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Casa Manila
Category: Restaurants Filipino Filipino [Edit]
879 York Mills RdNorth York, ON M3B 1Y5
(416) 443-9654
- Hours:
Mon-Thu, Sun 11 am - 9 pm
Fri-Sat 10:30 am - 10 pm
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Attire:
- Casual
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Takes Reservations:
- Yes
- Take Away:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Good For:
- Lunch
- Alcohol:
- Beer & Wine Only
- Noise Level:
- Average
- Ambience:
- Casual
- Has TV:
- No
- Caters:
- Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
26 reviews for Casa Manila
Review Highlights
"and the special halo halo dessert."
(in 3 reviews)
"my favorite thing to eat here is kare kare with garlic rice."
(in 9 reviews)
"Daing na Bangus - panfried milk fish."
(in 4 reviews)
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26 reviews in English
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Review from Bryan T.
5/27/2011
I had a fantastic meal at Casa Manila. This was my first true Filipino cuisine experience. It was amazing.
From the very beginning, the staff gave a warm welcome and tended to our every need. Because we were newbies, our server recommend the dishes and we loved every one of them.
The food is fresh and coked to perfection.
I look forward to a return visit.
Mabuhay!! -
Review from Nao C.
North York, ON
12/26/2011
This was my first exposure to Filipino cuisine, so maybe my experience is limited, but given the limited Filipino options in Toronto in general, I do think this place is as good as it gets. Don't worry, though, they set the bar high.
Perhaps the restaurant is aware of the limited experience most non-Pinoy Torontonians have had with Filipino cuisine, so the staff are all extremely knowledgeable about their dishes and helpful with the selection.
The menu itself is varied and extensive without being cluttered. In particular, I'm a big fan of their congee-like soups which are the perfect size for one or two people. The only dish I'm not really fond of is the mango salad -- it's a little too simple, and the shrimp paste dressing a little too strong. This might just be my tastes, though, and all the ingredients looked and tasted fresh. They also have Filipino desserts and drinks, and sometimes in the summer I'll pop in just for halo-halo.
The atmosphere is warm and festive, in no small part due to the friendly staff. The clientele seems to consist of both newcomers and many regulars.
In case it wasn't obvious already, the service here is REALLY great! The higher up staff in particular are very warm and inviting. Actually, the last time I went, I ordered the lemongrass chicken leg. They were low on leg in the kitchen and knew we had already been waiting a while so served me the breast instead, even though that's a dollar more. It was a very small change, so I didn't mind at all, but they were all apologies and then took the item off of our bill! (We gave them big tips, of course.)
Only con is the food takes a while to prepare, so don't pop in here if you're in a hurry. If you have time to really relax and savour the food, though, I really recommend it! -
Review from Alex T.
Toronto, ON
7/1/2011
I used to have a Filipino friend when I was younger so I was over a lot for dinner at his place. His mom would whip up some amazing dishes everytime I went. To this day, it's been pretty hard to find a place that would remind me of her cooking. Casa Manila is pretty much the closest I've gotten at this point. If you like Filipino food, you should give thisd place a try.
Pros:
Knowledgeable and friendly staff.
Dishes are made fresh (according to staff)
Portions are pretty good
Cons:
Because dishes are prepared fresh, it can take a while.
I mentioned I've had a lot of filipino food when I was younger, but have no idea what each dish was actually called. The staff was able to help us out with items that weren't pictured in the menu. They knew exactly what ingredients were going in and how it was prepared. Really helps when you're trying cuisine you're not farmiliar with.
We had the Bicol Express, Kare Kare, Kalderetang Baka, and the Lechon Kawali. All dishes were prepared very well. The taste was wonderful and like I said, reminded me of all the home cooked filipino meals I had when I was younger.
My only gripe was the wait time for the food. It was almost a good 20 minutes before anything was brought out. This was due to every dish being freshly prepared. You can take this as either a good or a bad thing depending on how hungry you are when you get there. Next time, I will defeinitely go when I'm just about to get hungry. -
Review from Tanya N.
6/8/2011 2 photos
I came here for lunch and the host recommended the buffet since it was my first time there. The buffet is $6.95 with a main, rice and egg soup and each incremental main is a dollar each.
I tried the Kare-Kare (beef in peanut sauce) which was....good but I feel as though it was sitting there for awhile so it didn't taste very fresh and just wasn't hot enough. The beef was also tough and chewy. The egg soup wasn't hot either, it was warm edging on the cool side. I opted for an additional side which I forget what it was but was a tomato based beef stew which was another disappointment. The beef was also tough.
I also tried the BBQ Pork skewer (off the menu, not part of the buffet). While the sauce on it was delicious the pork itself was tough.
I'd steer clear of the buffet and if anything would recommend ordering off the menu.
I was disappointed given the high ratings on this place. -
Review from wendy c.
5/19/2011
A nice place to try pinoy food; warm and attentive services.
They have a fantastic bagoong sauce (fermented fish/shrimp sauce) which makes everything tastes more flavourful and better. If they don't bring it to you automatically with dishes like Kare-Kare, ask for it.
Sisig means pork bits fried to perfection in English. I prefer the spicy version as it provides an added layer of flavour and cuts through the grease nicely.
Without the bagoong sauce, their Kare-Kare is pretty average. Beef pieces are tender enough, the peanut butter sauce is quite thick. Throw the bagoong in and you are in a whole different world of taste sensation.
Baing Bangus (pan-fried milkfish) is little bit on the dry side, dowsing it with lemon juice or light soy sauce that accompanies the dish helps
The only disappointment is Halo-Halo dessert, shaved ice texture was lumpy and uneven, not enough sweetened condensed milk drenched over the ice, the toppings were colourful but the beans were overcooked and too mushy. I really like shaved ice dessert and have tried different versions across Southeast Asia (cendol in Malaysia/Singapore, Thai version Che Thai, che ba mau in Vietnam, Korean bingsoo, and the Taiwanese version, HongKong version). I really can't say that Casa Manila's version is good. -
Review from Archimedes T.
Toronto, ON
Guess you can tell I am a regular here. Anyway I ate here again with a couple of friends to try out some dishes.
Right now they have a Spring Specials menu and I tried a couple of their dishes there
Chicken Inasal. This is basically lemongrass chicken that is grilled. It wasn't the first time I tried this, but they changed their recipe and I have to admit it had improved the taste SIGNIFICANTLY. The only thing I had to comment on was that the sauce had to copy from the liempo's and perhaps add a piece of lettuce for decoration. I would also prefer it to be boneless, but somehow keep the skin.
Grilled Pork Belly (inihaw na liempo) still awesome. They don't have it in their regular menu, but I order it often. As I said in a previous review, they have changed their recipes to have less salt and this was no exception. The dish was flavourful and you can taste the mea, the grilled fat gives a pleasant but non-overpowering aroma and the roasted skin gives it a bit of extra texture. The dish needs the sauce to enhance it more, but even tastes good without it.
Fried Garlic Brown Rice, this is technically not on the menu at least not this specific combination. My friend really liked this dish and I agree with her that I could probably just eat this alone if I was on a high carb diet. It has the nutty texture of brown rice with the scent of garlic. I would probably like this with my tocino and egg for breakfast if they had it.
Mango Salad is another new dish they added. It combines almost ripe mango, some other veggies and bagoong. In a word, AWESOME again.
Their regular menu items that I bought are Daing na Bangus (Pan fried milk fish) again still awesome, but nothing really new to talk about. I cheated and used the liempo sauce on this one as well :)
Going forward, I still hope they keep this restaurant's theme of fine dining. Which unfortunately for the grub grub crowd is a bit slower than normal and a bit more pricey.
However, I do hope they open up another restaurant that is more for the grub grub crowd where things are more moderately priced and fast without skimping on quality. In a sense, move the turo-turo to the other restaurant somewhat like Cava and XocoCava.Listed in: Default Restaurants
5 Previous Reviews: Show all »
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3/17/2011
Went out here for a light dinner with a friend tonight. As such I get my light dish choices:
a)… Read more »
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Review from Darren S.
Markham, ON
5/15/2011
This was my first time having Filipino food (well, apart from buying those longanisas from the supermarket) and it did not disappoint at all!
The service was very friendly (we even had the floor manager, I think, sit down with us and talk about the whole experience) and the servers were very knowledgeable about the food. We ordered a fish filet from their new menu, a bicol express and finished the dinner off with a halo-halo. The fish was HEAVENLY delicious, the bicol was lovely (though I just realized I don't like bittermelon...eek) and the halo-halo tasted just like the ice shanghai in Indonesia/ice kachang in Singapore.
In short: It tasted how SOUTHEAST ASIAN FOOD SHOULD TASTE LIKE. Strong flavours, and a little bit spicy. Absolutely lovely. Note to Villa Malaysia: this is how flavours taste like (read my review about THAT travesty of a restaurant if you have not).
The only complaint is that there were a little too many decorations, which kind of tipped the line over from "exotic" to "tacky". And some of the decorations in the middle of the restaurant prevented the servers from seeing me raise my arm when I called them.
Oh, and the food may take a while to come. Mickey, the supervisor, did advise us that this was because the food is made fresh. While this is understandable, it was not very nice since we were starving and the food took almost 25 minutes to come out.
Overall though, a very nice restaurant which I will definitely come back to. Very good!Listed in: Best Date Places
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Review from Mickey C.
5/14/2011
Their festive Filipino flavours brings a lot of fun to dining out. Tasteful, exciting and healthy dishes that are must haves.
I believe that CASA manila has crossed over to all ages and ethnicity, not just to Filipinos and Canadians.
I would recommend this place to all my family, friends and guests from around the world.
You should try their pork or chicken sisig that is served in a sizzling platter. I love their lechon kawali, bicol express, kalderetang baka and the sinigang na baboy soup.
All in all, this is such a memorable experience that has captured me in the true essence of what Filipino Fine Dining should be. -
Review from Alvin V.
Toronto, ON
12/16/2010
It's actually quite hard to find a Filipino restaurant in the city and I've always wondered why. I guess there are certain cuisines that lack a level of appeal or perhaps nobody is ambitious enough to push it to the limelight like some restaurants do like say, Spring Rolls, did for Thai fusion?
This is probably one of my first experiences with Filipino food so I wasn't quite sure what to expect. I was initially somewhat impressed but ended up leaving with a bit of disappointment.
Below is my experience on my lunch excursion:
Decor:
The place is comfortable with bench seating along the windows and long tables for larger groups in the middle. Not sure if they're being festive but the lighting is all surrounded with paper origami star shapes. If I were to be picky, the bench seating was a bit too close to the table or maybe I've gained weight (how dare you agree!).
Food:
The food is served similar to the likes of Manchu Wok where you choose 2-3 items for your dish and the staff fills your plate. Now I didn't mean to degrade it to that level but I wanted to paint a picture of how the food was served. The staff was actually very friendly and definitely gave off a family vibe but Ill get into that later.
I ordered some noodles and pork dishes which were marinated nicely. From my experience, I would say this place is very sauce intensive but when it comes to meat textures, it fails a bit and reminds me a little of buffet food unfortunately. Though let me re-iterate, the sauces were fantastic.
It was also cool that they had all these unique drinks that even though weren't super good, still added a bit of a fun factor. I had a pop called Tru Orange....I'm sorry to say it wasn't TRU orange...maybe tru Orange Crush:P Still, kudos for the drink selection
Service:
Like I said, the staff was super friendly and let us try all the sauces. I learnt that they change the buffet items everyday to keep it fresh which was impressive. Their dinner menu is a la carte and they told me they plan on changing it up for the next year. A restaurant that constantly tries to evolve is an open minded restaurant that I appreciate.
One thing to note is that perhaps maybe the staff and some customers are too friendly and family oriented because I saw a group of people who seem to be regulars eating these spring roll type dishes that I drooled over! Also, I asked for a fish item which they forgot to bring out to me because they were being friendly to other customers and chatting it up.
Overall:
It's a restaurant that you should try. Maybe my experience wasn't as good and maybe I came on a day where their items were a bit weak. Who knows, but as I said, a restaurant looking to constantly better themselves is a good one. Perhaps my rating will improve with more visits in the future! -
Review from Catherine L.
Toronto, ON
3/1/2011 2 photos
I consulted with my filipino hubby on this rating and he agreed that this is a solid four.
I've actually been here twice - once last year, and just last weekend and I have to say I found the 2nd time much better than I remembered. I think the decor was more inviting this time - with a nice warm brown lattice on the ceiling and lanterns and decor taken from a southeast asian gift shop.
We ordered: bicol express, sinigang, sisig, daing (fried milkfish) all with garlic rice. We had sapin sapin for dessert.
I enjoyed all dishes and they got the authentic seal of approval from filipino hubby. I was pleasantly surprised at the portion size and amount of meat and vegetables in each stew - we would've been full with just 2 of those dishes! But we don't go uptown very often and wanted to try everything!
The only negative things:
- our sisig came on a "sizzling" platter but it wasn't actually sizzling. It makes me wonder if they took it from the buffet for the 50th anniversary dinner they were hosting that night. Other patrons that ordered that same dish had their dish sizzling - I was disappointed in the inconsistency with our dish
- the washrooms are super cold! brrr...
All in all, a solid choice if you are looking for filipino food in Toronto and definitely one of the more upscale filipino restaurants I've been to (the others were mainly take-out or in a bar). -
Review from Karl R.
7/19/2010 ROTD 7/4/2011
Wow. Probably some of the best tasting food I've had in a long, long time. Asian food with some unique and stand out twists. The crunch pork sisig has a great mouth feel and mixes well with white rice. The Filipino spring rolls are delights. The kare kare reminds one of a sweet peanut pad thai but without all the bothersome parts.
The halo halo for dessert was another surprise. Similar to Korean patbingsoo but with a great purple yam ice cream in the center. We have so few purple foods and it's nice to see one. -
Review from WaYnE c.
Maple, ON
7/18/2010 1 photo
Definitely a GEM, thank goodness Rita E. made this UYE possible. Casa Manila did not disappoint as we walked in to a comforting while classy Filipino restaurant that has booths looking out to the street as well as a other tables suitable for larger groups. As you walk in, there are plenty of miscellaneous newspapers, pamphlets, advertising handouts available for the Filipino community to keep up on recent news.
At the cash there's a display steam tray area for CONVENIENT take-out for a few ready-to-eat items. The server came to write up our order on a notepad which was later on our same receipt, so if you want to write off a business meal maybe ask for neater writing or something but it won't matter because most people won't know the name of the dishes like our group except for our Rita.
The guy staff had a Casa Manila Logo Black T-shirt and served me my Mango Juice in a can which was made in Philippines but I felt right at home because the can had Cantonese words on it too.
2 of each, I love the purchasing power of groups!
Lumpiang Shanghai which are bite-size Pork & Shrimp Spring Rolls are a nice appetizer especially if you get the right bite of spicy kick. Inihaw Na Pusit(Grilled Squid) had that REAL grill flavour and grill marks, definitely something I look forward to next time as it was very tender.
Sisig(Fried Minced Pork's Nose & Ear) was good because it had good flavours but make sure you get one of the CHILI pieces in every bite to give it that extra boost. It also has a texture contrast of soft pieces as well as crispy as it was served on a hot cast iron plate.
Kare-Kare(Stew of Beef & Vege in Peanut Sauce) is much better here than my previous experience and it gave me more faith in this dish again. It has the STRONG Peanut flavour but not as thick a sauce which makes all the difference.
Special Halo Halo is a treat as you MIX MIX various Fruits, Leche Flan, Beans, Purple Yam Ice Cream which all sits on top of Shaved Ice. I am glad I finally had this dessert the way it was meant for. I've had variations of it as a drink which didn't incorporate as many ingredients as this.
Adobong Manok(Chicken in Vinegar, Soy Sauce, Bay Leaves) wasn't my favourite unfortunately maybe it just didn't seem to stand out from the rest of the other highlights of this MEAL. Pancit Palabok(Rice Noodle in Seafood Sauce) was an intense YELLOW that Avitania called Kraft Dinner. I believe the noodles are similar to Japchae consistency and it was A-OK.Listed in: 4+ ****Stars****, Fill up in oh
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Review from Chris P.
7/18/2010 1 Check-in Here
We had a great UYE here last night. After perusing the menu we all decided to leave the ordering up to Rita E's expertise. She ordered a pork, a chicken, a beef, two fish, and a seafood dish. Don't ask me to even try to remember the names of the dishes.
My favorite dish of the night was the stewed pork and veggies in a peanut sauce. The pork fell apart on your fork it was so tender. My second favorite was the chicken dish (aribato?).
Overall a great experience. I would probably come here more often if it wasn't so far north of Bloor. -
Review from Serey A.
1/15/2011 4 photos
Casa Manila in Toronto, ON was truly a place worth driving to.... especially if you came all the way from Massachusetts. We've learned that there are a lot of Filipinos in Toronto and this we found out not only because we see a lot of them just by walking in and around the downtown Toronto area but also the proliferation of Filipino stores and restaurants.
On a recent visit, hubby booked our 4 day stay at the Westin Prince Toronto hotel located on the outskirts of downtown Toronto. It was a double pleasure to have Casa Manila located just across the road from the hotel. Days before we got there, we already made some research and found some reviews. This place is truly a jewel of a place since everything that we had there was a dining pleasure that we ate there almost everyday since my hubby's nephew missed the Pinoy's lutong bahay in the 2 weeks that they vacationed in Toronto.
One of our favorite is the pritong pusit which was always crispy on the outside but perfectly cooked & not chewy on the inside. The Bicol express was so yummy, that it even inspired my daughter to cook it at home. Other dishes that we have tried are the pinakbet, sinigang, palabok, kare-kare, lechon kawali, turon, halo-halo, sapin-sapin, arroz caldo and chicken mami.
Ambiance is great and the decor is tasteful. Hubby has met and talked to the owners who were very accommodating and friendly. All in all, even if we also had a great experience in other restaurants in Toronto, Casa Manila can hold its own. Every dish here is a treasure... -
Review from Richard S.
Toronto, ON
6/24/2011
We had a great dinner here last night, went with the manager's suggestions (I had no idea about Filipno Food) and the meal, service and ambiance were fantastic. I would defintely go back and found it on http://Yepl.ca!
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Review from Herman S.
Markham, ON
3/1/2011
I have been craving chicken adobo & rice for quite some time now. A co-worker pointed out Casa Manila was around the corner and had heard good things.
Decor is nice, the trendy urban feel. Not like the typical Philipino restaurant with the TV blasting. Food smelt great and was anxious to dig in. Having a lunch special option was great with commonly eating foods on a hot table for you to choose from. Flavours are good, and as fresh as it can be for being on a hot table.
Only thing i'm going to criticize is portion size versus price.
$6.99 for lunch plate (rice & 3 chopped pieces of chicken with sauce)
$1.00 for extra item (5 pieces of crispy pata)
$2.00 for drink (eska water)
I would definitely return and try more items and write another review. It's hard to find a nice Philipino restaurant and this could be a hidden gem that people need to recognize
Till next time, -
Review from Stephanie I.
Toronto, ON
8/15/2011
Five of us dined here last Friday and overall we found the food pretty average. Some hits and misses among the dishes...
Kare kare - peanut beef stew. It looks and sounds rich but the sauce doesn't have a lot of flavour. I appreciate the fact that everything was low sodium but I expected more beef taste and peanut taste in the sauce. The shrimp paste made it much better but still wasn't great. Beef is fall off the bones tender though.
Manila chicken curry - tender chicken, good sauce, lovely vegetables - one of my favourite dishes and taste a lot like Malaysian style curry. But not a dish you can't get elsewhere...
Pinkabet - lovely vegetable dish with delightful pieces of pork inside. The pork is delcious.
Daing na Bangus - panfried milk fish. This was pretty good.
Pancit Malaboon - thick rice noodle in seafood sauce. From the photos (golden coloured) and description this looks like a wonderful dish, but really not a lot of seafood flavour in the dish or any other noticable flavour, it seems like it was seasoned maybe with fish sauce? That was all the seafood taste I got. We didn't finish this.
Perhaps if I tried other dishes I'd get a better overall experience, or perhaps my expectations is different, but I feel that I do enjoy Restauran Malay or Saigon Star a lot more for the same price. -
Review from Rita E.
They say you can't beat home-cooked Filipino food. And it's true. My mother would kill me if I said otherwise.
But Casa Manila is now my go-to Filipino Restaurant in Toronto. Feels. Like. Home.
I came here alone. And typically... you wouldn't want to go to a fine Filipino restaurant to eat alone. The portions are just too large, and a meal wouldn't be complete if I didn't have a little bit of everything... so I ordered a little bit of everything. I am not ashamed to sit alone in a booth with 5 plates in front of me. I believe in the power of tupperware. Best believe that my hotel fridge is now stocked.
To me: The mark of an excellent Filipino restaurant is in one dish. And one dish alone.
SISIG. (Pronounced: SEE-sig)
That chopped up pork is the first thing I look for on any Filipino menu. And it earns high marks. The sisig came out on a sizzling platter. Spicy. Savory. Salty. Seasoned. Superb. 4 stars. (WHAT?! not 5?) I know folks... it was unfortunately a little dry and a little overcooked... maybe next time...
I also ordered the pancit palabok (pronounced pahn-sit pah-lah-bowk) which came with shrimp & squid. I've never had squid in my palabok... but it was goooooood. And it even had chicharon (krispy pork rind) sprinkled on top. So many flavors and textures. Delicious.
The lumpia shanghai was aight. Nothing spectacular there. Just glad that it wasn't over-cooked or burned. I could almost swear that these are the same prepackaged ones I used to buy from the store... but... who knows.
I ended the evening with my favorite dessert: Halo-Halo. (pronounced Hah-loh, not Hay-low and it means Mix-Mix) A mixture of delectable tropical goodies: fruits, jellies, jams, & flan, with shaved ice, condensed milk, and your choice of ice cream. I'm rather partial to ube (pronounced oo-beh, meaning purple yam) ice cream. If you've never had it, it's usually served in a tall sundae glass and in layers like a parfait. At Casa Manila, it was served in a bowl and each ingredient was separated. Now you get to have some fun and mix all the ingredients together... hence mix-mix. It's not a complete meal without some kind of Filipino dessert. Halo-halo is it for me.
To drink, I ordered the Gulaman Sago which is the Filipino version of bubble tea... but better. Hehe. The website says it's a "grass jelly drink" but idk wtf that means. If you read "grass jelly", are you really gonna order it? Probably not. So disregard "grass" and just read "jelly". To put it plain: It's a caramelized-sugar drink with jello and tapioca pearls. And it's so refreshing.
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I now realize how long my review is getting, and I suppose the reason for this is because of the severe LACK of Filipino restaurants in Toronto. Didn't mean for it to turn into a lesson in filipino foods and tagalog pronounciations, but it did. I would love to organize a UYE or something to share my culture with Toronto's Yelp Community.
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Needless to say, I had a great time at Casa. The owners were attentive & we even had a conversation about Filipino restaurants back home. It wasn't a very busy night, which probably afforded me that opportunity.
Ah... home away from home. I like Casa. -
Review from Avitania B.
Toronto, ON
7/18/2010 1 Check-in Here
I've noticed that Filipino cuisine tends to be underrated and underrepresented in most of the cities I've lived in (NYC, L.A., Seattle, Tampa, and San Francisco metro with the exception of Daly City). However, if all Filipino restaurants were like Casa Manila, I'd bet this tasty cuisine would gain more prominence in foodie culture!
Like fellow Yelpers Wayne C and Chris P, I came here as part of Rita E's UYE on Saturday night. She did a great job of ordering a wide range of dishes to try. The biggest standout, for me, was the sisig, a sizzling dish made of minced pork. I loved the crunchy texture and savory-sweet flavor. My favorite Filipino dish, chicken adobo, was well executed here as well -- mild, slightly sweet, homey, stewy.
The halo-halo (a dessert made with shaved ice, condensed milk, and assorted sweetened gelatins, beans and fruit) was good, but I prefer mine with a little more shaved ice so it doesn't get as soupy towards the end.
The service and decor were really a step up from most Filipino restaurants I've been to as well. Bright white tablecloths, nice glasses, and friendly service made us feel quite at home.
Masarap! ("Delicious" in Tagalog!) -
Review from Beethoven C.
5/11/2010
Toronto is supposedly the mecca of Hongkong/Cantonese cuisine for those of us not living in HK. Perhaps if Toronto had more places like Casa Manila, people would say that Toronto is also a destination for Filipino food.
Palabok with shrimp and calamari? Check.
Lechon with crispy, candy like skin? Check.
KIlawin? Check.
Paella? Check.
Homemade-style lumpiang sariwa? Check.
Top it all off with the buko pandan and sapin-sapin. Yum! -
Review from lisi h.
5/27/2011
A fabulous place for us out of towners! We came in there and were immediately treated with gusto and heartfelt enthusiasm and care. We had a full spread of all things delicious (and even veggie-friendly plates!) that just kept coming, along with banter from our waiter.
Great food, fabulous wait staff and friendly folks. What more can you ask? -
Review from sunnee s.
Toronto, ON
11/22/2010
i never knew philipino food can be this delicious ! first time ive ever had philipino food was at jesse jr's in scarborough . it was nothing special, just food to fill up the tummy . but food at casa manila is amazing ! not just any food to fill up the hunger, it makes my tastebuds happy !
my favorite thing to eat here is kare kare with garlic rice . YUM . and the special halo halo dessert ! must tries !!! my bf loved the crispy pata (pork knuckle), even a wee bit more than lechon kawali (pork belly). this was our first time here . we were the only ones in the restaurant, near the closing time . the guy who was there who seemed like the owner was really sweet and went through the menu with us and made these recommendations . they didn't make us feel rushed at all . both food & the atmospheres of the place made it feel very homey . it became one of my favorite places to eat in toronto .
our second visit wasn't as good as our first . this time, we tried the inihaw na bangus (milkfish) and java rice . there was a big group of party that night so service was extremely slow but it expected . the food however, was a disappointment . :( fish was way too dry for my liking & the bf said there was certain smell to it that he couldnt get past (and hes never a picky eater). there was also smell on the rice as if it were about to go bad . lechon kawali (fried pork belly) was amazingg tho . for dessert, we decided to try turon, which i kicked myself for not getting the halo halo instead .
i'd give this restaurant 4.5 stars . owner is extremely patient & nice and the food on most part, is flavorful, homey & so very delicious . try kare kare with garlic rice & special halo halo if you do go ! -
Review from Edwin A.
3/20/2010 2 photos
Ordered a dinner for two special which consisted of 2 vegetable soups, Pancit a noodle dish with vegetables and chicken, lumpia shanghai (spring rool with pork meat), pork bbq skewers, 2 bowls of rice.
The lumpia shanghai was superb. Pork BBQ skewers were alright. Not a bad place to have filipino food. But if you're sensitve to salt ask them to lighten it up because I found it a bit too salty. -
Review from Erwin M.
4/5/2010
Ordered crispy pata, bangus, kare kare, halo halo, seafood soup, bicol express, sinigang na hipon, and sisig. Overall I'd say its a pretty authentic Filipino dining experience. If I rate restaurant food in the philippines with a 5, a good home cooked meal with a 3 I'd say food here hovers around 3-4 which is not bad at all. I have to say the seafood soup was pretty lame but my high rating applies to everything else I had.
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Review from Josephine T.
North York, ON
7/14/2010
Their lunch is really good. You order the food like a food court and grab a seat. You get a rice or noodles with choice of 2 or 3 items, whatever they have available for the day. All of them are always really good. They make it fresh every morning. We sometime order the. Lechon Kawali on the side. Always really crispy but only get this at lunch. Their dinner is not always as good. It's usually the same food but left all day. They are real Filipino food. The restaurant is always clean. They give a good portion and you won't leave there hungry.
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Review from Aurora L.
Toronto, ON
3/16/2011
I went with 2 friends to Casa Manila 3 days ago and being the second filipino restaurant I've ever eaten it, it was pretty good. We ordered lumpiang shanghai (nice typical spring rolls), BBQ chicken skewers (not bad but not memorable either), crispy pata (delicious although not recommended for the health conscious!), sinangag plate (first time sampling garlic rice and pleasantly good), pancit canton (a little disappointing, prefer the Chinese equivalent of cantonese chow mein), special halo-halo (can never go wrong, it was delicious and of good price and portion size) and leche flan (unfortunately, the burnt caramel gave it a rather smoky taste). The service was a bit slow though. The servers only visited our table to bring out our food. We never had a water refill and had to wait to flag them down to get one. We had to wait to ask for our bill as well. Overall, it was a pretty good meal with reasonable pricing, nice ambiance and free parking. Can't go wrong. Wished there was another location in central or west Toronto though.
