A few months ago I was treated to lunch at Cafe Adriatico because my friend stated it was “the best” in Manila. Overall I was impressed, but not so impressed I felt I would end up coming back.
Come back though I did indeed do after our group tried to find a Brazilian BBQ restaurant that is no longer there. We did though end up not just treated to a great meal, but also discovering Manila Korea Town.
Cafe Adriatico Address
1790 Adriatico St,
Malate, Manila,
1004
Metro Manila
Basically located around Ermita and on the cusp of the local Korea Town.
What the Cafe Adriatico?
A small non descriptivist restaurant, it is known for being very old and owned by the same family. On fact it is so famous people come to have pictures taken outside. This bugs me and is akin to people counting an airport as having visited a country.
The overall vibe here is Filipino cuisine, steaks, and cheesecake, but with some contemporary twists. The overall layout is small, but there is also an upstairs, as well as an outside, but your best bet is still the ground floor.
What is the food like at Cafe Adriatico?
Between the group we got steak, baby squid pasta, pork belly and a heap of smaller snacks. A decent main will set you back about $20 here, which is not all that bad. They also offer a bunch of sharing packages for ribs, adobo and the like.
I personally did the squid pasta, which was good, if not epic. Drinks wise all the usual favorites were hit, with the cocktail list being fair priced an varied.
Worth the hype?
Yes and no. This is not fine dining whatever people might say, but it does offer good food and a break from places such as smorgasbord, or Dusk Till Dawn in Ermita.
And it could a greta launch pad for a night out in Korea Town Manila, something very much on my to do list.