RESTAURANT PEEK: Manila Bay

Manila Bay Filipino Restaurant

13800 E Mississippi Ave, Aurora Tel: 303.751.2561 manilabayrestaurant.com

Taste the Philippines at the newest Filipino restaurant in Colorado: Manila Bay

By Mary Jeneverre Schultz

For Filipino Americans, are you craving home-cooked food from Lola’s or Nanay’s kitchen? Do you miss the smell of grandma’s cooking? Or the simple question: ‘did you eat?’ Then, head over to Manila Bay in Aurora on Tuesdays to Sundays.

“We wanted to create an enjoyable atmosphere and transport our diners back to the Philippines,” said Benny Panklang, entrepreneur and one of the owners of Manila Bay.

Menu

With Filipino chefs and servers, Panklang is bringing authenticity into the Filipino cuisine with a menu of options including seafood, chicken, pork and vegetarian.

Pork and chicken adobo is offered with rice, of course. These savory dishes are filled with flavors of vinegar, soy sauce, garlic, topped with dark, green onions. Die-hard adventurous eaters can take a go at ordering dishes such as ‘Dinuguan’ or ‘Oxtail Kare Kare.’ With the black liquid appearance, first-time diners will likely hesitate to sample this dish made with pork belly and offals cooked in a savory blood stew.

“The Oxtail Kare Kare is one of our best-selling entrees,” said Hazel Balajonda, staff member of the restaurant. This dish is cooked in peanut sauce, accompanied by long, green beans, blackish-purple eggplants, and green Bok choy. On the side, shrimp paste, pungent in smell, is best served with this dish for a punch in salty flavors.

Pancit Bihon, full of glassy thin rice noodles, is one of the best types of vegetarian dishes, filled with bright-orange carrots strips, generous portions of light-green cabbage, plus crunchy celery, and dark-green snow peas. Meat eaters can add chicken, shrimp, or pork in the dish.

Vegetarians can also order any of the noodle dishes without protein, or order grilled eggplant, chop suey or even ‘Pinkabet,’ stir-fried vegetables cooked in shrimp paste shrimp. The restaurant even serves their specialty, Manila Bay’s Fried Rice filled with eggs, onions, crab meat, green onions, and garlic. The soup called ‘Sinigang’ is the classic Filipino soup with Asian vegetables of Bok choy, daikon radish, string beans, plus onions and tomatoes.

If you are bringing your non-Filipino family and friends, the famous crunchy egg rolls, or ‘lumpia,’ and pork and chicken skewers are highlights on the menu. The fresh aromas encourage eaters to try new flavors from the Philippines.

Manila Bay features Filipino dishes including silog lunch specials, pancit noodles, and liempo.

The restaurant offers a rotating seasonal menu that includes Filipino favorites such as Chicken Tinola, cooked in a ginger broth and filled with green squashes.

Atmosphere

Manila Bay Restaurant is designed for Filipino families to gather in large groups. Tables of six, eight, and ten seating arrangements are available. Décor of wooden spoons and forks are displayed on the walls. Other images show Filipino cuisines in an appetizing flair.

Weekends and peak dining times are busy with customers sometimes eaiting up to 40 minutes to get seated. The staff recommends planning for a leisure dining experience.

“I love it when it’s busy,” said Maey Biscante, one of the hostesses. “It shows the community enjoys Filipino food.”

During the pandemic, Panklang and his team renovated and retrofitted the current building, which was an old Village Inn since the 1970s. Before that, the restaurant operated as the breakfast chain Denny’s. Now the parking lot is often packed with a diverse customer base, some trying Filipino food for the first time.

“It’s a great way to revitalize the area,” Panklang said. Unique Traits

Visitors often have to forego the dining experience due to long waits, but can still enjoy treats from the Filipino bakery. Manila Bay stands as the only authorized reseller of famous brand names of Goldilocks and Magnolia ice cream. Goldilocks is known for its baked pastries such as ube cake rolls, leche flan custards, polvoron, and hopia. Magnolia Ice Cream is known for its tropical flavors of Ube, Mango, Buko Pandan, Avocado and Ube Macapuno.

If you are bringing dessert for a potluck, it’s the best place to pick up one of these Filipino favorites. Located by the entrance, the desserts are showcased in an open display. Kitchen dishwares and tools are also displayed for sale.

It’s only been open a little over six months since opening and already, Manila Bay has become a destination restaurant with visitors driving from across town.

Panklang has been collaborating with Filipino and Asian organizations to support and cater community events. With the holidays around the corner, the restaurant offers party trays to create a Kamayan feast for large groups or families.

Visit Manila Bay at manilabayrestaurant.com or follow them on their social channels: @manilabayco.