WHERE TO EAT
Restaurants in Manila serve food from many cultures-Italian, French, Spanish, Indian, Thai, Vietnamese-to satisfy the healthy Filipino appetite. Although in the past eating out was a novel chance to experience foreign tastes, today indigenous fare has taken on its own glamour with the introduction of elegant restaurants serving indigenous food. Tourists are attracted to the exotic ambience of such places; some restaurants even encourage their customers to eat using their fingers! Wooden or wicker plates lined with banana leaves and coconut juice served in the coconut shell add to the novelty.
If it is regional fare one craves, then fancy restaurants are not the place to go, according to food critics. Instead it is the roadside stall patronized by jeepney drivers and manual laborers that serve the most authentic regional fare.
Of course, patrons at roadside stalls do not enjoy the kind of service and atmosphere that cafes and restaurants offer. At roadside stalls, the customer choose from an array of dishes behind a glass compartment, and the vendor piles the portions on a plate for the customer to take to a table and eat. Cart hawkers sell hot noodles and porridge at very low prices. Cola comes in bottles or may be poured into a plastic bag with a straw inserted.
In the market areas, competition is so stiff that vendors employ criers to cajole-maybe even force-customers to buy from their stalls. Sitting between two fierce criers can be quite an uncomfortable experience.
Fast-food outlets are found in every shopping mall, ready to feed hungry shoppers in a jiffy. Besides the established American chains such as McDonald’s, there is successful homegrown chain Jollibee. Fast-food stores even deliver, so people need not step out of their homes and offices for lunch or dinner. The delivery person brings ordered lunches in to the office, and there are “back-ups” for other employees who have no time to wait in line at a cafeteria but have not placed orders with the restaurant in advance.