Cafe de Manila

Manang is very accommodating and helpful though the night we went there, they did not have any of the barbecue plates available. She explained that the cook had not done his marinating of the meats. I had my picky eater try palabok which was ok. I thought it was a little dry and could’ve used a little more sauce but the taste nonetheless was what i expected it to be. The crispy pata arrived piping hot but when i cut into it, the inside meat was still frozen. She immediately addressed the issue and returned with it properly cooked/​reheated. We had a halo halo for dessert — can’t beat that!

I ate here before and the food was great but this time around was not so good. the Lechon kawali was still awesome. The lumpia togue was horribly overcooked the togue was an indistinguishable glob. The pork barbecue, chop suey and ginataan were all bleh. The steamed rice tasted like it was cooked that morning (stale). Also the turon with ice cream was a joke. The turon were teeny tiny and worse, there was no banana in it, just langka which was also overcooked.

Great food, excellent service plus that feeling of home. Café de Manila brings Filipinos the satisfaction of that lutong bahay sarap!
My husband and I tried the sizzling pork sisig and pancit palabok and it was just awesome!
Well, here we are. waiting for our lumpiang shanghai to take home, and leche flan, and cassava cake.

My wife and I drove from Lewisville, TX to try this place. We had the Pansit Bihon, Lechon Kawali, and Lumpiang Shanghai. The Lechon is very delicious crispy. Lumpiang is good, and the Pansit is good too. The menu is very simple, easy to order off it. But they should add Kare-​Kare and Sinigang, those are the top most eaten. Overall this place is very delicious, we won’t mind driving the distance here again.

BBQ Pork, Halo Halo, and friendly service. My bf is Filipino, and wanted to try this place out. It’s tucked away, hidden a bit, but they have a sign now, right next to the bingo joint. It was delicious, but they didn’t have the AC on, so it was warm inside. However, the friendly service, and delicious food made up for it! The halo halo had yummy red beans, white beans, gelled fruit, ice cream, flan, and caramel in it. Like the MEGA Halo Halo you’ve always dreamed of!

Ain’t nothing vanilla about Café de Manila
Tucked in the corner of a sketchy strip mall, Café de Manila is serving some mean pinoy cuisine, I’ve only had limited exposure to pinoy cuisine (Thanks Philsa) back in undergrad, so of course i was excited to sample some authentic Filipino food. The Whale and I made the short trek to Café de Manila to see what the fuss was about
Immediately as we entered, we were greeted with «Welcome to Café de Manila!» I was a bit confused because it was a group of people who were dining that greeted us and honestly I wasn’t sure if they were employees or patrons. Turns out it was the owner and her family just enjoying a family meal together, which turns out would be the theme of the meal: Honest, friendly, and inviting family cooking :-)
Our waiter Louie, who looks like a jabbawockeez member, directed us to our table (space is limited) and was very personable and friendly. He gave a thorough breakdown of the menu for each dish and suggested his recommendations, We ended up ordering the pork sisig, chicken adobo, and the pinakbet
Chicken Adobo — Sweet, salty, and tangy, this dish seems to epitomize pinoy cuisine. The flavor combinations worked well and the dish came with rough chops of dark and white meat, satisfying all you dark or white meat people out there, no homo. The hard boiled egg garnish was a delicious touch, Imagine a tangy chicken teryaki and you got yourself some chicken adobo
pinakbet — mixed vegetables (squash, sweet potato, green beans, carrots, tomatoes and other vegetables) with chicharrónes and shrimp, tossed in a coconut milk based sauce with shrimp paste, a solid vegetable dish that would be very satisfying by itself
pork sisig — I’ve had lechon kawali before, which i prematurely declared as the best pork dish of pinoy cuisine… aaaaand im wrong. Pork sisig has dethroned the lechon kawali. marinated minced pork with onions and other spices topped with a raw egg (Louie, hook a ninja up with the recipe), served on a sizzling platter with an optional lemon wedge (omit). The whale and i both agreed that this was the best dish of the night, which is incredible because every dish was delicious. Apparently, traditional pork sisig is used with off cuts of the pig, like the ears and jowel (which are actually tasty), but Café de Manila seems to use pork shoulder (which is awesome), If you order anything on the menu, it needs to be the pork sisig because anything else would just be idiotic (heed my advice, i’ve got 5 years of elite Unilocaling experience aka this means nothing)
Café de Manila turned the Whale and I into huge fans of pinoy cuisine, a return trip has already been decided with the family. The owner, Luz, was very friendly, She had a conversation with us, giving us a quick briefing of her background and the restaurant. Food tends to bring people together and on that night, i truly felt like one of their own :-)

The sisig was well made, and my Filipino friend was very well pleased. I liked it too, but I think it’s more of an acquired taste if you want to LOVE it.
The lechon kawali and the Shanghai lumpia were both great although some pieces were a little too crispy. I would have liked to see a bit more filling in the lumpia.
The pancit and the noodles are my favorite thing here.
This restaurant does well in serving homemade Filipino food, with a decent menu — and this is a rarity in Dallas (you’d have to go all the way into Arlington to have a similar experience).
The interior of the place doesn’t look like much and the color of the walls do need to be changed, but if you’re here, it’s mostly because you’re here for the food.

I had never had filipino food before, it was delicious! Definately will try other dishes. The place is clean and very fast and friendly service.

NEW FIND!!! First timer for us… located at Jupiter Plaza mall (Bingo place, Resale store, Nail place), they do not have a sign yet on the building, located in corner store. They have a very simple menu! Prices reasonable. I will let you know quality, portion, taste, etc very shortly!
BTW, the owner, Luz, very welcoming, very warm, very hospitable as expected culturally. We love you already Tita Luz!!!

Very nice, cozy joint to indulge in delicious Filipino food. It’s in a rough part of town, but I’ll admit that many of the best restaurants are always found in the hood. Discovered this place via word-​of-​mouth and what I was told certainly reached my expectations. I had a solo lunch here (btw, there’s nothing wrong with eating alone). I ordered the Lechon Kawali, which is fried pork belly with rice. Very simple, delicious meal taking me back to my roots. The lady who took my order sat next to me, and we chatted for a bit. I did not mind at all since I’m a big talker, myself. I guess this is what I like most about Filipino restaurants is that they are just so hospitable and talk to you like family… or maybe it’s just because I’m Filipino. I don’t know… She was really nice and accommodating and so were the other 2 people there.
My only concern is how long this place can withstand business. I was here for about 45 minutes and I was the only customer. I’d hate to have a restaurant with good food close down. They have so much to offer.

No AC!!! Where the hell in Texas that doesn’t have AC in this 110 degree weather? It got worse when the waitress brought out water and coke with no ice. No excuse people, set your restaurant straight!

Very good and authentic fiipino food! BF is filipino and he was craving pancit palabok and this place popped up within our Unilocal search and it wasn’t too far away.
Don’t get scared since it’s in an old run down shopping center. It may be more frustrating that they don’t have a visible store sign either. But it’s right next to the huge Bingo Hall and a nail salon. The inside is pretty small and it may be hard to accommodate bigger groups.
Pancit palabok was very tasty and BF said it was exactly what he expected to be. He also ordered the pork sisig which came on a sizzling platter which was extremely hot so the bottom came out a bit burnt. I ordered the lechon kawali and upgraded the dish with garlic fried and a fried egg for $ 2. The pig skin was very crispy but had too much fatty parts for me. BF enjoyed those bits though. Garlic fried rice was excellent as well.
Their menu is pretty limited but from what we tried everything was pretty good. This will probably our go to place whenever the BF wants Filipino food.

I have been looking for a decent Filipino restaurant around DFW area and was surprised to find an actual restaurant through Unilocal.
Café De Manila was a little hard to find. It’s tucked around the corner of Jupiter Bingo and a nail salon. You have to be looking for this place to know where it is.
Food was pretty good! The portions were a little small for its price. Here’s a list of food we ordered:
— Lumpiang Shanghai: fried pork spring rolls aka lumpia. These were good and had a great crisp.
— Lechon Kawali: fried pork belly with a side of lechon (all purpose) sauce. These were deliciously moist and well made! Definitely get this.
— Sisig: chopped pig cheeks and pig ears cooked on a sizzling platter topped with egg and lime/​lemon. They did a decent job on the sisig. It wasn’t the best but it’ll do to satisfy a craving!
— Chicken Adobo: the ultimate filipino dish with braised chicken in soy sauce based sauce. These were delicious here and I highly recommend it!
Overall, a good experience here! I would come here when I’m in the area again.

Great food ordered family entrée sisig, lechon kawali and palabok… had a hard time finding it because they don’t have a big sign on top overall great experience