A week day visit to my home city of Manila,checking the progress and rejuvenation under the leadership of "Yorme" Mayor Domagoso famously known as Isko Moreno.

Upon arriving Taft Avenue and checking the formerly frantic and chaotic traffic both people and vehicles of Pedro Gil Street .I went straight to Ermita area specifically Mabini Street.I saw an old Art Deco building of Tesoro's.Beside that old structure is Grand Prix Hotel and a Cafe/ Restaurant named as Mabini's.As it was about past 11am and famished because of my long walk from Paco to Ermita.I settled in to have an early lunch there.

Impressed by the name Mabini,a Philippine Patriot ,I was charmed in a way that this maybe a good representation of the Local Philippine cuisine considering it is situated at the very heart of Manila and an old tourist belt.
The interior design of the place was inspired by the" retro modern style",Spanish 60s-70s designed furnitures,capiz lamps and some native adornments which is very Filipino.

As I'm a going solo for this lunch I went for the solo meal.They offer choices of combo rice meals with iced tea included(BAYANI LUNCH MEALS Available 11am-3pm, Mondays-Fridays) for the individualdiners diners.I chose the "squid sisig" an off the beaten path dish for me and it can also be a "make or break" item.

Upon the arrival of the dish,it was on the round sizzling plate,rice was well cooked,surprisingly and impressively the squid is not overcooked ,the texture was perfect ,not to chewy yet there's this certain bite into it whenever my teeth sunk into each piece.Lovely hint of heat , I like the small slivers of green local chili.The sauce has this unique savory taste and fine touch of garlicky flavor.The dish brought some happy grin on my kisser.

As another observation ,I saw that they have a Chef Line which is a remarkable thing in my humble opinion.Service is very good ,"magalang and magiliw".

Price ,mid range,the names of the dishes have touches of novelty and history which is very amusing.

If you have foreign friends that will visit the Philippines ,Mabini's is a great option to introduce them to the flavors of the Philippines.And a big plus is that it is not situated inside a mall.

For now I will give it a 4 but I'll have to try a lot of their offerings the next time.

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Very delicious and flavorful food! My favorites were the Balut Mata Pobre (which says a lot, as I don’t really look for balut), Sizzling Squid Steak, Chicharon Bulaklak, and Hito. Very friendly, attentive, and accommodating staff. Also nice that there’s a Tesoro’s inside, so while waiting for our food, we were able to look around. I forgot to take photos of the food because I kept wanting to eat more and make sure my family didn’t finish the food before I got 😅 PS - They had a great playlist when we went. They were playing modern OPM artists like The Ransom Collective and Ben&Ben.