Don’t know where to eat this Lenten Season? We know your pain. Everywhere else seems to be serving something with pork, chicken or beef this season. It’s almost unfair that in some countries, the reverse is true: healthy food ischeaper and more common. So where do you find Lent-friendly restaurants around here?
Well, if you’re planning to abstain from the meaty stuff this season, we have a list of places you can go to for some vegetarian and sea food.
Lent-friendly Restaurants: Vegetarian
1. Pipino Vegetarian Food by Pino
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Pipino Vegetarian Food serves 100% plant-based meals at Teachers Village, Quezon City. It’s one of the best places to find vegetarian versions of popular Filipino dishes.
They have dishes like Vegetable Kare-Kare (P185), Pinakbet Risotto (P265) with squash risotto, okra tempura, and pickled sigarilyas, and Portobello Burger (P275), which is basically breaded portobello mushrooms stuffed with vegan cheese sauce.
Pipino also has sweet vegetarian treats, a godsend for those looking to satisfy their sweet tooth without compromising their diets. They accept reservations at +63 2 441-1773.
39 Malingap St., Teacher’s Village, Quezon City
2. Falafel Yo!
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Falafel Yo! is one of those Lent-friendly restaurants that has a variety of filling and affordable meals for those going on a diet. For P159, you can experience a large serving of this traditional Israeli meal. One order is packed with five to six pieces of falafel, some hummus, pickled onions, and mixed vegetables. You can also customize your sandwich with their homemade sauces, depending on your taste.
Greenbelt Drive, Makati, Metro Manila
3. Berde
If you’re in the concrete jungle of Makati, and in need of something healthy and within reach, there are a couple of options you can choose from.
One of these options is Berde, located at the Ayala Triangle Gardens. You can choose from a variety of their signature pre-prepared bowls, especially the MongGo Green list (their vegetarian list), which goes for Php290 per bowl.
You can also customize your bowl with their Build Your Own Bowl option. Diners can create their own bowl and have their choice of base, vegetables, protein, and sauce. Prices may vary depending on the protein of your choice.
Ayala Triangle Walkways, Makati, Metro Manila
4. Green Pastures
Green Pastures is one of those Lent-friendly restaurants that puts their spin on popular Filipino dishes and makes them as healthy as possible. For example, you can have cauliflower alternatives to rice meals by getting their faux rice meals!
Price range goes from P160 to P2,200.
Shangrila Plaza, Level 4, East Wing, Ortigas,, Ortigas Center, Mandaluyong, Metro Manila
Ground Floor, Net Park, 5th Avenue, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig City
5. Corner Tree Cafe
Corner Tree Cafe is a cozy little vegetarian cafe along the busy Jupiter St. in Makati. This cafe offers gluten-free and modern vegan dishes influenced by different cuisines around the world. They also have a nice selection of wines, house cocktails, and local beers.
What’s nice about them is they’re flexible: They’re for omnivores and vegetarians alike. And it’s a chill place, not for loud drinking. Perhaps a few of their best dishes are the Baked Tofu Walnut Burger, the Spinach & Mushroom Lasagna, and the Vegetarian Chili Bowl.
Corner Tree Cafe is also perfect for your family because they have a special menu for children and Sunday brunches. They also accept reservations. You can call them at +63 2 897-0295.
150 Jupiter, Makati, 1209 Metro Manila
6. The Good Seed
Formerly known as Edgy Veggy, The Good Seed was founded by Denise Celdran, an agriculturist and health advocate. It began as a project that helps promote wellness and a proper diet for vegetarians.
Now, it’s primarily a vegetarian food delivery service. But it’s also a small cafe for residents and office-goers based in the Kapitolyo area. It caters to locals who don’t have time to prepare vegetarian meals. Their best meals are usually the Big Burger Burrito and the Korean rice meal, but they have a pretty extensive menu so there’s a lot to choose from.
They’re closed on Sundays so you can plan your vegetarian meals accordingly. You can call them at +63 917 847-4831.
3 Brixton St., Kapitolyo, Pasig
7. SUSI
In our list of Lent-friendly restaurants, SUSI is Manila’s first and only 100% plant-based restaurant and deli. It’s their advocacy to have a meatless lifestyle, which they think is the “key to sustainable living.” The place is perfect for anyone who loves modern vegetarian/vegan cuisine. Their El Chimichurri and the Beet Burger are remarkable.
SUSI’s owner is actually the niece of Corner Tree Cafe’s owner, so you know they’re all about healthy food! They accept reservations at +63 917 532-8304.
Bellagio 2 Forbestown Center, Burgos Circle, Taguig
8. The Wholesome Table
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This one’s an organic restaurant serving comfort food based on organic and locally-sourced produce (when possible). They also make sure that their meat is pasture-raised, while the ingredients are not processed. Their bestsellers are their power bowls and smoothies.
The Wholesome Table doesn’t accept reservations, but it’s a dog-friendly place though, so take your doggo along the next you’re here! You can call them at +63 2 621-4111.
2/F, 30th cor, 7th ave, Bonifacio High Street, Taguig
Lent-friendly restaurants: Seafood
1. Poké Poké
Poke bowls are a Hawaiian appetizer filled with fresh raw fish and vegetables. It can go as a side dish and a main dish. At Poke Poke, you can create your own version of a poke bowl (Php350). This includes the base, the mix-ins, and the flavor boosters, depending on your taste.
If you’re not up for customizing your own, they have pre-prepared poke bowls. You can go for their Basic bowl (Php290), which contains ahi tuna and salmon. They also have the Dragon bowl (Php450), a spicy poke bowl with salmon, shrimp, and unagi (eel), smothered in mangonnaise and sriracha aioli.
Lower Ground Estancia Mall, Pasig City, Metro Manila
2. Choobi Choobi
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Choobi Choobi is a popular and well-loved seafood restaurant in Cebu, and perhaps one our favorite Lent-friendly restaurants. Now you don’t have to go to Cebu to eat their seafood!
There are only five Choobi Choobi branches in the whole of Southern Tagalog (with only three in the NCR, one in Cavite, and one in Laguna), two in the Bicol region, one in Bacolod, one in Iloilo, and four in the Mindanao region.
It’s a great place for eating with the family. If you’re there with the fam bam, try their Seafood Barkada Bag (Php645). It has all of its Choobi Choobi’s bestsellers: baby lobsters, shrimp, Chilean mussels, and corn. (Or you can get away from your kids and spouse and eat it all yourself, we won’t judge!)
You can find their branches here.
3. Asakusa: Home of Tempura
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Asakusa sure lives up to its name as the home of tempura. They offer a wide variety of tempura sets, customizable to the diner’s tastes. Asakusa has 15 different kinds of tempura on their menu, they even have tempura fused into their maki! The crown jewel of their tempuras is the Black Tiger Prawn, and you can choose between three staples: rice, soba, or udon, plus a sauce to go with the tempura.
E. Rodriguez Jr. Avenue, Ugong, Pasig City, 1600 Metro Manila
Vertis North, F, Quezon Ave, Diliman, Quezon City, Metro Manila
4. Fish & Co.
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If you want it simple (and fried), Fish & Co. is the way to go. Their specialty is good old fish and chips, as you can see from their menu here. You can choose between three fish & chips dishes, like The Best Fish & Chips in Town, New York Fish & Chips, and Philadelphia Fish & Chips.
If you’re going with your family, they have seafood platters and combo meals that are perfect for you and your family.
Mall of Asia
Trinoma
5. Bag O’ Shrimps
This one’s a “wharf-in-the-city” seafood shack whose selling point is the rich seaside flavors of seafood like shrimp, squid, fish, and other kinds of shellfish (crabs, mussels, clams). If you and your family don’t mind getting your hands dirty cracking open the delicious food that the sea brings, this place is for you. The Bag O’ Momma Shrimps by the Bag is perfect for the family. But be careful, go for the mild flavor for starters, since some meals are still too spicy for some people.
They don’t accept reservations but you can call them at +63 2 966-5458.
Tuscany Estate, Upper McKinley Rd, Fort Bonifacio, Taguig
6. Hai Shin Lou Seafood King Restaurant
Stir Fried Rice Crab With Button Mushroom by Hai Shin Lou Seafood King. Photo courtesy of Hai Shin Lou Seafood King
This Chinese restaurant isn’t all just about noodles and dimsum. Hai Shin Lou is all about authentic Cantonese cuisine, offering a wide variety of seafood options fresh off the tanks. Their Steamed Lapu-Lapu, Peppercorn Sea Mantis, and Fried Rice with Seafood and Olive Leaf are divine. Hai Shin Lou is perfect for large groups of people so it’s the perfect Chinese seafood place that you can take your family to.
They accept reservations, you can call them at +63 2 892-5148.
810 Arnaiz Ave., San Lorenzo, Makati
7. Catch
The people behind Catch pride themselves for being the only restaurant in the Philippines that serves gourmet modern seafood.
Catch, among the Lent-friendly restaurants we’ve listed, has the finest kinilaw (which they call ceviche) dishes, made from sustainably line-caught fish. The rest of their menu are all mouth-watering seafood fare, like Tiger Prawn Gambas, and Lobster PoiBoi. You can call them at +63 915 751-1226.
G/F V Corporate Center 125 L.P. Leviste St, Salcedo Village, Makati
8. Earth Kitchen
This is the joint project of Hizon’s Catering and Got Heart Foundation, which focuses on food that promotes health and sustainability. It’s not a breakfast-y place, but they have amazing Prawn Spring Rolls, soft tacos, and Goat’s Cheese Frozen Cheesecakes. You’re better off eating here during the weekdays because it can be hard to find parking around Earth Kitchen on the weekends.
They accept reservations at +63 2 577-9138.
Lot 10 Block 10 White Plains, Katipunan, Quezon City
Sources: Click The City, Booky
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