The neighborhood may be newly trendy with brunch spots but there’s still lots of traditional breakfast restaurants in Poblacion Makati.
Makati is one of the most popular neighbourhoods for visiting tourists and Poblacion has become a hub for great food and affordable restaurants.
To accommodate the rise of travelers craving western foods there are lots of great lunch spots. But I did not come to the Philippines to eat waffles.
I want a traditional Filipino breakfast.
Thankfully if you peek around some corners and onto the street you’ll find plenty of options.
The dining rooms are full and the prices are often much less than western counterparts.
Filipino Food
BREAKFAST RESTAURANTS IN POBLACION
Kanto Freestyle
This breakfast restaurant in Poblacion is great for everyone. They have classic Filipino breakfast dishes aka lots of silogs, Filipino drinks and also western food.
Staff is fantastic. They hand you a menu but then you go up to order and pay in advance.
Although I love a good traditional breakfast my traveling partner chooses pancakes or other sweet treats. This spot is great for us as there’s an entire side of a menu for each.
I’ve had the Pampanga Tocino and the Cebu Danggit silogs and they were great. And I must admit the Peanut Butter and Banana Pancakes were pretty epic and so cheap!
Also it seems to have the cheapest gourmet coffee (not instant) in the area. It’s good and strong. If you take it to go there’s a small but reasonable takeaway fee.
They are open 24/7 with other spots around Manila.
Kanton Freestyle
5079 P Burgos, Makati, Metro Manila
Friends and Neighbors
This is definitely a local joint and I love it.
When you walk in with an inevitable look of hesitation as to whether you should sit down or walk up to the buffet staff will wave you over.
The buffet has a number of freshly made dishes. As my partner doesn’t eat pork we weren’t sure if they’d offer food for Muslims and were thrilled that he had two beef options.
It’s important to ask because there were clearly many pork options, but also some of the vegetable dishes had pork in them. Staff quickly pointed it out for us, which was fantastic.
I really liked that they had so many Filipino fruits and vegetable dishes, you don’t find this everywhere.
His beef adobo was great and I had pumpkin in coconut, unknowingly ordered pork liver which was pretty good.
And we shared a bangus relleno which is milkfish deboned, flaked, stuffed and fried until golden.
It was also very tasty and at local prices half of the tourist restaurants.
Friends and Neighbors Restaurant
070 P Burgos, Makati, 1210 Metro Manila
Ashley Special Lugaw
You might walk by this small spot without ever realizing it’s a restaurant, except that you’ll find a steady stream of locals eating here and taking food away.
Lugaw in its simplest is a rice porridge and technically only rice and broth. But the key is to add things to it. At Ashley’s she has a number of options so I went for the special.
Alan doesn’t eat pork and she didn’t have a specific vegetarian version but she had no issue making him an off menu tofu and egg lugaw.
It’s a delicious and hearty way to start the day and the special was only 65 PHP or $1.16 USD.
Ashley Special Lugaw
5534 D.M. Rivera, Makati, Metro Manila
Do Re Mi Tapsi
If you can only eat one Filipino breakfast it should be tapsilog. It’s started the phenomena of silog meals, which you will find all over the country.
That’s why it was the first thing I ate when arriving, the video above also features lots of other great Filipino food and drink.
One of the most famous breakfast restaurants in Poblacion Makati is Do Re Mi, set inside a neighbourhood around the corner from a school.
You’ll only find locals here and a lot of school kids. Tapsilog is 90 PHP or $1.61 and they serve it all day.
Do Re Mi Tapsi
5523 D.M. Rivera, Makati, 1209 Metro Manila
I loved these Filipino restaurants in Poblacion Makati but the next goal is the find the best kinilaw!