The Food Tripper: A Food Trip in Manila, One Crawl per Area

A food trip in Manila works as three stops within a short walk: a stall, a main event and a dessert, in that order. In Cubao Expo that is Ichiban Takoyaki, then Best of Luck or Habanero Kitchen Bar, then frozen yogurt at llao llao in Ali Mall, about a 5-minute walk away.

How the quiz picks a Food Tripper

Four answers decide it, and the drinks answer is not one of them. What makes a good night is "Good food and a long talk". The second question gets "Something a bit different" or "The place nobody's posted yet", never "The sure thing". The room has other people in it: "A warm room with some noise" or "The loud table everyone wants to join". The pace is "Somewhere in the middle" in either room, or "Out out" in the warm room only; "Out out" at the loud table makes a Barkada Captain. "Slow and easy" never leads here, and neither does the corner table for two.

The Food Tripper page says the night is the eating: three stops, all of them food. It is one of the eleven archetypes, and it describes an appetite for the evening, nothing about the person.

Cubao: the Expo crawl

Stop one, the stall. Ichiban Takoyaki opens at 3 PM from Monday to Saturday and 2 PM on Sundays. Allow 20 minutes.

Stop two, the main event. Choose by mood.

• Best of Luck has Hong Kong-style Chinese plates for under ₱500 a head. In 2024 the Pork & Shrimp Siomai was ₱168, the Special Bacon Bao ₱188 and the Braised Beef Tendon Dry Noodles ₱288. It is closed on Mondays and it is two floors of two-seat tables, so it suits a pair better than a barkada.
• Habanero Kitchen Bar at Stall 63 costs ₱500 to ₱1,500 a head. Order the Oyster Sisig (₱395 in 2024); the torched 3-Cheese Pizza was ₱498 in the same year. It is open until 10 PM from Tuesday to Thursday and 11 PM from Friday to Sunday, and closed on Mondays.

Stop three, dessert. llao llao is on the upper ground floor of Ali Mall and keeps mall hours: 9 PM from Monday to Thursday and on Sunday, 10 PM on Friday and Saturday. On a weeknight, leave the Expo by 8:30 PM.

The extra. Cubao X Brewery has no kitchen, so food comes in from the neighbours, which a Food Tripper can read as an invitation. It is open from 3 PM to midnight.

Budget: with the first main, three stops that each cost under ₱500 a head, so under ₱1,500 a head. With the second, up to ₱2,500.

Cubao: the Gateway crawl, for a bigger table

Every stop here takes a big table or is a dessert counter, and it is all indoors.

1. Food Express on Level 3 of Gateway Mall 1: a walk-in food court that costs under ₱500 a head, with stalls such as Sisig Hooray, Salo Lechon Belly Kitchen and Bebang Halo-Halo.
2. World Kitchens on Level 4 of Gateway Mall 2: a food hall of 15 show kitchens at ₱500 to ₱1,500 a head, with cochinillo, gambas al ajillo and unagi hitsumabushi among the dishes. From Monday to Thursday it closes between 3 PM and 5:30 PM. The alternative is Palenque, a walk-in hall of regional Filipino stalls.
3. Tokyo Milk Cheese Factory or Caramia Cakes & Gelato for dessert, both under ₱500 a head and both on mall hours.

Budget: up to ₱2,500 a head.

For a third kind of night, Dampa sa Farmers Market has the group buy seafood at the market stalls and have it cooked for the table. Ask a stall for its cooking hours first.

One crawl in each other area

BGC. Start at Greenlight Burgers, where smashburgers are ordered through a stoplight system, for under ₱500 a head. For the main event, choose Los Tacos MNL for tacos made with Oaxacan technique, Hikiniku to Come for charcoal-grilled hamburg steak served three ways, or Em Hà Nội for phở gà and nem rán. All three cost ₱500 to ₱1,500 a head. Budget: up to ₱2,000 a head for two stops.

Poblacion, Makati. Three kitchens, each ₱500 to ₱1,500 a head: Scratch Smashburgers for a smashburger on a brioche bun, La Pita for Middle Eastern food with a Michelin Bib Gourmand, and Super Uncle Claypot for claypot rice. Order one dish per stop and split it.

Makati CBD. Aida's Chicken serves Bacolod-style grilled chicken for under ₱500 a head. In Salcedo, Taquería Franco at LPL Center does French-accented tacos and is open to midnight on Fridays and Saturdays, and Kodawari at Adamson Centre is an izakaya known for gyudon, open until 11 PM. On weekend mornings, Salcedo Saturday Market and Legazpi Sunday Market run from about 7 AM to 2 PM.

Pasay Bay Area. Stay at MOA: Army Navy for a burrito with a bay view, The Aristocrat for chicken barbecue and java rice, Bo's Coffee to finish. Budget: up to ₱2,500 a head.

Plan the Cubao crawl

The night-out planner covers Cubao now, with the other areas to follow. It builds dinner and the stops around it, and any stop can be swapped for another kitchen.

Go deeper with Cubao Expo food under ₱300 a plate, where to eat in Makati on the Bib Gourmand list, BGC restaurants by occasion and MOA restaurants by budget. For a full table, see the barkada night out guide.