My first meal in Manila was at a seafood restaurant called Seafood Market. You buy the seafood and vegetables on display and then tell them how you want it cooked, and it turned out a lot tastier than I expected. Probably because they prep the ingredients right on the spot. It was pretty much the only really good restaurant of the whole trip. Sadly, I didn’t like any of the other places, so I’ll lump them all together in one post.
The entrance
I was there with some higher-ups, so it felt awkward to bring my camera. I shot everything on my iPhone, so the quality is really poor. Sob..
A giant lobster
It looked tasty, but it was a bit pricey. Around 150,000 won for one? Over budget, so I passed this time.
All kinds of seafood
They had some big prawns, so I grabbed them!
Seafood & vegetables
The vegetables are down at the far end.
Crab
Over budget, so I passed on this too~ Since it was a company outing, we couldn’t spend much on food, which was a bit of a shame. Sob..
Clam soup
The broth, loaded with ginger, was really memorable.
Stir-fried scallops and vegetables
I took this halfway through eating, so it’s a bit messy, sorry. To my taste this one was really good. Freshly prepped vegetables stir-fried with a proper smoky wok flavor..
Fried rice
This one had that smoky wok flavor too..
Giant prawns
The wow factor doesn’t scale with the size, but they had a nice bite to them.
Fried white fish
I was already full, so I could only manage a few pieces..
Grilled salmon
This was just so-so too.. Not much different from what you get in Japan.
Real French fries
This one kind of blew me away. We picked out some potatoes and asked them to make French fries, and what came out had a chewy texture you’d never get at an ordinary fast-food place. I was a little annoyed they arrived after we’d finished all the rice, but it was still one of the few truly real French fry experiences of my life.
Inside the restaurant
It’s an open kitchen. All that came to about 30,000-40,000 won per person. Not bad price-wise, but I wouldn’t call it really cheap. Every restaurant aimed at tourists seemed to be in this price range. Well, you have to factor that in. If there were lots of other good places it’d be worth a trip just for the food, but apart from this one it was pretty much one disappointment after another. The Japanese and Korean restaurants in particular were kind of meh.. I wanted to try the local food too, but I was a bit scared to wander around, the people I was with didn’t like grubby places, and the guides only make something if they steer you to the expensive restaurants, after all..
Back in Tokyo I wouldn’t even look at hotel food, but in Manila I was grateful to eat it. I found myself wondering if that’s just normal in Southeast Asia.