Mary Grace Cafe is hands down my favorite restaurant in Manila. I am a fan of their cheese rolls and ensaimada since this has always been the treat my family would bring everytime they would come to visit me here in the Northeast.
Mary Grace started out as a home business selling her famous ensaimadas which eventually grew and expanded into cafes. This was my first time to ever try out their restaurant though this is a regular go to place of my family. The restaurant is very cozy and has a rustic chic feel to it.
I was impressed with the selections in their menu. How it combines Filipino classics and modern western flavors in a very unique way. It took me awhile to order since everything in their menu looks so good and tempting. In the end we made the following choices:
Local Greens with Chili Daing and Crunchy Garlic (Daing is a local dried salted fish)
Seafood Chowder – A hearty chowder made with seafood broth, clams, mussels and prawns.
Grilled Kesong Puti with Batard Bread – Grilled kesong puti, garlic and olive oil spread. (Kesong puti is the local white fresh cheese made from carabao’s milk)
Dory and Saffron Cream Pasta – Fillet of cream dory atop linguini noodles, covered with a light creamy sauce, and flavored with leeks and a hint of saffron.
Seafood Pasta – A medley of fresh clams, mussels, prawns, squid and cream dory
enhanced with herbs, olives and mushrooms
Sadly we didn’t have room for dessert.