With hundreds of restaurants to choose from and thousands of dishes to satisfy every kind of cravings, SM Megamall has become a favorite gastronomic destination of people in the metro and nearby places. While everybody remains cautious because of the pandemic, SM Supermalls have been taking seriously the safety of its mallgoers. To ensure a full experience of #SafeMallingAtSM, restaurants have started offering dine-in services. Temperature checking, hand sanitation station, and physical distancing are observed. The sanitation team and safety officers are also very efficient in making sure that you don't have to worry about your safety when you #DineInAtSMMegamall.
Here are some of the restaurants I visited during my food crawl:
The Mega Food Hall
The Mega Food Hall is may favorite place to dine-in whether I'm alone or with the family because of the ambiance and the variety of cuisine to choose from.
One of the restaurants that I frequent for a quick snack is TexMex Manila. It's always a choice between Nachos MexGrande or Double Tacos. For lunch, Mex Pollo tops my list. The home-made salsa and chimichurri perfectly complements the chicken.
A new discovery for me is the Baked Burrito. You can choose between chicken, beef or carnitas. I liked the beef.
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Filipinos love Chinese cuisine especially dimsum. Xiao Long Bao has recently gained popularity and if you haven't tried it yet, Roasts Kitchen Co. serves this popular dimsum for only P228 for 8 pieces. The spicy shrimp wonton is available either steamed or fried.
I was trying to consume less carbs but the Beef Kenchi Noodles made me declare that it's a #FoodieCheatDay kind of Monday. The HK Barbecue ALMOST got me wanting to order rice.
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Let's turn Japanese!
Sushi Nori is known for its fresh sushi. It's most popular menu items are the Sushi Dreams and the Aburi Poke Bowl. My personal favorite are California and Lava Sushi Rolls. With a wide variety to choose from, the perfect choice is the Party Platters. It comes in Basic, Deluxe, and Premium.
Basic (P1,499): 30 pcs California Maki, 3 pcs Tamago Nigiri, 3 pcs Kani Nigiri
Deluxe (P1,899): 6 pcs BNY Roll, 6 pcs Crazy Kani Roll, 6 pcs Ninja Roll, 6 pcs Sushi Dreams Roll, 6 pcs Guardian Roll, 6 pcs California Roll, 3 pcs Tamago Nigiri
Premium (P2,299): 12 pcs Guardian Roll, 12 pcs Sushi Dreams Roll, 6 pcs OMG Roll, 6 pcs Cloud 9 Roll, 6 pcs Godzilla Roll
Must try: Sushi Dreams Temaki Wrap
Temaki is a hand rolled cone-shaped seaweed filled with a variety of ingredients. This burrito-sized Sushi Dreams Temaki Wrap is made up of salmon, kani, cream cheese, tempura flakes, and teriyaki sauce.
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Lugang Cafe
I have plans of traveling to Taiwan in 2020 but the pandemic happened. For the meantime, I can have authentic Taiwanese cuisine from Lugang Cafe Manila. The Philippine branch is the first outside China.
Aside from the good food, I love the aesthetic design of the SM Megamall branch. When I stepped in, it felt like I'm in a hotel's fine dining Chinese restaurant. If you don't have plans yet for the Chinese New Year, you can have a #SafeDining at Lugang Cafe. There will be a temperature check before you are allowed to enter. An alcohol / sanitizer dispenser is also available. They also implement maximum capacity allowed and physical distancing per table.
You must never skip on the Xiao Long Bao. They have five kinds of Xiao Long Bao: Steamed Pork, Steamed Pork with XO Sauce, Steamed Pork with Truffle Paste, Steamed Crab Roe and Pork, Steamed Angled Loofah with Shrimps.
To whet the appetite, order this platter of Honey Barbecue Pork, Roasted Duck, Jellyfish salad, and Century eggs.
During the restaurant visit, we were also served Sweet and Sour Fish Fillet, Birthday Noodles, and Golden Fried Rice with Egg and Shredded Pork.
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MOS Burger
Mountain. Ocean. Sun.
MOS Burger is a Japanese fastfood restaurant. It opened it's first branch in the Philippines last March 2020. I have first tasted their cheeseburger when I was on vacation in Singapore in 2010. MOS Burger SM Megamall is their 2nd branch in the country. Located at the 3L of Mega Atrium, it is one of the restaurants that serves food at
The Glass Garden.
The Yakiniku Rice Burger and the Wagyu Burger are my favorite. I also prefer the Hash Brown over MOS Fries.
Mesa Filipino Moderne
Filipino food is always comforting. Mesa Filipino Moderne brings you well-loved Filipino dishes with a modern twist. Their Laing 2 Ways is the yummiest laing I've tasted. Made of taro leaves, chicken, shrimp paste, coconut cream, and topped with adobo flakes. It is served original and spicy.
Must try: Tinapa Roll wrapped in Lettuce
We always order two servings of this appetizer. It is made of diced smoked fish with tomato, onion, and salted egg wrapped in lumpia wrapper and fried. You roll this with lettuce and dip in the vinegar sauce. THE.BEST.EVER.
Genki Sushi
Genki Sushi has a unique way of serving sushi. Ordering process is automated and the food arrives via a cute train on a conveyor belt. I find it a unique experience and fun way to enjoy the food. As a safety measure, they are implementing strict physical distancing measures and a no-mask-no-service policy. During the food crawl, we also had our food served at The Glass Garden.
Aside from the regular menu that you can enjoy for dine in, they also have party sets which are also available for take out or delivery.
If you're a first-timer at Genki Sushi, you must try the famous Hana Sushi.
Goldilocks
When I'm looking for comfort food, Goldilocks is my go to restaurant. It's always dinuguan, kare-kare, and fresh lumpia for me. I still have to try their new products: Laing Pasta and Lasagna ala Cubana. I'm not sure if the fresh Calamansi Juice is new in the menu but I like it so much. Very refreshing.
I also love that I can stock up on my favorite dishes and try the new ones like Korean Beef and Chicken Teriyaki. These PinoyDeli Food Selections Saver Meal is sold at P109 each. All you have to do is reheat in the microwave.
For the bakeshop, my all-time favorite is the cheesy ensaymada and the brownies.
The French Baker
Enjoy an afternoon tea with your loved one at The French Baker SM Megamall. You can even reserve one of the four glass houses at The Glass Garden and have your food served there. I've been there and I highly recommend you to choose to eat your Parisian macarons and cream puff at this romantic venue.
Gift suggestion: Instead of chocolates, you can give your special someone Parisian Macarons. It comes in a nice box :) It's so good I can finish two boxes!
I've dined in at the French Baker SM Megamall branch a month ago and I really felt safe eating here. The staff are also very attentive and friendly. It was a pleasant dining experience after being locked down for almost 8 months.
Ramen Nagi
Ramen Nagi Manila has made their signature product available for take out so you could satisfy your ramen craving anytime. If you prefer to dine in, worrying about safety should be the least of your concerns because they made sure that safety measures are in place. Since the kids are not allowed in the malls yet, you can bring home their favorite ramen after you dine in.
Ramen To Go menu includes:
- Butao King (P790)
- Red King (P900)
- Black King (P900)
- Green King (P900)
Each box is good for 2 persons.
I prepared the Butao King at home and it tasted like I was dining in at Ramen Nagi. The instruction on how to prepare is easy to follow. I took the photo before I poured in the broth.
Brownies Unlimited
They say, "Always leave room for dessert". Brownies Unlimited was the 11th restaurant I visited during the food crawl and indeed there's always a room for brownies! Pebble Beach and Walnut Swirl are two of my favorite variants but I always choose the assorted box when I bring this home.
I guess the real reason is I like all of them!
I was told that the Silvana and Sambo are really yummy too. I have yet to try them. These are crispy meringue rounds with butter cream icing and coated with butter cake crumbs for the Silvana and chocolate cake crumbs for Sambo.
The restaurant industry has suffered the most during the lockdown. Now that they are reopening, they are trying to adapt to the new normal of dining in. SM Megamall is ensuring that the restaurants have safety protocols in place to make dining out is safe again for the customers. Let us also do our part by cooperating and following the guidelines.
