Back in August, I invited three of my blogger friends to dine with me at Lola Maria Restaurant at The Legend Villas at Pioneer Street in Mandaluyong City. I had four (4) vouchers I bought from Mega Deals (oh, don’t you just love these group-buying sites!) that we decided to use. We agreed they’d be tagging along their families and I’ll be with Ken, like always. 🙂
It was easy to locate The Legend Villas. Lola Maria is right at the entrance so you’d immediately see it. The outside of the restaurant reminds me of old Spanish homes. And when we entered, even the interior setup gives you a somewhat nostalgic feeling, like you’re inside the house of a family of mestizos back in the days.
There were paintings up on the wall, wooden tables, and a couple of popular board games we used to play decades ago. I was checking if there were any coin or stamp collections, but found none. Here are some photos I took at the lobby area:
Ken enjoyed the dama board game and sungka, which made me reminisce of the times when I would stay with my grandmother and cousins (paternal) and we’d play this game like no tomorrow. I remember eating atis (sugar-apple or sweetsop) and saving all the seeds so we can wash them all up in case we’d need them for our next game of sungka. Fun times, really. 🙂
Going back to Lola Maria (I almost got carried away there :D), once we entered the restaurant, we were welcomed by the aroma of familiar dishes. They pride themselves in a straightforward menu that offers Filipino dishes with their own modern twists so I was really looking forward to what they have to offer.
You can enjoy their lunch buffet everyday, from 11am to 2pm. Their weekday rate is Php 580, and Php 480 for weekends. Luckily, they had a promo when we were there so we only paid Php 380 per head for those who weren’t covered by my vouchers. If you decide to try this, make sure you call them to reserve a table because the whole place gets packed quite quickly.
There were about 10 main dishes that were served, including the following, which we all raved about:
Baked Fish with Aioli (garlic mayonnaise) – our favorite!
That’s a whole tray of baked fish! Whoa! 😀 If you’ve read our past posts, we’re totally addicted to Cream Dory. This was easily our favorite. The citrus and salty flavors kept us mouthing words of enjoyment. 🙂
Escabecheng Isda
The seasoning on this one was spot on. We’ve had a lot of this in the past years and Lola Maria’s version is on top of my list.
Calamansi-glazed Chicken Barbecue
A couple of the parts we got were a little dry, but the slightly sour glaze added an interesting touch to the smokiness of this chicken barbecue.
Pata Tim – another favorite! 🙂
Another dish our nanay loves preparing at home. The sweet and salty were at the right level, and the meat were succulently good.
If only I knew I’d enjoy their Pork Binagoongan the most, I would’ve eaten less of the other main dishes. 😀 I was too full to take on a second serving of this, but it was definitely my favorite among everything they served when we were there. My second favorite was the Baked Fish, which was Ken’s top dish.
I was actually hoping to find Kare-kare among their buffet dishes, but there was none. So, I went straight to desserts after tasting all the main dishes.
I prepared my own Halo-halo. You can stock up on ingredients ‘cause there are just a lot of them available. 🙂
As always, Ken almost hogged the chocolate fondue / fountain, along with Joy’s youngest son Yahmir. 🙂
There were also fruits available and a couple of kakanin. Photo above is me with Eihdra, Divine and Joy, the lovely ladies who I had lunch with. 🙂
Divine with her husband and daughter, Joy with her husband Noi.
All in all, we were very satisfied with the quality of the food, the flavors of all the dishes, and the accommodation of their staff at Lola Maria Restaurant. If you want to share a fulfilling lunch with your family or loved ones, I highly recommend you bring them here and avail of the buffet. 🙂 I give them a Recommended rating (4 stars out of 5).
Lola Maria Restaurant
at The Legend Villas
60 Pioneer corner Madison Streets, Mandaluyong City
Telephone #: (02) 633-1501 to 10
Website: http://www.legendvillas.com.ph/
Latest posts by Michelle Ignacio (see all)
- Julie’s Biscuits – Baked With Love, From Malaysia to the Philippines - October 23, 2016
- Club Paradise Resort – A Piece of Paradise in Coron, Palawan - May 29, 2016
- Chicken Curry with Carnation Evap : A Creamy New Tradition - December 31, 2015