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Christmas Guide
Where to Get These Classic Filipino Christmas Delicacies in Metro Manila
Usher in Christmas with these famous “kakanin” in Manila: bibingka and puto bumbong!
By: Patricia Marie Prado | November 12, 2022
If there are two foods always associated with Filipino Christmas, they’re bibingka and puto bumbong.
Images: Via Mare Facebook page
Bibingka (rice cake) and puto bumbong (steamed glutinous rice) are classic Filipino kakanin (native delicacies) that are favorite snacks of Filipinos after attending simbang gabi or Misa de Gallo (rooster’s mass). The bibingka and puto bumbong are well-known Filipino Christmas delicacies. In fact, bibingka and puto bumbong vendors abound outside Catholic churches every December to fill the tummy of hungry church-goers.
But if you are finding a kakanin in Manila and craving these Filipino delicacies now, you don’t have to wait until December! We’ve gathered restaurants in Manila that serve the best versions of these two Filipino Christmas delicacies so you can have your fill anytime.
Café Via Mare
Pair Café Via Mare’s bibingka and puto bumbong with their hot chocolate for a cold afternoon.
Images: Via Mare Facebook page
If there’s one restaurant that serves kakanin in Manila synonymous with bibingka, it would be Café Via Mare. Since 1975, Café Via Mare has been serving Filipino delicacies and dishes and has become a favorite among locals and foreigners. Despite its wide array of savory viands, the restaurant’s Filipino Christmas delicacy always draws the crowd.
The Filipino Christmas delicacy that Café Via Mare’s have is a fluffy Bibingka (PhP195) served with salted egg, Laguna cheese (kesong puti or native white cheese) or queso de bola, and melted butter, and has become a menu staple. The Puto Bumbong (PhP125) is also not to be missed. Served piping hot with a side of muscovado (a type of unrefined sugar) sugar and shredded coconuts, it goes well with Spanish Hot Chocolate (PhP90).
Café Astoria
Location: 1/F Astoria Plaza, 15 J. Escriva Dr., Ortigas Business District, Pasig City
Operating Hours: Daily, 6:00 AM to 9:00 PM
Experience three kinds of bibingka and freshly made puto bumbong at Café Astoria.
Image: Astoria Plaza website
Another emerging favorite Filipino Christmas delicacies are the bibingka and puto bumbong of Café Astoria at Astoria Plaza. Don’t worry; you don’t need to check in at the hotel to taste this kakanin in Manila, and you don’t have to wait until December, either.
Café Astoria offers three types of bibingka: Traditional, Ube, and Bibingka de Leche priced at PhP270 each. The Puto Bumbong (PhP250 per five pieces) is freshly made when you order and is served with shredded coconut and brown sugar. Its cake-like bibingka is topped with butter, generous heaps of cheese, shredded coconuts, and brown sugar, while its bibingka de leche has extra caramel.
Pamana
Location: G/F Greenbelt Mansion 106 Perea St. Legaspi Village, Makati City
Operating Hours:
Monday to Friday, 8:00 AM to 8:00 PM
Saturday, 8:00 AM to 9:00 PM
Sunday, 7:00 AM to 9:00 PM
Pamana uses a handed-down recipe for its bibingka and puto bumbong.
Image: @kryssem
Another Filipino restaurant that will satiate your craving for Filipino Christmas delicacies is Pamana. As its name suggests, Pamana is a restaurant with a menu consisting of recipes passed down from generation to generation of the owner’s family. The place that serves kakanin in Manila is owned by chef Happy Ongpauco-Tiu.
Among these treasured recipes of Filipino delicacy are Pampanga’s Bibingka (PhP190) and Puto Bumbong (PhP205). Pamana’s version of bibingka is topped with quesong puti (white cheese) and melted salted duck egg, so you’re sure to taste the flavor in every bite. Its puto bumbong, on the other hand, is served with cheddar cheese, queso de bola, and heated coco jam.
A Taste of L.A.
Location: 171 Alejandro Roces Avenue, Quezon City
Operating Hours: Daily, 12:00 PM to 9:00 PM
A Taste of LA will make bibingka and puto bumbong romantic.
Images: Salve V. Asis (L); Delta Star Grio Daquigan (R)
These famous Filipino Christmas delicacies, like bibingka and puto bumbong, are not only served in Filipino restaurants. You can also find them in international-themed restaurants such as A Taste of L.A. Although the A Taste of L.A.’s menu consists of international dishes, with its thin-crust pizzas as its bestseller, it also has its version of Filipino delicacy.
This restaurant serves kakanin in Manila with shredded coconut. The bibingka is filled with chunks of salted duck egg and topped with quesong puti; the Old-Fashioned Bibingka (PhP250) is served with shredded coconut, and the bibingka itself is filled with chunks of salted duck egg and topped with quesong puti. The Old-Fashioned Puto Bumbong (PhP200) is filled with shredded coconut and sugar and topped with butter.
Felymar Special Bibingka
Location: 1830 Rizal Avenue Sta Cruz, Manila
Operating Hours: 1:00 PM to 8:00 PM
Felymar’s bibingka and puto bumbong can be enjoyed any day.
Image: Felymar Special Bibingka Facebook page
If you’re having late-night cravings for kakanin in Manila, Felymar Special Bibingka can help you. This restaurant that serves Filipino Christmas delicacies is Located near LRT-Tayuman Station; this simple eatery is visited even late at night by various customers for its famous offerings.
Its Bibingka (starts at PhP60) is filled with slices of cheese and salted egg, but what gives this rice cake a different spin is the freshly cracked egg at the center of bibingka while it’s being cooked. The Puto Bumbong (starts at PhP35) is served with shredded coconuts, margarine, and muscovado sugar and is still cooked traditionally.
Ferino’s Bibingka
Where: 117-A Kalayaan Avenue, Barangay Central Quezon City
Operating Hours: 9:00 AM to 8:00 PM
From huge sizes to cute ones, Ferino’s bibingka has it.
Image: Felymar Special Bibingka Facebook page
If you’re looking for another convenient way of satisfying your Filipino Christmas delicacies craving, drop by any Ferino’s Bibingka branch. Once a small stall in Tondo, Manila, started in 1938, this brand is now a go-to kiosk with multiple branches in the country.
It became famous for its Filipino delicacy, the Extra Super Bibingka (PhP140), in which two fresh eggs are mixed with the bibingka and then topped with salted egg and quesong puti. If you’re craving more kakanin in Manila, Ferino’s also provides smaller versions, such as the Bibingcute (PhP30). It also offers Puto Bumbong at PhP85 per four pieces.
C2 Classic Cuisine
C2’s Bibingka Souffle paired with crème anglaise.
Image: C2 Classic Cuisine’s Facebook page
If you consider yourself an adventurous foodie, you might be excited with C2 Classic Cuisine’s version of bibingka. C2 prides itself in reinventing classic Filipino Christmas delicacies, so it’s no surprise that it transformed the humble bibingka and gave it a French twist.
The Bibingka Soufflé (PhP175) uses coconut as the base for the custard, and it is mixed with chunks of salted egg and queso de bola. Break the fluffy topping and pour the crème anglaise in the middle to fully enjoy the dessert. Although they don’t have puto bumbong, the bibingka soufflé is enough to stand independently.
November 2022 Update: C2 Classic Cuisine is permanently closed.
You can visit plenty of restaurants whenever you want to have bibingka and puto bumbong. Let us know in the comments section which restaurant’s version of these Pinoy goodies you loved!
Craving for more delicacies this Christmas? Check out Yoorekka Magazine for more recommendations!
This article was initially published in Yoorekka on November 03, 2017.
Rates may change without prior notice.
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About Patricia Marie Prado
Patricia came from the field of business and accounting but is now pursuing her dreams of being a writer. She is a self-confessed introvert and is passionate about reading, travelling, writing, movies, coffee and God. When she's not writing, she loves discovering new coffee shops/cafe and doing TV-series marathons.
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