Villa Manila

I went in with my family recently to do their Kamayan thing. Food was not great but it was fine. My main gripe is the atmosphere. I brought my kid and there was another little boy (a kid of one of the worker’s, I’m guessing). BECAUSE OF THAT LITTLE BOY, I WILL NOT COME BACK! Your kid threatens to hit my kid? Even putting a fist up to his face? My kid is 5! Your kid is what? 8? If he didn’t want to play with mine, he shouldnt have asked to play together! Everyone annoys everyone but for your son to have the fucking audacity to threaten mine, I should have said something to him. But I’d rather leave a review so others will know if they see that mean child of yours, they won’t let their kid near them! I used to go here often with friends and family, after that night, never again.

Okay, been going here for years. I remember when the prior business used to be Max’s Fried Chicken! Anyway, whenever me and the family want filipino food as a sit down meal, we usually end up here. Maybe one more star if they would update the furniture. The food is what one would come to expect in a filipino restaurant. I always order sinagang or kare kare. I would add one more star if they would lower the price or have bigger portions. I do like the bowls they use to display soup based orders. The halo halo is pretty legit here. They do large groups bit pray you are not here when another party is going on. One thing I have yet to experience is the Kamayan style meal. If you dont know what that is look it up. This place provides that style of meals if you are into eating with your hands.

This update only refers to a recent order of food I picked up, which has no relationship with the previous review where I dined in.
We ordered the sinigang with pork along with a kid’s meal. They forgot to include the soda and ice cream, and the sinigang ended up being the saltiest sinigang I’ve ever had.
I overheard her on the phone with a potential customer, and she was telling them that their prices went up, and that the only special they had was on Thursdays, where the special price was actually formerly the original price for it. I don’t exactly know what was specified, but it didn’t matter, because the prices were just higher, period.
Some people (even myself included) might feel that giving this most recent experience 3 stars may be a bit generous. However, I know this place is much better than what I just experienced. But only time will tell.
Get your act together, Villa Manila. I like you guys too much to write you off.

Located in National City, «VILLA MANILA» offers traditional Filipino comfort food with friendly service and decent pricing. Formerly this was «Max’s Fried Chicken» awhile back, so it was neat to compare and see if this place was on the same level. ;)
Originally we wanted to order the «Kamayan» menu, but we were told without reservations it would be an hour wait for the food, and the server suggested it would be faster to order off of the regular menu.
FOODS:
~*Appetizer Sampler*: [crispy calamari, shanghai lumpia, fried chicken, chicken chicharon, chicharon bulaklak]. this appetizer was an awesome way to sample the starters which were fresh and crispy
~*Half Fried Chicken*: This was amazing with the same taste and crisp as Max’s Fried Chicken
~*Lechon Kawali*: Perfectly deep fried pork belly. very tasty!~
~*Filipino Bistek*: This was juicy good, but was a bit more on the extra salty & sour side
DRINK:
~*Sago’t Gulaman*: This traditional Filipino drink was cold and refreshing a little extra sweet, perfectly iced down to drink all the goodies up the straw. LOVEDDD IT.
The server today was «Norman» and he was awesome from beginning to end as he was quick, helpful, friendly, and service with a smile. 4 Stars for Villa Manila.~

What an experienced. We made reservation for 28 people 1 week ahead. One server for the whole night and to all customers for the whole restaurant. Very lousy customer service. It’s not the waitress’es fault, she was exhausted. The food they served for kamayan was not worth it. Their crabs are hollow. Talk about set up. long table for all of us, elbow to elbow. When it comes to order desert, the waitress was all puzzled and looked stressed out so 1 of us had to take over writing orders for her. Food was not great either and in big words. you can say
«NEVER AGAIN». some of us had to stop somewhere to get real food. As a family get together, our pictures are awesome as always. I had tummy ache when i got home.
Sorry my rating is 1 star for you in general. Close that establishment and don’t cheat people. We tried to talk to the owner /​supervisor to let him know how we felt about their service but he just turned his back and walked away. No words from that bastard.

My favorite Filipino food in San Diego. Anyone interested in a good quality, authentic, and not expensive Filipino cuisine should try this place out. Can’t wait to visit again.

I went with a group of 8 for a get together. The service was as fast as one could expect with a staff of two. One manning the kitchen and the other playing waiter/​cashier.
Our waiter was friendly, the décor was Filipino and festive with some artwork that bore the name of the previous establishment (Max’s)
Our group ignored the most recent review and charged on. Our group ordered a variety of appetizers to share. The waiter assured us that he would be able to properly split the checks, but he wasn’t able to.
It took the waiter/​cashier approximately 30 mins to present us our checks.
I can tolerate slow service but the food was not really worth the wait. The fried chicken was over-​cooked (dry) and under seasoned. The pancit canton tasted as it came from the dry soup aisle at Sea Food City, but no «love» was put into it. The fried rice was pretty meh.
I would recommend that the cook to visit with some of the local Filipino home cooks to regain the love and spark for cooking in this style.

We go to many restaurants across the SD County and LA. While in the South Bay area of San Diego, the one restaurant we decided to go to «Villa Manila», was the biggest disappointment. We went online to look for a Filipino sit down restaurant that served authentic cuisine in a nice setting. Also their website says «come experience the warmth of Filipino hospitality and our home-​grown fine cuisine». WHAT A JOKE. So sad because from the moment we walked in, our dining experience declined from there. While seated at our table, it was as if they were bothered to have to come over to answer our questions. It happened again when we were waving at them for refills on our water, moreover, it had been 25 minutes of us waiting for our food. Once our food arrived, we all noticed the pancit canton was very salty and when we let the waitress know, we weren’t sure if she understood us because she just walked away. We thought she was letting the chef know but after 15 minutes and seeing her walking around and serving other people, we realized she didn’t do anything about it so we called her over and repeated that we didn’t like the pancit because it was salty. She said, «Sorry about that.» And after a quiet 20 seconds, I asked, «Can you replace it?.Or do you mind asking the cook to remake it with less salt?» She angrily walked away and a couple minutes, came back and just picked up the plate without saying a word! We were all confused? She then returned 10 minutes later and placed another plate of pancit on our table, again without saying a word, and walked away. We were even more confused. After that, they still never returned to ask if everything was okay or, if we needed any refills, to even check to see if the new plate of pancit was satisfactory. All in all, the food wasn’t anything like the description on their website, and of course the neither was the «warm hospitality» that they express. This is such a disgrace to every other very warm and hospitable Filipinos who are welcoming and happy to have you over to eat their food! In the end, we paid the entire bill and gave only a 10% tip, although colleagues expressed we shouldn’t have left a tip at all.
I hope this review helps other a who are thinking of dining here. Maybe the «kamayan night» is what they focus on because it was a Thursday afternoon when we dined there and they were preparing for it, which is probably why we were being ignored (brushed off). Who knows? But still…
You may want to think twice about spending two or three times the money you can be spending at another Filipino restaurant that you would get more for your buck and I’m sure, much better service where you can really get that warm and inviting experience.

Authentic Filipino food right in the heart of National City. I like their Pancit. Service is pretty good but not super friendly. Décor and food seem straight from Manilla. Lots of Filipinos done there so I’m thinking it’s meeting a need.

We came in to use a gift certificate, through phone, from a reminder that I purchased years ago. The owner was soo friendly, kind, patient and customer focused to acknowledge and explain the issues from the vendor. We walked in on a busy night and she still made the effort to accommodate our food order and allowed us to use the certificate. We will come back to dine in but for now we’re taking food to go. Thank you Villa Manila for the experience.

I thought this place had awesome food and extremely awesome customer service. I don’t even remember being at a higher end restaurant with the kind of service and attention.
Thursday nights are kamayan style, which means you eat with your hands. I am coming back for that. It kind of reminds me when my grandma used to isubo subo me (feed me with her hands).
I hella love Filipino food.

A must come for Kamayan!
Kamayan =
Filipino traditional dining experience is to eat with your hands. Kamay means hand in Tagalog. It’s an old tradition where food tastes better eating with your hands. You get down and dirty and savor your meal by licking your fingers. And for Filipino food why not Villa Manila located in Filipino central, National City.
I use to only have Kamayan while at home and on a special occasion. At Villa Manila they require a minimum of four people to do Kamayan style. You must call ahead and make a reservation and decide which food options you want. So when you get there all is ready and all you do is eat. No fuss with deciding what to choose. There’s no plates and no utensils. All the food is laid out on banana leaves that cover the entire table. There’s a dipping bowl with water for when you dunce your hands (preferably done when you want to reach for seconds). And they also have sauces for every individual laid out (i.e., toyomansi — soy sauce and kalamansi, and vinegar). They lay out the food right smack on the center like a table runner. People will have to reach over for options.
At this visit, we came with a party of six.
We had piles of white rice, pork adobo, milkfish, eggplant, shrimp, salty red eggs, mango, coconut chicken, lechon, pork chop, and salad. All were authentic tasting and exactly like how it would be if it were at my grandma’s. We had more then enough for six people and even had take out. And it ended up costing with tip and tax $ 32 a person. A must try especially if you like Filipino food.
Tip: Use your main writing hand and use your fingers to grab food in a pinching motion.

I’ve been here a few times with the family. It’s a Filipino sit down restaurant. Clean and with a decent amount of tables. Food is mostly served family style.
So they have your usual Filipino food options. What’s good is their fried pork dishes (lechon kawali, pork belly, crispy pata).
Our past 2 visits, we ate our meals traditional «kamayan» style. Banana leaves cover the table, your food is piled on top, and you eat with your hands. If anything, it’s a fun experience (probably best with family!) and the food is pretty good! If you’d like to eat «kamayan» style, you must RSVP. I called earlier in the day for dinner that evening, and it was fine. You choose from a few different packages.
With kamayan style, you’re food is ready right away. But the service can be a bit slow otherwise. There’s usually only 1 or 2 people serving tables.

Today we were craving pancit and lumpia. We checked out the «to go» menu. The hostess Diana offered us a seat to wait while we decided what we were going to order. After reading the menu we decided to order the following:
Traditional Lumpia~for $ 6.95, that has green beans, carrots, jicama, sweet potato, & ground beef.
Bihon Pancit~for $ 9.50 that has rice noodles sauteed with diced onions, cabbage, celery, carrots, shrimp, chicken and pork.
This came with a side of three lemons and two containers of a lemon vinegar mix to dip your lumpia into. This place has a great ambiance and is very clean. Diana the hostess is a very sweet girl and helpful with assisting us with our order. The take out wait was not very long. Once we got home and started to eat it was good, but not great. We could not taste any meat in the lumpia; so we cut open the third one, we did not find any meat at all. The pancit was decent but very bland. Honestly I was disappointed. I will not give up on it yet. They have a group meal called Ka-​Ma-​Yan that I want to try. It is a huge family meal served in the center of the table in a banana leaf for everyone to grab from. The prices vary depending on how many people are seated. I took a picture of that menu for you as well.

If you’re craving some Filioino food, check this place out!
We’ve tried several of their dishes and so far these are the one’s we like the most:
Calamari — lightly battered and not overcooked. Served with spicy vinegar.
Crispy Pata — only if ordered as a separate entrée. Small size will feed 2 – 3 people comfortably.
Sinigang — it had good sour base. It had a good meat/​veggie ratio.
Lumpiang Shanghai — good bang for your buck. It had a good flavor as well. Served with sweet and sour sauce.
Sisig — wish the portion was a bit bigger but overall not bad. It was served on a sizzling plate which is the authentic way of serving this dish.
Service could be better. Every single time we go there’s only one server. I understand that it’s not busy all the time but this poor girl gets slammed with customers ordering, waiting for their check etc. Hopefully this can be addressed.

My coworkers wanted to take another coworker and I out to celebrate our birthdays, and were so excited for this outing, that they’ve been planning this for a month in advance! The dinner had to be postponed to the following week, but as the day approached, everyone was saving their stomach for Kamayan, which is only available on Thursday nights from 5pm-​9pm.
Since the one making the reservations is Filipino, she already knew how it works and reserved us a table, resulting in $ 10 off the bill. Kamayan is a Filipino tradition where they take away the spoon and forks and make you eat with your hands. When we arrived, there were banana leaves spread over the table and small clear bowls of water and lemon to clean and rinse our hands. Once our beverage order was taken, it wasn’t long before they brought out all the food we ordered on a cart and started spreading the items in a line over the banana leaves.
We chose the Fiesta in advance, which serves up to 6 people and came with some of my favorite Filipino dishes. This meal included grilled pork, grilled milkfish, steamed shrimp, chili and pork in coconut sauce, Lechon Kawali, Adobo, grilled eggplants, Mustasa Salad (mustard leaves), Red Eggs (salted preserved eggs), mangoes, pickled cabbage, and steamed rice.
I was really hungry, so I wasn’t afraid to be the first one to dig in and eat without utensils. I ate a little bit of everything except the salted duck eggs and cabbage. My favorites were the adobo (could use more vinegar), grilled pork, and lechon. At the end of our meal, our server surprised us with one leche flan and a candle for the birthday girls to blow out. The edges of the dessert was a little har, but the rest of it was pretty good.
Even though I’ve eaten food with my hands before, it was a fun experience, especially since this was the first time we spent time together out of the office in a non work related event. Unfortunately, Villla Manila does not serve alcohol, but I can’t wait to take my friends here. One of them already told me to invite her next time!

It’s a unique experience coming for Kamayan. Your tables are covered with banana leaves and all the food is spread out in the middle for everyone to share. You eat with your hands– the entire meal. Each person does get a small bowl of water with lemon to rinse your hands in between, but of course you should wash your hands before and after.
Kamayan is only served on Thursday nights and reservations are highly recommended as you can end up waiting awhile. Nette coordinated the event and made reservations a few weeks in advance. We had a party of 10 for dinner at 7 pm.
Once everyone was seated, they gave drinks and quickly brought the food out. We had sinigang (tamarind soup with vegetables and beef), shrimp, lechon kawali (crispy pork), fried chicken, milkfish, adobo, bikol express, and a few other dishes. The food is filling. The difficult part was passing food down. They do a good job of splitting the food for both sides, but when we need to pass leftover down the table, it can challenging.
Kamayan is worth trying. Price ended up being $ 20 per person.

KAMAYAN — meaning to dine in in bare hands.
SET UP:
small white bowl with water and lemon to rinse of your hands from the sticky rice. and a table covered in banana leaves. [ if eating with your hands is not your thing, the restaurant can provide utensils ].
the servers set everything up in the center of table, all the various foods listed below. rice is used as a bed for what will become a mountain of yummy food items!
FOOD: The Fiesta $ 85 —
this combination of plates brings the following: grilled pork, grilled milkfish, steamed shrimp, chilli and pork in coconut sauce [ yeah, clean the plate with whatever little rice was left … it was that good ], deep-​fried pork belly, chicken adobo, grilled eggplant, mustard salad, salted eggs, mango, and steamed rice.
TIPS:
–KAMAYAN is only available on thursday nights 5 — 9PM and EARLY reservations are required.
–wash your hands before eating… [ of course. you will be sharing food with everyone in the table]
–make sure your nails are clean and trim!
–dont be shy!
–so the technique to eating with your hands is to use the 4 fingers to scoop and your tumb to push food into your mouth. is easier than it sounds!
all and all, this was a really cool dinning experience, thank you nette and 2pac for setting this up! I had a great time from beginning to end!

Our group of eleven made reservations a few weeks in advance for their Thursday night Kamayan Dinner (yes, every thursday). This was an fun experience as you eat with your hands! They pretty much lay down banana leaves on the table, put a line of rice on there, then lay on all different kinds of meats and vegetables on top. Then you feast family style. Just make sure everyone in your group washes their hands!
We got the 2x of the Fiesta and it was definitely enough to feed 6 people (they all don’t eat like I do, so it worked out). There were lots of different dishes, but my favorites are the Inihaw na Bangus (grilled milk fish), lechon kawali (Deep-​fried Pork Belly), and bicol express (Chili & Pork in coconut sauce). We also ordered soup and halo halo at the end, so there was more than enough food for our party.
Knocking off a star for a bit too much MSG for my taste. Also, no alcohol is served here. With everything we ordered, it was about $ 20 a person; pretty good price for the amount of food we got. Overall, it was a great experience and will definitely come back!

Hey mom, I’m eating with my hands! Not one utensil in sight, just my ten digits, a stack of napkins and a bowl of water to clean them when I’m done. So delicious and so much fun!
Our group of eleven made reservations a few weeks in advance for kamayan night at, Villa Manila, which happens every Thursday night. Yes, reservations are required and you must have an accurate head count since they basically prepare enough food for the number of people that you reserve. Showing up with less wouldn’t seem to be a problem (you’ll pay for it anyway), but showing up with more certainly would be.
The tables are covered in banana leaves and the food is presented in mouth-​watering fashion. The server will draw a line down the center of the table with rice and then systematically dump piles of traditional Filipino dishes every few inches for all to share. The $ 75.00 «fiesta» will feed up to six people and includes: grilled pork, grilled milkfish, steamed shrimp, chili and pork in coconut sauce, deep-​fried pork belly, chicken and pork stew, grilled eggplant, mustard leaves, salted preserved eggs, mangos and pickled cabbage — delicious! Some standouts for me would have to be the pork belly and grilled eggplant but it was all very tasty and unlike anything I’ve ever experienced before.
We rounded out this meal with a big bowl of halo-​halo, but don’t worry, spoons were provided for dessert, mom.