Most of the hotels have a decent menu and offer room service at a reasonable rate. Overall, filipino food is awful and the worst in Asia. Outside of filipino neighborhoods, you will almost never see Filipino restaurants in the U.S....there is a reason for this. Another problem in the PI is that the ingredients are usually not fresh as the PI has not figured out a good transport system for their produce and meat. I had mild food poisoning almost every time I ate in the PI until my body became accustomed to the bacteria. There are tons of fast food restaurants and Jollibees and Chowking is everywhere.
*LA Cafe-Although this place is known for freelancers, it has great food and a large menu. The Australian steaks are a bargain at 280 pesos and they serve an English breakfast for 250 pesos on Sunday afternoons which includes all you can drink San Miguel draft.
*Dim Sum Cafe- Makati has several good restaurants and some very good dim sum restaurants in the Burgos area. Makati avenue has several excellent dim sum cafes with cheap prices. I had a full dim sum meal with a mango shake for $4.
*Fast Food-I never eat fast food when traveling and rarely do it at home but you might be stuck with these places as the local food is so poor. Try Jollibees, Chowking, Kenny Roger's Chicken for fried chicken, spaghetti, halo-halo or fruit shakes.
*Max's Chicken-Great place with some good Chinese food, chicken, buko drinks, halo halo and other local specialties.

For eating, I recommend the "European-style" restaurants in Malate, arounf Remedios Circle (intersection of Adriatico & Remedios). I had several excellant meals around Remedios Circle. I wouldn't eat Filipino food on a bet, but the cooks seem to be skilled copiers--the western style places in this area were really good.

OK, I admit, balut isn't for everyone. However, I personally love filipino food. Here are some dishes and brief descriptions that I recommend others to try. Although I've eaten street food with NO problems at all (and I have a very weak stomach), any mall basement level will have these foods at a nominally higher price (average meal cost on the street is about p50, in the mall the same food + drink is about p90). If eating street food, I recommend eating at places where you see a lot of locals eat. If you are the only customer, there is a reason for that, and the locals will know it. Do not eat cheese, unless it's baked. Also,
-->regardless of where you eat in the Philippines, I wouldn't recommend coming here without a Hep A/B shot!<--

** Beagle Express: Can easily be spotted by the white sauce over the meat - looks like beef stroganoff. A little spicy, generally made from pork. Really yummy.
* Bopis: This is pig lungs chopped up. Sounds nasty, but tastes like a really good bbq.
** Anything with "Adobo" in it - I prefer the fish. This is a lighter, vinegar-based sauce. If you are on a diet, this is a good choice.
** Taho - tufu, with chocolate sauce over it. This is a must try! if in a residential area late night, you will hear a guy screaming, "Tahoooooooooo!" and you can try it for p5.
* Seesig - pig ears and liver chopped together. For some reason, it reminds me of hamburger helper. Again, it's not what it is, but how it tastes.
** Multitude of soups... they are generally more "liquid" and slightly more spicy/flavorful than the american soups. My personal favorite is Mitsui - which is basically chicken soup with a tasty twist to it.
** Halo-Halo and other iced coconut-milk based drinks. I like the green one, i forgot what it's called.
* Balut is an acquired taste. I hated the first one, i loved the last one. It's a duck fetus in the eggshell. They come in two varieties: 16 and 18 day. 18 day is crunchier, as bones have already begun to form. I think 16 day is easier for a novice balut eater. However, this is very unhealthy, and not terribly delicious. Recommended for adventure seekers only. If you do eat it, use lots of salt and vinegar.
* {fill in the blank}-silog - Only one star, because it's heart-attack food. A silog is rice with egg, and whatever comes before it is the meat. So Tapsilog is rice egg and chopped pork, Tocilog is egg rice and bacon (from spanish, tocino), longasilog is silog with longanisa (sausage), etc... Hamsilog is self-explanatory.
** Crabcakes are minced crab that is stuffed into a shell... 9 pesos at a street price, never tried one inside the mall. I recently had Imperial Crab cake at a popular Delaware diner, and noted just how much better tasting the 18-cent filipino counterpart was!
** Puto cake - no idea how the spanish curse became a cake name, but it can be quite good. Made with Puto cheese baked into sweet dough. The putas love it!!

One note about filipino food: The Philippines has just under 30 varieties of rice available in any street market. Some filipino rice is delicious, other rice tastes like gum. I don't know the names of the good rice breeds, so i stick to the places that serve me the rice that I like.

(Message edited by dubmeun4given on March 13, 2007)

(Message edited by dubmeun4given on March 13, 2007)

(Message edited by dubmeun4given on March 13, 2007)