Xylo at The Palace: A Group Night Plan for BGC

Xylo at The Palace is an EDM club in Uptown, BGC, and a group night around it works best with the club as the last stop: dinner at Bolero, COCHI or Locavore, a comedy show at Brick Wall Comedy Club, then the dance floor. Bars in BGC close at 1am or 2am, so a club makes sense as the last stop of the night, not the first.

A barkada that budgets on a guess finds out at the door, so the money is worth settling before the night starts.

Dinner first

A club night needs a start, and for a group that start is a table that can hold everyone. Three BGC restaurants take big groups, all at ₱500 to ₱1,500 a head.

• Bolero: Spanish food in large sharing portions, with a Michelin Bib Gourmand. Sharing portions make the bill simple to split.
• COCHI: modern Filipino cooking, also with a Bib Gourmand.
• Locavore: a Filipino restaurant at Forbes Town with indoor and alfresco tables, Michelin Selected.

Book for the full head count and plan for cars to Uptown if the group is dressed for a club.

To eat inside the complex instead, ask Medusa at The Palace whether it can seat a group of your size. It is a theatrical dining lounge at The Palace, ₱1,500 and up a head.

Something in between

Between dinner and a club there is a gap. Uptown has an answer: Brick Wall Comedy Club at Uptown Parade, the home base of Comedy Manila, with stand-up, open mics and trivia nights. It is indoors and runs ₱500 to ₱1,500 a head.

It gives the friends who will not last until the club a full night of their own. They can eat, laugh and go home, and nobody has to feel they left early. Ask about seats together, as covered in comedy night in BGC.

The club last: settle the numbers first

Ask Xylo for its own figures before anyone commits, through its official page, a week ahead. Send one message with these questions:

• The date, and the number of people.
• Is the club open that night, and from what time?
• What is the door charge, and what does it include?
• What is the minimum spend for a table for that number, and is service charge extra?
• Do table guests also pay entry?
• Is a deposit needed, and what are the cancellation terms?
• What is the dress code, and the minimum age?

Keep the reply. A screenshot of a quoted price settles most arguments at the door, and it gives the group chat one number to agree to.

Entry against a shared table

Run this sum once the club has answered. It needs only four numbers.

1. The door charge per person, and what it includes.
2. The table minimum, and how many people it covers.
3. Whether table guests still pay the door charge.
4. Service charge, and whether it is on top.

Then compare per head.

• Entry only: the door charge, plus whatever each person expects to spend on drinks beyond what entry includes.
• Table: the minimum, plus service charge, divided by the head count.

A table usually wins when the group is large, plans to stay for hours and would be drinking anyway. Entry usually wins when half the group will leave early or does not drink. Work it out both ways for the actual head count, and for the head count minus two, because someone always cancels.

The budget, without the club

Per head:

• Dinner: ₱500 to ₱1,500.
• Comedy, if included: ₱500 to ₱1,500.
• The club: whatever the written quote says.

A typical BGC night runs ₱1,200 to ₱3,000 a head, and the club's quote goes on top of dinner. Tell the group the full figure before anyone commits, and collect deposits before paying one.

If part of the group wants a lower-cost late night, the BGC bars are sorted by price in bars in BGC by budget. For a celebration, see a birthday in BGC for ten, and for the general method, the barkada night out guide.

The planner covers Cubao now and BGC is next. See which areas are live.

The planner covers Cubao now. BGC is next, and this post is written from the same kind of checked list.