EMILIA, House of Filipino Food

October 22, 2025

Beautiful place, okay food, and great service. 🍴 Food • Crispy Bagnet Kare-Kare – Decent, but the sauce and bagoong were too sweet for my liking. • Cordon Bleu – Just okay, nothing special. • Fresh Lumpia – Also just okay for me. • Potato Bravas – I liked this one! Something new and nicely presented. • Cheesecake – Decent too, not bad. Overall, the food was fine but a bit pricey for what you get. You’re really paying more for the ambiance. ☕ Ambiance So romantic! Perfect for dates or special occasions. The atmosphere definitely stands out more than the food. 👩‍🍳 Customer Service The staff were attentive and accommodating.

November 10, 2025

I took my foreigner friends here upon recommendation by another friend so I booked for a reservation. It's inside/nearby the Malacañang complex, so expect security outposts nearby. My friends were a bit surprised when they were dropped off outside and had to pass by a gate with heavily armed folks to get to the resto. But understandable since we're near the president's palace. The food was okay, I feel like it was a biy pricey but in fact you pay for the ambiance and fancy-ness of the place. Loved the lumpia spring rolls, mushroom paella, pampano, chopseuy, and turon. The mains were such a let-down. Patatas Bravas was kinda bland and lacks taste (considering how small each serving was) - almost forgot there was aioli and salsa. Crispy Bagnet Kare-Kare was fine but a bit muted for something that's supposed to be sweet + salty with bagoong. Balbacua was very fatty for my liking - I was kinda expecting like kansi soup but i was wrong, i guess there was a miscomm with how the waiter described it. The staff was amazing especially the waitresses as we had a lot of food restrictions to consider. Overall, my friends and I still enjoyed the dining experience since they get to taste Filipino cuisine (in a fancy way). But my Filipino tastebuds aren't satisfied.

October 11, 2025

Booked a reservation for two via their Viber business chat a few days before, they initially gave us a table upstairs. I had to ask if the booking is confirmed because there was no acknowledgement from them. When we got to the resto on time for our reservation (5PM, Saturday) they seated us on the ground floor at a different table then made us move to another table on the other side of the dining area. I highly recommend calling or messaging them for a table, it was packed by 7-8PM. Dimly-lit, scones were a little awkwardly placed, very cool to ambient temp esp if you're seated close to the AC units, their playlist was all over the place 😂 it kind of ruined the vibe when the ad for getting Sp*tify premium popped up. I genuinely think they need to hire a graphic designer for their menu since it was an eyesore to navigate. I don't remember being told that there was a 2-hour time limit of staying, we stayed way over that. We ordered a couple of things for 2 people: - Crispy Bagnet Kare Kare - on the sweeter side, not much peanuty-flavor. The sarsa consistency was just right, bagoong on the side, pechay was wilted and bland. - Garlic Fried Rice - small serving for one; maybe 3/4 cup, medyo puto ang consistency, not something to write home about (it was ₱70 for one serving!) - Pork Sisig - good for two, the sizzling plate was lukewarm so made the egg snotty, on the saltier side - Patatas Bravas - supposedly the most ordered, I think it's their take on the potato pave. It lacked flavor and the aioli + salsa carried the whole thing. The outside was not as crispy and the insides were soggy, I think the oil it was fried in wasn't hot. - Homemade Cheesecake - nice salty graham base, very light cheesecake with strawberry syrup and chocolate tuiles. - Hot and Iced Cafe Latte - watery coffee, flat foam on the hot latte and it didn't come hot 😂 The food and flavor were subpar, it was ok and nothing really special. Conservative servings, I would say good for 2-3 pax if you're not that hungry. Price point overall matched the amount you're getting. The staff needed more training, saw the manager micromanaging them also on more 'VIP' or bigger tables, I suppose. It was a bit difficult getting their attention too. If you're paying by card, they can't bring the terminal / POS to your table ergo they disappear with it for a few minutes. So I feel like it would be safer if you just pay up front. Very low signal for Globe, Gomo, and Smart when you're inside the place. As of September 2025 if you're going by Grab or looking at Waze, the pin isn't exact. You have to drive further straight near the Malacanang gates (in which also close down around 9-10PM so you need to meet your driver outside and walk a bit). In all honesty for an unbiased review, would I go back here? Nope. It's more of a 'try once' resto. The food was subpar and unlike the raving reviews of your favorite clock app influencers. There are way better Filipino restaurants in taste and ambience for your money!!

October 29, 2025

Food was a bit underwhelming, but overall good. Celebrated my birthday here and the employees didn’t disappoint. Wasnt able to try the bagnet kare kare tho. Ordered a lot of pork so didnt get the chance to order it na and went for the beef stripe instead.

October 3, 2025

Great atmosphere, vibe and overall experience. Amazing place to catch up or celebrate a nice evening with a small group. Food might fall short compared to other establishments serving the same price point but presented well, would go back here for the place though. I recommend consider going here for a first date, a treat for the family, or a quiet and chill catch up with a friend