an intimate and elegant dining room oozing class. Rich food with house specialities such as knockout knuckle and oxtail kare-kare for those not overly concerned about their waistline.

Run by one of the country's most famous chefs, Gene Gonzalez, Café Ysabel boasts an excellent menu of local dishes and international classics alongside myriad exotic coffee concoctions. Classical dishes include tournedos Rossini fillet of beef and sole meunière. The restaurant itself is located in an atmospheric antique 1920s Filipino house and is popular with Manila's professional classes.

Opened by renowned Manila chef Jordy Navarra, Toyo combines everyday ingredients to produce inventive and beautifully presented creations. The chic-industrial interior has an open kitchen, and there's also a private dining room. A la carte options or tasting menus are available; don't miss the Bahay Kubo vegetable salad or the BBQ skewers, a play on traditional street food.

Eclectic décor characterizes this fun restaurant tucked away in Pasig City. Filipino and Asian-fusion food is served amid a forest of festive decorations, antiques and kitsch paraphernalia. Local favourites include boneless bangus fish (marinated in vinegar and garlic) and ratatoy – a Filipino version of ratatouille. Prices are at the upper end of the moderate category.

Museum Café, or M Café, sits in close proximity to the Ayala Museum and treats smart set diners to a smorgasbord of modern Asian cuisine, fancy coffees, sweet-toothed desserts and signature cocktails. Spiced Asian crab cakes, sushi and tandoori-spiced chicken embody its pan-Asiatic influences. This chic glass-walled eatery is an ideal place to breakfast until Greenbelt 4 Mall opens at 1000.

For seafood lovers, Red Crab is heaven. The Manila restaurant's speciality is what else but crab - cooked in every thinkable way. Thai chilli, white pepper and butter ginger are just a few crustacean creations. This chain has branches around Manila. Prices are for a starter and crab dish with beer.

Seafood aficionados will adore the seafood 'paluto' restaurants along the Bay of Manila. The Dampa is essentially a fish market selling fresh seafood with restaurants opposite to cook your produce tout de suite. Simply select your lobster or red snapper, choose a restaurant, and request your fish cooked the way you like it. Aling Mahrsya Restaurant prepares delicious prawns in butter garlic and grilled squid.

Located in a shopping mall, this outlet is part of a fast-food chain delivering tasty express snacks. Besides glassy noodle pancit luglug, its most popular treat is halo-halo (literally, 'mixed-mixed') – a sort of Filipino Knickerbocker glory dessert. Price represents one dish with soft drink while service not included.

This restaurant is legendary in Manila, with most people growing up with memories of visits (it first opened in 1936). There are now 13 branches across the city, two of them open 24 hours, seven days a week. Everyone comes for the chicken BBQ with Javanese rice, though you may have to wait during busy times.