Restaurant Review: JT's Manukan Grille

One night as hubby and I were on our way home, we passed by Mang Inasal. He told me that he suddenly craved for inasal. Right then and there, I asked my husband to go out on a date with me. So last Friday night, we went to and left work earlier than the usual to have dinner at JT’s Manukan Grille. Boyet has been to its Ortigas branch countless of times and claims that they serve very tasty inasal. I’ve been bugging him to bring me there because I have never tried it. Fortunately, we discovered that they have a Makati branch which is more accessible to us.

We arrived at the restaurant a little before 7 in the evening. Luckily, there were a couple of empty seats. The dim lights made the ambiance cozier. But it was not good for my photos! >:) I looked around and noticed that hanging on the wall are some movie posters of its owner, multi-awarded actor Joel Torre. Also similar to other restaurants, placed on every table are sets of condiments that go well with inasal.

It was starting to get cold that night so we decided to get a bowl of hot soup to jumpstart our dinner. I was eyeing to have their Kansi (bulalo) but settled for Batchoy with Egg instead. Baka bangungutin ako sa bulalo e! :p

Batchoy with Egg PHP95

I don’t know why my taste buds love batchoy. Even Lucky Me’s version appeal to me. JT’s batchoy is on the salty side but a splash of calamansi juice balanced the flavors a bit.

Of course, we’re not leaving the place without trying their highly-acclaimed chicken inasal. I got pakpak while Boyet opted to have the pecho. Both our orders arrived on our table in no time.

Pakpak PHP58

Garlic Rice PHP25

Seeing that the pork barbecue only costs PHP25, I convinced my husband to give it a try too. The pork is really tender and very lean.

While we were eating, I asked Boyet if authentic inasal tastes like what JT’s is offering. He was sent to Bacolod for work a few years ago so he already had firsthand experience. I like JT’s version but it didn’t quite meet my expectations. With all the hype and very good online reviews, I was expecting it to blow my mind away. According to my husband, JT’s in Ortigas serves tastier inasal.

Pecho PHP92

Pork BBQ PHP25

It started to rain hard so we rushed out of the restaurant. Only 2 to 3 cars can only be parked in front of the restaurant so we had no other choice but to leave our car across the street. When we got out, flood was already ankle-deep. It wasn’t raining when we arrived and we just stayed in the restaurant for not more than 45 minutes. We even had to retreat and go to an alternate route because the flood was getting deeper. A bit disappointed with the food and some misfortunes because of the heavy rains – not an ideal scenario for a date. :p

JT's Manukan Grille
The Zone
7224 Malugay St., cor. Buendia Ave.
Bel-Air, Makati

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