24/7 Filipino Comfort Food at Maria's

One quiet weekend, my foodie friends and I went to Maria's for lunch.

Maria's caters to everyone: families come here during the day while office workers come here at night. 

Aside from convenience stores and fast food chains, there isn't a lot of 24/7 restaurants in Ortigas Business District so when I saw Maria's open in the my neighborhood, I was excited to try it.

For appetizers, we ordered Salted Egg Ensalada (Php 130) and Crispy Beef Lumpia (Php 190).

Salted Egg Ensalada

Crispy Beef Lumpia

The salted egg ensalada is the traditional salted egg, onions and tomatoes combo. It was a bit pricey but it was acceptable since there was a lot of salted egg on it. Also, I liked the Crispy Beef Lumpia, which is filled generously with beef. However, it could have been better if the oil was drained for a little while before it was served to us. 

For our main dishes, we had the Buttered Garlic Prawns (Php 330) and Lechon Kare-Kare (Php 300).

Buttered Garlic Prawns

Lechon Kare-Kare

What impressed me were the two main dishes, the flavorful and generous Butttered Garlic Prawns and the not-so-healthy-but-I-don't-care Lechon Kare-Kare. As a Kare-Kare fanatic, I loved their version with bell peppers, carrots and onions. I wished I could have more sauce though. :)

Maria's also serves solo meals, beers and cocktails the whole day. Maria's is a cross between a sports bar and a Filipino restaurant, where they are really aiming for is confusing. Some dishes we had are impressive, while some could be better. Personally, I would appreciate it if they put an effort into having separate menus for each part of the day (a breakfast, lunch, dinner, drinks menu) instead of putting the whole lot into one lengthy menu. The service and prices are satisfactory though. 

Though Maria's wasn't as amazing as I expected it to be, I would visit it again to try more dishes and maybe the drinks too. 

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Maria's

Ground Floor,

Eton Emerald Lofts,

Garnet Street corner F. Ortigas Jr Road,

Ortigas Center, 

Pasig City

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