Abe

First dinner in Manila with the whole family was at Abe Restaurant. I have been there before and remember them having good Filipino food.

Before we ordered, they served us Chicharon which disappeared as fast as it was laid on the table. My mom ordered Buko Juice which is young coconut. I had no comment as I do not like anything coconut with the exception of anything cooked in coconut milk. Sandi and I had the Green Mango Juice. It was good but nothing compared to the one at Bangus Restaurant.

One of their "best seller" item on the menu was Lamb Adobo. We of course had to have that along with the Bamboo Rice; rice that is cooked in bamboo with shrimps, mushrooms and bamboo shoots.  The way it was served was interesting and entertaining. The server brings the bamboo and taps on it which makes noise; she did this several times. She then split the bamboo in half and served us the rice. It was delicious. I was not impressed with adobo. Though it had a good flavor, it was much to fatty.

We ordered the Knockout Knuckles, their version of the crispy pata which was good but not much meat in them. The Binukadkad na Pla Pla, an overgrown Tilapia butterflied and fried to a delightful crispiness was good with the bamboo rice.

The best dish of them all which was worth going to this restaurant was the Sinantol na Hipon. This was sauteed santol (tropical fruit) meat with shrimps, onion, bagoong, coconut milk and spices.  This was a seasonal item only served when santol is in season. It was absolutely wonderful.

For dessert, we were all curious about the Sikreto ni Maria Clara. Translated, means Maria Clara's secret. It looked like egg white with sticky rice and mango inside. I had a bite of it and it was good. Sandi and I split the Mango Crepe which tasted much better than it looked. The fresh mango was so sweet and went well with the liquor and the whipped cream.

Abe Restaurant has several locations in Metropolitan Manila.