Reviews Cafe J

I brought my officemates to eat lunch here. The super love all I ordered. 1. Sinigang na pork 2. Crispy daing 3. Pusit 4. Pakbet. Full house the resto but still the food arrived on time and service is great!

Milky Way Cafe continues to be a premier Filipino food destination over many years. Quality is consistently high.

We had Itlog na Maalat at Kamatis. Salted Egg with tomatoes presented in a fresh and tasty manner.

For mains we had Laing and Corned Beef Nilaga. Both dishes came with a bowl of rice. Laing was creamy and savory with pork and shrimp. Corned Beef Nilaga had tender chunks of corned beef which paired well the nilaga.

We had their famous Halo Halo for dessert. Really good!

Best filipino restaurant. Every time my mom comes to Manila, I always bring her here. Prices are quite high but definitely worth it. Especially the lechon kawali, kare-kare, dinuguan with puto and Halo-halo. They also have take out gallon ice cream and it is really good! Cheese flavor!

Totally my favourite filipino restaurant. It is my
Go to place when I crave for filipino home cooked inspired dishes. Totally worth the price you pay despite being kind of pricey for its food serving. Still superb!

MILKY WAY CAFE
Arnaiz St. Makati City

Ambiance: 4/5
Service: 5/5
Food: 4/5

The place is a little bit old, well most probably because the restaurant is also old as it is but still classy.

GREEN SALAD WITH BACON 3.5/5
I just want more bacon in it!

PIZZA 3/5
Thin crust pizzas in different flavors, i like the taste but the crust is too hard for me... (because I have braces haha)

OLIVE OIL AND GARLIC PASTA 4/5
The light taste of this pasta taught me that simple is more.

CREAMY SALMON 4.5/5
The creamy taste of the fish and sauce are amazing, but I am looking for that distinct taste that would probably complete it, maybe add some spiciness?

PORK WITH SAUCE 4/5
Pork was tender and the sauce gave life to this dish, though I like it with more pepper.

HALOHALO 3.5/5
I like it with creamy ice cream, expecting for a sweeter version of this dessert.

BROWNIES WITH SALTED CARAMEL & MANGO DIP 4.5/5
Just the right sweetness combination of dessert.

Come and visit this classic and classy place for your happy dining experience.

I’ve been living in Sydney for a year now and every time I’m home I always look for Filipino food. My best friend brought me to Milky Way since he said that’s the best there is so I definitely had high expectation.

The ambiance of the restaurant is very homey, the staff so friendly and helpful, it makes me remember early childhood years when my partner would take us out for special lunch. We ordered

Adobong Soft Shell Crab ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
This is a must try, best to be shared with friends and enjoyed with rice, a lot of rice.

Squid Ink Adobo ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The squid is very fresh cooked every well

Hito ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I wouldn’t normally order fish but my friend said this is a must try and I’m so happy we did. The Hito skin tasted like chicharon and the fish itself was cooked very well, it was serve with ensalada with bagoong. This was is really special and I would really come back to this

Halo Halo with Ube or Avocado Salad ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I’m quite picky with Halo Halo cuz sometimes it has too much ice or too much beans. But this one has the right balance of everything. One of the staff was so friendly that she helped me mix my Halo Halo.

As you can see overall I love this restaurant and would recommend coming back here. I heard the staff has been there for decades since 1961 and still working there. The owners my treat their staff well. It was a good experience and I’m looking forward to go back again.

Ambience: straightforward, traditional restaurant set up.

Flavors: comfort food and the sayote tops is the best! The Sinigang na Salmon is very good.

Too bad they don't have the Zomato booking button. I had to call the restaurant for reservation.

After our yakiniku dinner, I was supposed to drop Reich T at Greenbelt 1 when I had the urge to eat something sweet. We went to Milky Way Café for some good old halo-halo.

The last time I was here I rated 4 stars but I was not totally impressed with their halo-halo. This visit was better! Probably because I allowed the home made ube ice cream to melt with the crushed ice and milk. The consistency is awesome! Thick and creamy, I slurped every spoon I could get!

More leche flan and ube jam and I might have completely fall in love with their halo-halo!

One of my best go to place for a good Filipino home cook meals.

Just be ready to spend. It's pricey.

Consider the place a high end cafeteria.

Function Room Review

The last time I was in this particular Milky Way, I was 8 years old. They had my favourite coffee jelly and sukiyaki, which sadly isn’t offered nowadays. My parent’s office was beside the Milky Way building and the restaurant back then was actually a canteen. Which is why my dad, who hasn’t been to this Milky Way either since then, was scandalized on why we were planning to spend his birthday in this place.

In any case, the building hasn’t changed much, in the sense that it still has that 80’s infrastructure and design ( marble floors, steel and wood staircase ) with updated elements, such as the elevator and bathrooms.

We used the function room named Aguado, as well as the one beside it ( not sure if it’s the same name ), and were happy with the size. The kids could run around without bumping into furniture or feeling constricted. The room is well-maintained and clean, with classy plum walls and decorated with contemporary art. The timing of the service was spot-on and even if the waiters would leave, they would come back every so often so that we wouldn’t have to leave the room to hunt one down.

We had Sangria as our chosen aperitif and while very good, my favourite is still La Tienda’s, which happens to be sweeter. Milky Way’s/Cirkulo’s Sangria also struck me as a little stronger, as I started to feel light headed already after half a glass. Didn’t stop me from drinking more, however.

We had the Corned Beef Nilaga as an appetizer and while nice enough, there has to be a better way to preserve the heat of the soup once portioned… It was placed in a simple white crockery, the type catering companies use, and the soup was already cold in about a minute. The soup base was simple with the right dash of pepper, pechay, and cabbage. The corned beef was tender and chunky and they weren’t stingy with the amount put into the soup.

The dishes here that impressed me the most was the Adobong Soft Shell Crab and Lechon Kawali. Each bite of the kawali is succulent and I didn’t bother putting the sarsa anymore as I felt that it masked the taste. The skin is perfectly crispy and I was glad to note that there wasn’t a crazy amount of oil. I loved it!

I was hesitant to eat the crab at first as I thought it would be hairy or the shell’s texture would be… well, like a shell, but it was mildly crunchy and the softness wasn’t spongy or rubbery. I did mistakenly think that the sauce was bagoong/kare kare so if you’re looking for more of an adobo taste of soy sauce and vinegar… I didn’t find that at all. It was even the colour of kare kare. Still, the texture was pleasant and there was enough of that crab taste to make the dish enjoyable.

We had Crispy Pata, and while good, I still prefer the kawali. The skin of the kawali was more scrumptious. What I like about the pata is that they already cut it for you. Would have liked a vinegar, soy sauce, red pepper and red onion dressing to go with it, but they only had sarsa.

Steamed Apahap Chinese Style came next, presented on an iron burner thing, and thankfully it wasn’t overpowered by ginger as some recipes decree. You could eat the scales if you wish, since it was softened enough, but I preferred not to. The fish meat itself was infused with the flavours really well. I liked it so much I finished half. The Adobong Kangkong was also good but nothing impressive. It was probably the least touched dish.

I would pass on the Siomai. It was full and meaty but there were always bits of some hard part ( I shudder to think it’s part of ground bone but I think it’s just overcooked meat or something ) that I didn’t much care for. I really liked the Fresh Lumpia Ubod also but probably wouldn't order again in regards to the price.

This Milky Way branch, I think, is good to hold a private function in, with good service and food, but if you’re looking for a more budget friendly Filipino food place for a family, you might as well go to X046.

The best halo halo I ever tasted so far. I'm not fond of ice cream but theirs was sooooo good. #milkywaycafe #milkywaycafehalohalo 🍨🍧 i will definitely go back here for this.

I had bolognese in angel hair pasta though it wasn't really impressive. Plus the food are over priced. I don't think I'll be back here maybe just for dessert

They serve the one of the best baby crispy pata in town and of course, halo-halo!!

They have a quiet, nice and cozy place, you won't feel intimated at all. You might even get a chance to rub elbows with some famous people. 😆

Perfect for business meetings or even casual hangouts with family and friends.

Am I going to keep on spreading the good news about them? Definitely, yes!😉

A classic that always hit the spot. This has been a family favorite ever since my mom was young. Pretty much everything on the menu is good. Lechon is great for big groups. Love their kamote tops salad. And of course, the halo-halo is a must eat!

A very good place to come for lunch. Chill atmosphere, with a hint of Manila Nostalgia, and the food is pretty good. I also would recommend their Skyscraper.