As Manam embarks on a new decade, The Moment Group’s comfort Filipino brand is ready to break new ground by launching a flagship shop designed for a Manam experience like no other. Opening this January 2024 at the Ayala Triangle Gardens in Makati, Manam at the Triangle takes all the unique qualities that have made Manam a super paborito in the last 10 years and serves them up in a bright new space that redefines casual, comfort Filipino dining.
For starters, the shop’s parkside location creates an atmosphere conducive to blissful and leisurely meal times. It delivers on Moment’s mission of making diners happy by giving them the space to sit back and, if only for the course of a meal time, escape the daily bustle as they find comfort in their favorite dishes, or unwind with a drink or two. A Bibingka Bar inside the shop serves the full selection of Manam pampalamigs along with off-menu cocktails and 3 special concoctions by Moment’s own drinking den, Bank Bar: the rum-powered Mango Colada, gin-based Calamandan Club, and boozy Mariang Bastos. The 8-seater bar also serves pulutan, pastries, and kakanin, like bibingka and puto bumbong that’s fired up for you on the spot.
“We built Manam at the Triangle because we wanted to create a Manam dining room where you would not feel rushed, no matter the time of day,” says Abba Napa, restaurateur and Moment Founder. “It’s right in the midst of this rare patch of green in the city—you can chance upon it as you walk by, but you can also make it a destination and a bigger part of your day. And who doesn’t want a view of a park and sunlit trees while sipping on that Ube+Sago shake?”
All-day dining and table reservations
The new Manam shop comes with exclusive new features that enhance the dining experience all around. Starting these off is a table reservations service, which Manam is pleased to finally offer its patrons. Manam at the Triangle is the first and only Manam shop to accept pre-bookings for brunch, lunch, merienda, and dinner for small to medium-sized groups. Guests can place a reservation as early as 3 months ahead for any of the shop’s well-appointed dining spaces.
- The Main Dining room and al fresco Parkside Dining area can each seat parties of 2 up to 15.
- The whole Bibingka Bar can also be reserved for as many as 8.
- Sulok, a more secluded dining area, within the space, can accommodate groups of up to 10.
All of these tables can be booked through bit.ly/manamATGreservations or a direct call to the shop’s hotline: 09671904721. Terms and conditions apply.
Manam can now provide Metro Manila diners with a suitable place to hunker down not only for everyday breaks, but also for their big milestones and important celebrations, like birthdays, anniversaries, and graduations. “Throughout the years, our patrons have asked us to consider taking reservations so they can celebrate their milestones with us. We are truly happy that with Manam at the Triangle we are able to finally do this for them. We look forward to people now being able to plan and celebrate their special occasions with us as we in turn celebrate our own milestone—our 10th birthday,” says Napa.
Paboritos, menu exclusives, and pre-order dishes
The Manam experience would not be complete without all-day paboritos like the House Crispy Sisig, the Sinigang na Beef Short Rib and Watermelon, and the Crispy Pancit Palabok. Manam at the Triangle’s menu carries all of these and more, including new specials that are available only at the flagship shop. Created specifically for group celebrations, a few of these exclusives are best pre-ordered upon placing a reservation as they require preparation of as much as 24 hours ahead. Guests will be taken through a pre-order menu as they book a table through any of the shop’s reservation channels. The shop will also be open for takeaway and delivery through manamtriangle.momentfood.com.
Must-tries include the House Lechon de Leche and Camias Rice, Manam’s take on Cebu-style cochinillo with rice made from the lechon drippings; Prinilaw, a kinilaw of ulang or local freshwater prawn and its fried head; Sinigang na Kurobuta Pork Belly & Piña, featuring fruity sinigang broth, soured with tamarind, miso, and charred pineapples; and Midnight Beef Ribs Adobo, slow-cooked in soy sauce, coconut vinegar, and red wine with garlic confit. For the sweet tooth, the new shop serves many of Manam’s signature desserts like the Calamansi Tart and the House Buko Pie. But new pastries and treats like Our Pan de Regla, made with beets and day-old bread; the Patis Caramel Tart, with South Cotabato ganache and a dark cocoa crust; and a Floating Calamandan Island, baked meringue with a Calamandan crème anglaise are not to be missed. And for those who love their pampalamigs, Manam at the Triangle will have its very own Halo-halo cart roaming around the dining room, allowing guests to make their very own Halo-halo replete with their favorite ingredients.
“We want to be that dining room where you can truly celebrate as much as you can waltz in for an impromptu affair. That’s why many of the dishes that we’ve created specially for Manam at the Triangle are either large-format dishes meant to be shared with loved ones or bites and sweets that one can share over a good conversation,” shares Napa. “We would be extremely happy if our loyal Manam diners discovered some future favorite dishes in this dining room and we’d look forward to that happening.”
Many of Manam at the Triangle’s dishes are served in hand-sculpted stoneware which was done in collaboration with Mia Casal of Mia Casal Ceramics. The Zambales-based potter molds, by her own hand, each and every bowl, cup, and plate that comes out of her studio, so that no two pieces are alike. The organic shapes and textures of her pieces, which reference Manam’s signature teal color, complement and enhance the dining room’s unhurried atmosphere.
A new look and sense of space, “walking into a new memory”
In designing a flagship shop with a different Manam experience, Moment wanted to create an environment that gave diners a new sense of space without losing Manam’s contemporary Filipino flair. The team collaborated with Hong Kong-based architectural designer Sean Dix to bring this vision to life. Dix, who is known for high-concept designs for well-known brands and establishments worldwide, envisioned a space that evoked a feeling of “walking into a new memory”—or finding yourself somewhere familiar but seeing it as though for the first time. The designer brings about this “familiar but unusual” feeling by subtly weaving traditional materials and elements of Filipino life into the shop’s interiors, such as wooden screens by the facade inspired by the windows of old Filipino homes; pendant lamps in the dining area that reference the fishing nets used by local fishermen; and the Bibingka Bar’s wooden base that mimics the patterns of native handwoven baskets. “You might not recognize exactly why, but there’s a Filipino vibe to all these details. Every little detail in the shop is, in some way, intended to bring back some memory of traditional Filipino craft,” shares Dix.
The familiar yet new feeling is reinforced by touches of Manam’s signature teal and pink in the furniture and tablescapes as well as in the artwork. Moment’s own creative team composed and curated these collages using archival 19th-century images to celebrate the country’s history and culture across the space. One corner, for example, spotlights the uniquely Filipino value of bayanihan, while the shop’s left and right walls commemorate Philippine farming and fishing traditions, respectively.
The next 10 super paborito years
Moment opened its first Manam shop in 2013 with the goal of making diners feel at home with malinamnam and comforting meals. Ten years and over 20 shops later, the Manam team is able to dream bigger thanks to its super paboritos—its loyal Manam diners, who have shared countless plates of House Crispy Sisig and bowls of Sinigang na Beef Short Rib and Watermelon over the years.
Napa shares, “We are always so happily surprised and in awe of how we have been received each time we’ve opened our doors in different neighborhoods. Most of our Manam shops have had lines for lunch and dinner every day of the week, for nearly 10 years running. And we take this seriously, striving our best to ensure that each door we open serves as good a meal and moment as the last one. I look forward to Manam opening its doors in many more neighborhoods around the Philippines and perhaps even beyond our shores in the times to come. And in doing so, we will share our brand of hospitality and our style of Filipino cooking, as best we can, with as many Filipinos and their guests in this next decade to come.”
All photos supplied by The Moment Group
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