KAO Manila

I only went for the bar/club experience, after 11pm on a Saturday night… I liked their Long Island… Amaretto Sour is too sweet… my friends enjoyed their Gin Tonic… The ambience, song choices, DJ, were all good. If you’re here for a soft catch up with friends, not the right place… typical too loud, can’t really talk… Bathroom well maintained.

For a restaurant that turns into a bar at night, KAO’s ambiance feels very luxurious. Food was expensive and did not meet my expectations on quality. I ordered the tempura bowl and sweet and sour pork/chicken(?). Tempura bowl was ok - you can order a better bowl for half the price in a restaurant just next to it. Sweet and sour dish was too sweet and too sour that you couldn’t enjoy it anymore. For dessert, coffee jelly was ok. Note: They don’t have service water and if you buy a bottle of water (which I unfortunately did), it costs 130 pesos.

Great food, music and drinks. Staff was helpful and attentive plus a great DJ. Some guests were smoking/vaping and as a non smoker, I was impressed how there was no smell.

Great restaurant by day and a bar club at night. Basically, I would describe it as an Asian Fusion restaurant. Amazing dishes and incredible waitstaff. Dishes were light but flavorful. We dined in during the day, so it was not as chaotic as the evening club scene.

- Didn’t expect there was a dining area since it was clearly has night club exteriors haha but we were immediately seated and placed in the VIP section (I thought there is an additional fee for it but there was none) - Also shocked at the rice meal I had, I wasn’t able to take pic of it because we only had 30 mins left before the Parokya ni Edgar musical starts ~ but for 280 php, I already had some veggies, pad thai, crispy pork belly, rice, and iced tea - Ofc there’s a DJ - There were also free cocktails for musical watchers that night