Habanero Kitchen Bar: Oyster Sisig and When to Go

At Habanero Kitchen Bar in Cubao Expo, order the oyster sisig and the torched three-cheese pizza, and go from Tuesday to Sunday, because it is closed on Mondays. It is at Stall 63 and opens at 11 AM, so the safest plan is to arrive early and know your second choice.

What to order at Habanero

Three dishes are worth naming, and two of them carry prices from 2024:

• Oyster Sisig, ₱395 in 2024
• 3-Cheese Pizza, ₱498 in 2024, torched
• Lechon Habanero

The bar side makes habanero cocktails, which is where the name earns its keep.

For two people, the sisig and the pizza together come to ₱893 at 2024 prices, or about ₱447 each before drinks. Add a cocktail apiece and the bill moves into the ₱500 to ₱1,500 a head range. The prices date from 2024, so read them as a guide to proportion, not a quote.

If only one dish fits the budget, make it the Oyster Sisig (₱395 in 2024), the dish the kitchen is known for.

When to go

Habanero keeps clear hours:

• Monday: closed
• Tuesday to Thursday: 11 AM to 10 PM
• Friday to Sunday: 11 AM to 11 PM

An early table is the easy way in. A 6 PM dinner from Tuesday to Thursday is four hours ahead of closing and leaves the rest of the evening for the bars. On Friday to Sunday the extra hour makes a 9 PM dinner possible after a gallery and a drink. If you want to book, check its page first.

Lunch is the other answer. It opens at 11 AM, four hours before the compound's taproom, and about when the shops begin to open.

Inside or outside

There are indoor tables and alfresco ones. The alfresco tables are the pet-friendly ones, so a date that includes a dog depends on the weather. In wet weather, plan on sitting inside and leave the dog at home, or have a second date in mind.

A backup in the same compound

Walking in means holding a plan B, and any two places in Cubao Expo are about a 2-minute walk apart.

Bellini's is the one that can be booked. It is an Italian kitchen with truffle ravioli, burrata and tiramisu, in the same price range, and it takes reservations through its Facebook or Instagram page. It is open daily, Mondays included, but closes at 9:30 PM.

Best of Luck is the cheaper one, with Hong Kong-style Chinese plates costing under ₱500 a head. It is also closed on Mondays.

On a Monday, then, the answer is the Italian kitchen. Cubao Expo restaurants, sorted by occasion compares all three.

Building the night around dinner

Before a 7 PM table, Pablo Galleries shows contemporary Filipino art until 7 PM from Tuesday to Saturday, and John's Antique Shop has old komiks, typewriters and radios until 7 PM daily. Both close as dinner starts, so they go first.

After dinner, three bars are about 2 minutes away. INT.Bar is a speakeasy behind a photobooth door with cocktails named after films. Cubao X Brewery is an open-air taproom open until midnight. Good Vibrations Records is a vinyl shop with a listening room and a small bar, open until 10:30 PM. For a stop with no alcohol, The Brewman Coffee pours espresso drinks until 11 PM from Tuesday to Sunday.

On the way out, the convex mirror by the entrance is the compound's photo spot.

Plan the rest

The night-out planner can set this dinner inside a full evening and replace any stop that does not suit. For the stop-by-stop version, read a Cubao Expo date night, stop by stop. To finish at the speakeasy, see the Quezon City speakeasy behind a photobooth door, and for everything else nearby, the Cubao date night guide.