XO 46 Heritage Bistro: Pinoy Food and Hospitality

Looking around the newest retail area in MOA Complex, we spotted a Filipino restaurant with great interiors and an awesome "uniform" for their servers.

It's not actually a uniform but a full Filipiniana complete with a headdress. And mind you, they speak eloquently in Tagalog, capturing the natural rhythm of the language. We felt an air of hospitality while asking one of their personnel about the menu.

After ordering, we were given some mini puto and conrnick to munch on. The puto came with two types of butter - the regular, and the one with aligue.

For the soup, we had Suam na Mais. This is a light soup with corn kernels and crab meat. The soup serving a big but I wish there were more corn and crab meat.

The Garlic Sotanghon was indeed garlicky. The noodles itself had flavor. It could use a bit more toppings though.

I liked how the lumpia was crunchy and flavorful. It is even enhanced when you dip it in the vinegar mixture.

Complementary Choc-Nut was given as a mini dessert to close the meal.

Price is a quite expensive for the serving size but service is commendable.

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Pho Hoa: Noodles and Rolls

For our Friday lunch out, we ordered spring rolls, salad, and noodles with a Vietnamese twist. I'm not really familiar with Vietnamese food so I followed the recommendations of my colleagues. This is also a good place for vegetarians since they have a separate menu for their vegetarian offerings.


Serving size of the noodles and entrees are good for sharing so we shared meals by pair. Pair 1: Chicken noodle soup and fried spring rolls. Pair 2: Brisket Flank Pho and fresh spring rolls. Pair 3: Chicken noodle soup and Chicken salad.

I liked the spring rolls, both the fresh and fried. Vermicelli is not usually an ingredient for spring rolls in our local cuisine so this is a defining trait for the rolls. The peanut-y sweet and savory sauce of the fresh rolls is a favorite. For the fried version, a sweet and sour vinegar based dip is provided.

Thin rice noodles defined the noodle soup. The broth and toppings are simple. Beansprouts and a squeeze of lemon are served on the side as additions to the soup. You can add chili and hoisin sauce to flavor the broth. Indeed the serving size was good for sharing and we all left with full stomachs.

I was not able to taste the salad but the serving size was big as well and there was a good amount of chicken.

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KKK: Food for the Revolutionary

Celebrating Bonifacio day this long weekend, we write about KKK - a restaurant with the same name as the revolutionary group led by the hero. We bought an online discount voucher for this.

The place is decorated with the likeness of a nipa hut - walls covered like this.

A paper mache of a pair of Filipinos accompany each table. You can munch on complementary kropek while waiting for your order.


Pancit Luglog

This comes with fried tofu and chicharon toppings.


Kare Kareng Baka

A mix of beef chunks and tripe in a chunky peanut pumpkin sauce with bagoong on the side is served. Kare kare is already a staple when we try out Filipino restaurants.


Pinitpit na Manok

Grilled chicken fillet with tamarind sauce on the side is up next. The sampaloc sauce is like a sour tamarind candy but with less sugar. The meat itself is a little dry but it goes well with the sauce.


Tibok tibok

This one is the favorite. It is a maja blanca, but richer and thicker. Carabao's milk is used for this. It's quite filling and the serving size is bigger than the usual round kakanin that you can finish in two bites.


Unlike our recent visits to other Filipino restaurants, food here is relatively not that salty.


Branch visited located at: Entertainment Mall, SM Mall of Asia, Pasay City

Manam: Filipino Food Twists

Off to try more food with twists, we went to Manam. Their menu is already divided into two sides - the classics side and the twists side. Everything we ordered on this visit was from the twists side of the menu.


Sinigang na Beef Short Rib with Watermelon

Fruity sweet with a hint of sour - this sinigang is not the conventional strong sour soup.

The sinigang, as its name suggests, had watermelon in it which gave it a red color and fruity taste. I kind of wondered whether I was slurping sour fruit juice. It also had some tomatoes. The beef was okay, but not the melt-in-your-mouth type of tender.


Seafood Bounty Kare-kare

A bowl filled with seafood was served - crab, squid, fish, mussels, and shrimp on top. The sauce itself was nutty and had actual peanut chunks in it. I just hope there was more crab meat in the crab shell. Bagoong was also served on the side


Pancit Canton

Purple cabbage and orange sweet potato served as colorful highlights to the common noodle dish. Though the noodles were a bit salty for me, the sweet potato neutralized it. Toppings also included pork, string beans, and fried tofu.



Turon with Mango and Kesong Puti

Usually, turon has a crunchy deep fried, sugary coated wrapper that is filled with banana. This one has mango and cheese in it.

The mango was a little sweet and a little sour that is just right to balance the sweetness covering the wrapper. There was definitely some creaminess in there but I did not really taste much of the cheese. Let me describe this dessert with four words - crunch, cream, sour, and sweet. This is my favorite among what we ordered.

Overall, their viands would go well with rice. (It was a little salty, but I think I have lower tolerance for salty food than most people haha.)


Branch visited located at: Ground floor, Mall of Asia, Pasay City

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