Max’s of Manila

The food was great. We ordered kare-​kare, crispy pata, pinakbet, pancit bihon, & fried bangus. The crispy pata, fried bangus, & pancit were great. As for the kare-​kare, I dont like it when the add the beef cubes (well at least thats what I think they are). The meat was a little more on the tuff side. As for the pinakbet, we had a lot of pumpkin (karabasa) & it was under cooked. We prefer more of the green vegetables, not so much for the karabasa. Usually when we go these are the dishes we order.
The service was awesome. The waitress & waiter were very friendly (friendlier than usual). Maybe because it wasn’t as busy as usual, especially for lunch on a Friday.

Something changed. I use to dread coming here because of the laxidaisy service. I cringed when visitors said they must go to Max’s because they miss Filipino food so much. This restaurant, at this location, has been busy beyond belief. It is sometimes difficult to get a seating. A couple times we just left because the wait was over an hour. Before when I started coming here the service just wasn’t there. Tables were not cleared fast enough. It was a mess. That doesn’t happen too much. Well, I haven’t noticed it in awhile. The longer waits to be seated, get your order taken and pay the bill have sped up to what they should be. Sometimes I may still have to flag them down for the bill but that’s probably because we have too much left over they couldn’t tell if we were done or not. This time around, we are a party of eight feeling a little hungry.
Lumpiang Ubod $ 7.50
Fresh vegetables featuring heart of the palm with pork, shrimp and crab meat wrapped in a fresh crêpe wrap is a great appetizer to start with preparing your mouth for a delicious meal. I like it with the vinegar garlic dip. We had one order with the peanut sauce. It was nice but I like more of an explosion in my mouth. One order is good for four just to be able to get a bite.
Shrimp Sinigang $ 10.25
Made with the tamarind base seasoning, this wonderful soup is great if you have a cold. A unique flavor not often seen in other cooking cuisine. It’s a light dish with delicious fresh veges oniions, tomato, egg plant and kamote tops, but more often than naught the shrimp is over cooked. Probably because the shrimp cooks faster than the veges to get soft.
Pancit Canton $ 9.50
Using egg noodles, this can satisfy everyone with chicken, pork and shrimp. It’s on the wet side giving it a nice flavor to go with the noodles and helps to bring everything together. Very satisfying.
Dinuguan $ 9.95
Pork simmered in blood with vinegar, garlic and spices is a favorite delicacy. Contrary to psychological belief, you really cannot taste the blood. It is a savory stew with its’ own unique taste so many enjoy. Why get left out? Give it a try.
Boneless Marinated Milkfish $ 14.50
I don’t really care for this dish but Max’s does it right that makes it enjoyable and easy to eat. This is a fish local to the Philippines deep fried with vinegar and garlic. For more of an explosion, this is served with additional garlic vinegar sauce on the side. I like to pour the sauce over the rice because it soaks in better then eat it with the fish for a stronger sour taste that simply broke da mouth.
Kare Kare $ 13.95
This delicacy is one of my favorites, and I’m not suppose to eat but no one is stopping me. So, don’t. lol Made with beef shank and oxtail simmered with vegetables. Just one spoon of peanut butter creates the thick, savory stew taking it to a new level of taste. Delicious.
Crispi Pata, Reg. $ 14.50
To get a good Crispy Pata, it takes more than deep frying and lots of time. But done right, then you will have one of the best tasting pork you’ve had in your life. Of course, the garlic vinegar sauce with it makes it nice. For an extra kick, i like to add red chilis to the sauce. The thought of it is making my mouth water. I also like to pour the sauce over tomato and onions to eat with this dish. They don’t do that here. Just my preference.
Halo Halo $ 5.95
To me this is good for 2 people. It’s a big dessert made with several fruit preserves under shave ice then topped with ube ice cream, flan and toasted rice flakes. It is a wonderful dessert worth having especially if you’ve never had it before, and good way to end the meal. It’s not the best but it is pretty decent here.
I’m glad that along with the wonderful food the service matches up too. The dishes we had, shared with family and friends made a wonderful night worth remembering for the rest of our lives. That’s what good food and good friends can do. If you’ve been eating the more common Filipino dishes, try some of the dishes here and take it to the next level. You’ll be happy as dinuguan! hahaha

I’ve been here many times since it first opened, but today I was pleased that I’ve had the most professional server: Gloreto, who goes by «Glo.» I hope we have him again!

Lumpia Shanghai was undercooked! Straight from the freezer to the frying pan! Their signature fried chicken was good but dunno what gives with the mayo in the bangus sisig which really took away from the sisig taste. Garlic fried rice was made of cheap rice.

Super love the Kare2x my all time favorite :) sizzling tofu and embutido is a must try.

Although other Filipinos who know better wouldn’t agree, I think that Max’s lechon kawali is FTW!
We arrived at Max’s around 4 and got seated right away by the hostess. (We got there at the right time because people started coming around 430 – 5) We then met our waiter who was very personable.
We ordered karekare, dinogoon, lumpia and all were okay (other than the lechon kawali which to me was yummy). We also had halo halo with flan on top.
The restaurant is clean although I saw a couple of flies fly around. The bathrooms are surprisingly clean and there is also a handwash station right outside the bathroom; where you can wash your hands before and after eating which I thought was convenient.
Good experience overall but will probably not come back expect for the lechon. I recommend Bautistas for «better» tasting Filipino food.

Came here as soon as they opened and staff wasn’t so welcoming. No «welcome or hellos», just «you can sit over there.» Well okay then.
1) Shanghai — Stale fried won ton bowl. Just your basic average Shanghai lumpia.
2) Asparagus Tofu — 4 tiny pieces of tofu. The rest, asparagus.
3) Pancit Bihon — Not as salty as most places. Just right. The only dish I liked from here.
4) Lechon Kawali — I understand that it’s pork but 85% of the dish was straight fried fat. Came with 3 thin slices of tomato, and two slices of onions.
5) Garlic rice — Large comes with 5 big scoops for $ 5.50. Wish there was more garlic.

I used to eat in max restaurant when i am still living in the philippines and their food is delicious so when i tried max restaurant here in hawaii im so disappointed because im expecting the same… the food is not as good from what im expecting. If you really want to try the genuine max restaurant food go to the phil

Every time there is a birthday and we don’t know where to go, we always end off coming here.
Our usual is the fried chicken, crispy Pata, and their sisig! Oh not to mention their massive Halo Halo is awesome.
I gave them 3 stars because service is usually bad here. It’s like they always have too many tables to take care of and when you get their attention for help, they forget to bring your item.
Come here in the afternoon or when it’s not busy, probably you will get better service then?

This was my first time here at max of manila’s. I didn’t expect much out of this place, my boyfriend was the one who was craving so I followed. It’s a fairly well kept clean restaurant. It’s very spacious and perfect for family gatherings. I like how they accommodate parties as well, and are still able to sit non party guest. Lucky for us, we came at a good time cause after we sat down, there was a line waiting outside to dine in.
Our server was fairly efficient. He was fast, simple and checked on us. The food was alright, I absolutely loved their chicken tho. The pancit palabok is a must have! I have no idea what that beef thing was called but it was really yummy and I suggest you give it a try! It’s topped with peppers and some type of mayo sauce?
My first experience was alright. I didn’t expect too much out of this place, I enjoyed the food and of course my company… So that’s all that really matters! I’ll definitely come back another time when I’m craving Filipino food, hopefully this time around the food will taste even better when it’s not so busy.

Ok, so I haven’t been back here in over a year and a half (1÷5÷14) and I shied away only because the last visit was horrendous. That was then and this is today.
Today we went (party of six) without reservations for a lunch date. Service was prompt, ATTENTIVE and courteous! Shock!
We ordered shrimp sinigang (a tamarind base soup), lechon kelawan, beef sisig, chop suey and battered fish in a bean sauce. Of the four dishes, only the chop suey failed to impress and the shrimp sinigang was unimpressive. The BEEF SISIG was flavorful, SIZZLING with ample zing and zang to awaken your taste buds. I’ve tried the fish sisig here before but by far, this is the tastier one. The Lechon Kelawan came with a dipping sauce but the pork really did not need it — it was buttery soft, melt in your mouth consistency with a crunchy, crispy and light skin. Perfection! Just like lechon should taste like.
I’ll give places second chances but it’ll take me a while to giving that chance. Well redeemed Max’s of Manila!

It would have been perfect if the meat in kare-​kare were all «oxtail and tripe» instead, of the so very tough lean beef. I’ve ordered large Kare-​kare, and very disappointed because the oxtail meat was so humongous (GIANT) oxtail meat that was so impossible to eat. The meat was super extra tough!!! It’s just goes to waste, the same with the other lean beef meat not edible (not fit to be eaten) together with my to go order were the Max’s platter 4x. Guess what? The quarter legs chicken taste fishy, it doesn’t taste chicken at all. So, gross. (Very disgusting taste). There goes my hard earned $ 65.00. Unbelievable!!! Never again !!!
Lousy food !!! Not happy!!! So that night, no dinner !!! Thank you!!!

I ordered the max’s platter & mom ordered the chopseuy plate. I love the canton here but mines tasted old this time which is about to spoil. Kare kare is my fave but it was sour also so i returned it. ;(Didn’t finish my food cos after tasting the karekare, i lost my appetite.
One star is for Rowena, our server. She is very nice and still tried to win us back despite of the food that we had. She’s a star!

Max’s of Manila is probably the fanciest Filipino restaurant on the island. With that said, the customer service here is just meh and the food is alright. My grandma came from the Philippines, so my expectations of Filipino food is pretty high.
Located at the Waipahu Shopping Center with places like Savers and Jollibee with ample parking stalls. FYI, with the rail project, plan ahead for traffic.
It’s been years since we’ve been here, but on our recent visit, I wasn’t too impressed, and although we ordered a lot of food, I left still hungry. The Pancit Canton
had no flavor and I found a fly in it, which made me lose my appetite. The Chicken Adobo
had too many small bones, so it was hard for me to enjoy eating it since every bite contained a little bone in it. I’m really picky about Pinakbet
since it’s one of my favorite Filipino dishes, and the one here is just alright. The pumpkin was harder than I like it and the rest of the vegetables were really mushy, so it tasted slimy. The Fried Chicken
looked super dry, so I didn’t even bother to taste it. But I did enjoy the Lechon Kawali
. It was nice and crispy, and the sauce just added more flavor to it. My brother got mad at me because that was one of the only things I was eating, and he wanted more too lol. We then ended the night with some Halo Halo
for dessert. It’s packed with a lot of different flavors from shaved ice, to ube ice cream, to custard, to azuki beans, to jello, to tapioca… it was delicious. In the past, I’ve tried their Kare Kare, which is probably one of my favorites here.
Everything here is family portions, so it’s great for sharing. The staff here is nice, but our server barely smiled and barely checked on us. I think the water boy checked on us more than our server. Also, the table we sat at was where all the staff stood around at, talking stories, playing on their phones, while others just stood staring at the diners while we were eating… just looked very unprofessional and a little uncomfortable.

We came here for a birthday party and ate off of their buffet line. So I can’t really say anything about price but I can comment on taste!!!
The food here was pretty good. I’m Filipino, but like 2^nd generation, so the names of a lot of the food I couldn’t tell you. All I can say is that it was all very good. There was about 10 different dishes and we tried them all. My son and I liked the pancit and I really enjoyed the calamari and fried fish. I liked the lecheon kuwali, but it wasn’t as good as Thelma’s in my opinion.
The staff here sucked. I was given a soda, but no one ever came back to refill my drink. The staff serving our side of the restaurant was separate from the normal wait staff. I’m sure their tip was included in the price to rent the place out, but that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t try to earn your tip. I saw all our wait staff standing around and giggling up in the front and checking their cell phones.
I would consider coming back here again for just a meal, but from what I’ve been told it’s just a fancy Filipino food restaurant. Combine that with the experience I had with the staff, I would much rather prefer Thelma’s to satisfy my Filipino food cravings and save some money.

Ok so it was my moms birthday. They sat us down. Not even a smile or anything at all.
So first waiter asked us if we wanted to order we said no and just order drinks for now. After literally 2 min another waiter asked us if we wanted to order and we said didn’t the other server took our order, and again a 3^rd waiter asked us if we wanted to order and our drinks haven’t come yet so we say f**k it and ordered. So my first complaint is there is NONE COMMUNICATION BETWEEN WAITERS HOST ETC!!! Be warned!
Ok so we got our food which was pretty good timing prolly cause it was slow that night. Nobody out of the 3 waiters checked on us. My dad had to wave down the bus boy 3 times. Seriously!!! Oh and only one waiter checked on us after maybe cause we were already done with dinner. 2^nd complaint NO CARE AT ALL!
We wanted to order desert and my grandma was asking questions about their ice cream and damn waitress talking to her like she’s stupid. I really wanted to yell at her like have some respect for elders! 3^rd complaint NEVER COURTEOUS!
Well we left only a 1 $ tip
And I created this Unilocal account just to write this review really BAD SERVICE!

I see so at least 5 empty tables, a whole portion of section that may of been a party section idk but not bussed and at least 10 people before us not including the 5 parties before us still standing at the door while another 2 parties are trying to walk in with NO HOST OR HOSTESS to greet us. Where are the managers or staff?
My solution due to this craziness? WALK OUT!
Lose money if you don’t know how to run things properly.
No stars if I could.

Crispy Lechon Kawali and a fulfilled craving for Buko Pandan.
We came into Max’s for lunch today to satisfy our Filipino food craving. It was surprising how crowded it was on a Tuesday afternoon for lunch. The entire main seating area was filled with customers.
The Food.
We ordered the Garlic Fried Rice (a must have!), Chicken Sisig, and Lechon Kawali. The Garlic Rice is so tasty, not overly powered by garlic, and pairs well with many of the dishes. The Lechon Kawali was crispy and delectable with a savory layer of fat and meat. My only complaint for that dish: more onions! Other than that, it was delicious. We didn’t care too much for the Chicken Sisig. Probably because I don’t enjoy the chicken liver flavor. The seasoning was good though. To top off our meal, we finished with Buko Pandan. YUM yum YUM! I crave this stuff (in addition to ube ice cream) and I love how they do it at Max’s. Would recommend my fellow Unilocalers to try it out!
The Service.
Service was pretty good for the high density in the restaurant. Our waiter came by several times to fill our water and make sure everything was okay. Also, our food came out pretty quickly. Pretty impressed overall.
Though there are more authentic Local Filipino restaurants around the area, I still don’t mind stopping by Max’s for a few items on their menu at a pretty reasonable price.

Plates never bussed, food constantly rushed out, food handed to us to place on the tables ourselves.
Fail.

The quest for halo halo ended here.
T’was a hot summer evening in 2011 and my friend and I were in search of the perfect bowl of halo halo. We decided to brave Waipahu and head to Max’s of Manila to try legit halo halo. We were in for a treat. Sure, we stuck out like a sore thumb for ordering two halo halos. Little did we know how large each serving would be. Not to worry because we finished it all. The heaping mound of various treats mixed in with my favorite ube ice cream will forever stick out in my mind when I think of summer vacations. I’ve had other delicious halo halos here, but none measure up quite as well as what I call «halo halo 2 da max» at Max’s of Manila.