27 bar topnotchers

Wanna grab a drink?” The million-dollar question these days is where. With so many bars opening up around the metropolis, the choices are endless. Here are 27 places — where you can still hear each other — that my friends and I personally frequent to have some wine, craft cocktails (they are on the rise in Manila!) or beer — whichever mood you’re in. In alphabetical order.

1.  Appenzeller

If you’re driving back to the city from Tagaytay and need a stopover nightcap at Alabang, swing by for some shots of appenzeller, a liquor made from 42 herbs. The Swiss fare (the roesti is great comfort food) rings popular, too. 

Estrellita Building 2, Alabang-Zapote Road Alabang, Muntinlupa, Metro Manila.  Phone (02) 809-9177.

2.  Bar M

Dim, easygoing and sophisticated, Bar M has an extensive roster of Japanese and Scottish single malts, with live jazz music on Wednesdays. The bar chow takes from sister restaurant Masetto next door; I particularly like the chorizo puffs. 

114 Valero Street, Salcedo Village, Makati. Phone (02) 810-3565, 0918-8118088

3. Barcino

Barcino must be credited for getting Filipinos excited about Spanish wines — and that they need not be expensive or intimidating. Still one of the top-of-mind places for friends or couples to have “wine” in a fun, lively ambience reminiscent of tapas bars in Barcelona, there are now six branches around the metropolis. For regular visitors, the Club de Vino card is a great investment. For P1,500, you get a bottle of Beronia Crianza; 10 percent off for a minimum bill of P500; and 20 percent off on your birthday month.

Greenbelt 2. Phone (02) 501-3250; Greenbelt 5. Phone (02) 756-0965; Power Plant Mall. Phone (02) 846-9423; Forbes Town Center, Rizal Drive, Fort Bonifacio. Phone  (02) 900-0726 ; City Golf Plaza, Julia Vargas Avenue, Pasig City. Phone (02) 636-2963; Alabang Town Center. Phone  (02) 869—3612.

4. Blind Pig

Blind Pig is the first speakeasy bar in Manila with delicious classic Prohibition-era cocktails. Dark and mysterious, there are rules like no loud talking and no flash photography. Despite countless visits, the Gold Rush (P300) is still my drink of choice. It’s best to call in advance for reservations.

227 Salcedo Street, Legaspi Village, Makati. Phone 0917-5492264.

5. The Bottle Shop

The Bottle Shop by Global Beer Exchange houses over 200 varieties of craft beer, including Gordon Biersch Hefeweizen, Hitachino Nest, Rogue Dead Guy Ale, Czech Style Pilsner. What owner Jim Araneta is proudest of is that everything he serves is either craft or a small batch — the only one in the country that does not sell anything commercial/industrial, meaning, no preservatives/additives and chemicals. On Wednesday nights, from 5 p.m. onwards, he has The Mixing Lab, where he concocts gin, whiskey, and rum-based cocktails.

Tritan Ventures Building, Paseo De Magallanes Center, Magallanes, Makati. Phone (02) 895-6175 or 0917-8945076.

6. Brasserie Girolle

Apart from the daily P900 drink-all-you-can wine buffet (that includes a sparkling wine) from 2-6 p.m., and 11 p.m. to 2 a.m., 15 kinds of wines are offered by the glass.

Ground Floor, Fort Strip, Fort Bonifacio, Taguig. Phone (02) 856-6639.

7. Brotzeit

The German restaurant-bar franchise originally from Singapore serves Paulaner on tap. The watering hole of choice at Shangri-La Plaza that gets packed in the evening, before or after happy hour, for the beer, sausages and sauerkraut.

Ground Floor, EDSA Shangri-La Plaza Mall, Mandaluyong. Phone  (02) 631-1489.

8. Bugsy’s

This place, especially the Fort Bonifacio branch, is always packed, especially after office hours. Chill drinks, sports on TV and Buffalo Chicken Tenders. Enough said.

Forbeswood Building/ Burgos Circle, Fort Bonifacio, Taguig. Phone (02) 552-172; Paseo Park View Tower, San Agustin cor. Sedeno Streets. Salcedo Village, Makati. Phone (02) 501-5203; City Golf Plaza, Julia Vargas Avenue, Pasig. Phone (02) 489-4985.

9. Cav

The wine bar with the first enomatic wine machines in the country with 24 bottles (16 reds and 8 whites) on hand, which you can sample in tasting portions, half a glass and up to a full glass. They also carry the coveted 1997 Screaming Eagle from Napa Valley that retails for P200,000 a bottle.

Ground Floor “The Spa Bldg.” Lot 5, Quadrant 8, Bonifacio High Street, Fort Bonifacio, Taguig. Phone (02) 856-1798; (02) 856-1796.

10. Cyrano / The Curator

Cyrano is like an extended living room — no frills, just wines by the bottle, a quiet place to catch up. At the back is The Curator, where cocktails are done right — potent and masculine with the right glasses and the right ice.

Unit 2 Upper Ground Floor, Legaspi Park View Condominium, C. Palanca, Makati. Phone (02) 750-2595 (Cyrano); 0917-8937115 (The Curator).

11. Draft

Draft has been a consistent watering hole for a large selection local and imported brews — on tap — at a competitive price. (Apart from Stella Artois, Becks’s, Leffe Brune and Blonde, Hoegarden, Chimay, Paulaner Heffe, they also now have Belgian Floris Kriek on tap as well). They have just opened their third branch at Greenbelt. Their European comfort food, particularly the Angry Drunk Mussels and Sticky Date and Toffee Pudding, is also another reason for frequent returns.

Fort Strip, Taguig. Phone (02) 846-972; Power Plant Mall, Makati. Phone 0917-8195830; Greenbelt 2, Makati. Phone 0916-4697436.

12. Dragon Bar/ Eclipse at Solaire Resort

The bar with the most beautiful crystal glass dragon centerpiece — made from over 1,500 crystal components —at the center of Solaire’s casino action, serves classic drinks with a twist (I am quite fond of the Fleur de Sureau at P720 — prosecco, elderflower liquer, Cochi Americano), and is open 24 hours. Sister bar Eclipse has live, fun and whimsical cocktails (try the Va Va Voom at P720, which is cava, elderflower liquer and Peychaud’s, with a hibiscus flower that pops open inside the glass — you can eat it after) with live entertainment daily.

Solaire Resort & Casino, Entertainment City, Aseana Avenue, Tambo, Paranaque City. Phone (02) 888-8888.

13. El Chupacabra

Cheap street tacos (P80 to 120) and cheap beer (P35) has this dive bar at Makati’s P. Burgos area packed to the brim every single night. No reservations allowed so best to come early, like at a dead time in the afternoon.

G/F JVR Bldg, 5782 Felipe St. Bel-Air, Makati. Phone (02) 895-1919.

14. Exit

A clandestine sister bar of Blind Pig hidden at the back of Plaza Café serving 1920s-1930s drinks to the backdrop of rock music. I like De Riguer (P200), reminiscent of the Gold Rush with the prominence of bourbon and honey — but with a tartness of grapefruit instead of lemon. There are no reservations; first-come, first-serve.

Inside Plaza Café, ground floor of Corinthian Plaza, 121 Paseo de Roxas, (next to AIM and Greenbelt 1), Legazpi Village, Makati. Phone (02) 551-1283.

15. Fred’s Revolucion

Vladimir Lenin, Che Guevara, Ho Chi Minh and Karl Marx are just some of the faces you see when you walk into the “communist” bar located at Cubao X. They serve delicious P180 pitchers of margarita.

Shop 66, Cubao X, Gen. Romulo Street, Cubao, Quezon City. Email freds.revolucion@ gmail.com.

16. Handlebar

Live bands, pool tables and beer at this biker bar. It gets packed to the brim during World Cup season.

31 Polaris St., Bel-Air, Makati. Phone (02) 898-1976.

17. Kasbah

Moroccan food, deep, sexy house beats, and hookah — it’s an ambience of really chill fun. On some days, there is live music (Kate Torralba has performed), and they also bring their Boracay branch’s fun parties to the city. On weekdays from 3 to 7 p.m., cocktails, beer and wine are 50 percent off.

The Fort Strip, Fort Bonifacio, Taguig. Phone 0917-2058802 or (02) 553-4499.

18. Las Flores

Hong Kong-based mixologist Giancarlo Mancino’s inventive cocktails (Calamansi and Cherry Blossom Moscow Mule, P350); Hendrick’s Not with Cucumber but with Rose Water and Petals, P350) alongside Spanish tapas in a casual “happy” place of pretty flower patterns on bar counters, paper napkins, empty wine bottles as décor, industrial walls and concrete flooring. Also the only place in the country so far that I’ve found a Pisco Sour (P400).

Ground floor, One McKinley Place, 25th Street, Fort Bonifacio, Global City. Phone (02) 552-2815, 0916-6193365.

19. Le Bar at Sofitel Philippine Plaza

Reminiscent of an art deco 1940s Parisian bar, Le Bar has a library stocked with a selection of French books, which provides an atmosphere to sip from their extensive wine list and catch up on the day’s news from the selection of international broadsheets, with the windows looking out to Manila Bay.

Sofitel Philippine Plaza, CCP Complex, Roxas Boulevard, Pasay City. Phone (02) 551-5555 or (02) 832-6988.

20. Long Bar at Raffles Makati

Cocktails done right, happy hour for P680 daily from 5 to 8 p.m., and peanut shells you can throw to the floor after consumption, make the easygoing hotel bar (with prominent Filipino art, including a mural of Pacquiao) favored by expats and locals. Try the Panutsa Old Fashioned (P380) — the classic cocktail using the Batangas ingredient melted into sugar.

Raffles Makati, 1 Raffles Drive, Makati Avenue, Makati. Phone (02) 555-9777.

21.  M Café/ Kabila

Al fresco cocktails within the shopping belt of Greenbelt. Afternoon sun permeates the glass windows making it the perfect backdrop for an after office-hours cocktail.

G/F Greenbelt, 4 Makati. Phone (02) 757-3000.

22. Martinis at Mandarin Oriental Manila

Martinis boasts the largest selection of martinis in the country. Live bands play nightly starting from 9 p.m. It has become one of those “one last drink” nightcap places before officially calling it a night.

Mandarin Oriental Manila, Makati Avenue, Makati. Phone (02) 750-8888.

23. Red Rabbit

Red Rabbit is the coolest new “hidden” bar (inside Bugsy’s at Salcedo Village) in town that just opened last week. Fantastic cocktails by mixologist Anthony White (try the Little Bit Country P300 — Makers Mark, Maraschiria Liquer, Maple Syrup, Lemon Juice, Jalapenno and Bitters), and with a magic show, too! They also carry the boutique Smokehead 18 years old single malt scotch, which has only 6000 bottles available worldwide, at P1050/ shot.

24.  Rocket Room

Retro-patterned floor tiles and lava lamps, offer a charming ‘50s/’60s/’70s throwback with great cocktails and great music. From 4-10 p.m., Sunday to Wednesday, they have an all-you-can-drink plus a free plate of tapas for P588/ head.

7th Avenue corner 30th Street, Ground Floor, Bonifacio High Street Central, Fort Bonifacio, Taguig. Phone (02) 621-3222.

25.  Salon de Ning/ The Bar at Peninsula Manila

The Peninsula Hotel houses the most ornate bar in the country, Salon de Ning, which recalls 1930s Shanghai, along with themed art deco rooms and live bands. Right across is the Cuban-inspired Pen Bar, with leather seats and checkered floors. Both have their own cocktail list, but you can easily order one from the other. Every weekend, The Bar has an enticing Carpe Noctem free-flow weekend, with beers, cocktails, wines and spirits (including Glenmorangie 10 years and Glenfiddich 12 years) for P980.

Peninsula Manila, corner of Ayala and Makati Avenues, Makati. Phone (02) 887-2888.

26. Tapeo

A really cute, little tapas bar at The Fort Strip with a relatively good selection of wine that’s reasonably priced (I quite liked the Valdelosfrailes at P650/bottle), and all-you-can-eat tapas for P400-450.         

Fort Strip, Fort Bonifacio, Taguig. Phone (02) 556-2668.

27. Vask

The Carlo Calma-designed modern Spanish restaurant bar has spreads of pintxos and tortillas de patata from 6 p.m. onwards, which they serve as combos with wine. Cocktails are named after Spanish cities, and colonized cities of Spain. Try the Vask (P250), a refreshing concoction of basil and pepper infused rum, triple sec, apple liqueur and cider. There is also an outdoor terrace for drinks looking out to the Fort Bonifacio skyline.

5th Floor, Clipp Center, 11th Avenue Corner, 39th Street, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig. Phone 0915-5077047.

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