Manila Grill Express

Amazing food at a reasonable price. The fried pork belly is ridiculous! Also really enjoyed the meat platter. They also do a really food breakfast

I love filipino food…
The only time I get to eat it is when I visit my parents or go to family parties.
I am kind of glad I only get to eat it once in awhile because it is very rich, rich in flavor, smell, texture, and fat. It’s really good food trust me.
I came here when they first open and since I moved to the south end I’ve always wanted to come back. I only come to the north end to visit my family so it defeats the purpose of going out for filipino food.
Well I decided I was going to come today and I was hungry.
O my were they busy.
It’s a small restaurant so there are limited tables and you are definitely going to have to wait till someone leaves to get seated.
I waited I didn’t care.
They don’t serve alcohol which is good because I bet ppl would over stay. I decided on an orange juice and my companion had a diet coke (they ran out of regular coke).
Our server was an older filipino lady who was very kind and patient. I don’t know how they are able to handle the rush, it was insane I felt bad so I didn’t care about the slow service.
We decided on bicol express, lechon kawali, a pork dish (I can’t remember the name), and rice. It smells so good and I was sooo hungry.
It took a bit for our food to come out but when it did omg it was yummy.
The lechon kawali came out and it was crispy and the pork had just the right amount of saltiness. I always use the mang Tomas sauce but they provide soy/​vinegar dip.
The pork dish (I think it’s pinakbet) was okay, the last time I came it tasted alot better so I don’t know whether it was just me or they changed the recipe.
Then the bicol express. yummy! The veggies were cooked perfectly and with the coconut milk mixed with bagoong (I can’t spell, it’s shrimp paste) made it sweet and salty with a light purple color. I love it!
I love this stuff seriously, it reminds me of home that’s it and that’s all.
I’ll be back.

This Filipino restaurant has the best version of «lugaw.» When we first eat here, we ordered «crispy pata», «palabok», lugaw”, and «taho». The place itself isn’t that big, but it’s always busy because people are really getting what they’re paying for which is a flavorful, high quality, affordable and true Filipino food! You won’t waste money when it comes to the serving as well.

Located in the same parking lot as Lucky Supermarket and directly across from Golden Bee BBQ HK Café, it’s a little hidden from the streets. I didn’t even know it was there and I live relatively close by!
It’s a pretty small restaurant, seating maybe 40 or so seats, and a long counter suggests that take-​out is common for Manila Grill Express.
First dish to come out was the Bicol Express, a dish highly recommended by our server. Bicol is one of seventeen regions in the Phillipines, and unlike the other regions, they enjoy a little spice in their dishes! Named after a passenger train from Manila, capital of the Phillipines, to Bicol, the idea is that you’ll run like a train to find some water! Obviously there are variants, and this might have been one of them as I didn’t find it too spicy at all! The sauce was coconut milk based, which was really reminiscent of Thai food. Eggplants and green beans served as the mainstay of the dish, but pieces of lechon kawali (deep fried pork belly) made the dish hearty and dangerously addictive. Yum!
Two more dishes rolled out as we munched away on the Bicol Express and side orders of rice. The chicken adobo is what I would call the Phillipine’s signature dish as it’s the only dish that I could distinguish as Filipino. Spaniards gave this Filipino sauce the name, and coincidentally, it also uses vinegar as its European predecessor even though it was independent of its influence. In combination with soy sauce and garlic, it’s a marinade used with a pork or chicken. I was a little underwhelmed by the dish and wasn’t quite sure if that’s Manila Grill Express’ fault or just the overall cuisine. It tasted quite simple to me, even with the vinegar as a prominent flavor. The meat platter was a better success, a combination of grilled chicken, pork and beef. Our favorite was the pork, nice and tender, and very similar to Vietnamese grilled meats found in vermicelli bowls. The side of spinach that came along with the meats were I think more for décor, as the salsa was overly seasoned, even for my salty palate.
The pièce de résistance arrived last, a whole deep-​fried pork leg, «crispy pata». Oh boy. We were so perplexed on how to tackle it that our server took it to the back to cut it for us. We must have been really obvious! Delicious! Not one bit of this was healthy at all, but mmm, you can’t go wrong with a deep-​fried pork leg! Similar seasoning as the deep-​fried pork belly of the Bicol Express, but clearly less fat.
While my friend Jody and I were humming and hawing away through dinner, the restaurant filled up just as quickly as it emptied thereafter. Most were Filipinos, which is always a good sign. I’ve read that as a culture they don’t dine out as much, preferring to have homecooked meals and hosting big family dinners instead. Lots of take-​out orders as well. Seemed like almost every table ordered the crispy pata, a family favorite!
I’d like to think we ate at least half of what we ordered but that’s an exaggeration. There was a lot of leftovers for the both of us! That didn’t stop Jody from wanting to try the Halo-​Halo though, a dessert of shaved ice, evaporated milk, green beans, sweet potato, and taro ice cream. There’s a good reason why the direct translation means «mix-​mix». Not entirely new to me, as Vietnamese desserts are quite similar with a mix of ice, evaporated mix, a jello or tapioca of sorts, and green bean, but the sweet potato really threw me for a loop. It looked beautiful though, served in a to go cup, probably a hint to us that we ordered too much! The dessert was not overly sweet, creamy, and bits of perfectly cooked sweet potato actually turned out really well! The taro ice cream was a great top off and this was a great way to end our meal. Good call Jody.
We were so engrossed with the dessert and chatting that by the time we were done, we realized we were the last table there. They close at 8pm, and we were there well pass the time and nobody had told us! Our server was so kind and super helpful. Service was excellent as she regular checked up on our table. An open kitchen showed us their clean up for the night. Thank you for the great hospitality Manila Grill Express!
Overall impression? Filipino cuisine is quite simple, they like meat, it’s not spicy like Thai food, and they do not use chopsticks. You learn so much from eating new things! Would I return? Most definitely. That Bicol Express was delicious and the grilled pork easily rivals their Vietnamese counterparts. And you can’t forget the deep-​fried pork, although the leg should probably be saved for tables more than 2. I will definitely be back, with either Joe or my family in tow. I’ve got a long way to go before I can say I know what Filipino food is, but at least I got a good start at Manila Grill Express!

As a canadian filipino, I think filipino food is unrepresented. The dining choices are slim in edmonton. So when one opens I always try it out.
This is a café style restaurant. Kinda like ordering in a cafeteria and they bring the food out. The menu is quite simple really. A little bit underwhelming as my favourite dishes were not even available to order so minus one star. There was a variety of grilled meats with rice and dinaguan as thier special. This is a specialty dish which is an acquired taste. I prefer to pass. But I know others who would drool if this was on the menu.
I asked what was good from the waiter/​cook and he suggested the grilled meats. So that what I ordered. It was very simple and actually something I could of easily made at home. It was good but nothing to make me come back for. So minus another star for recomending a simple non filipino dish to me.
I saw others dishes and the pancit looked good but didnt really look like authentic pancit to me. Ill have to try it next time and see.
Overall its nice to have filipino food restaurants emerge in the sea of fast food chains and vietnamese soup houses and chinese buffets. So kudos for that. If the menu expands to include filipino favourites like bangus, lechon, sinigang, pinakbet and other filipino dishes that are frankly nice to not have to cook and eat for several days. I will be a regular customer. Until then im hoping this simple restaurant will thrive to offer all those specialties.
Ps I also had the halo halo which was a little dry bc of not enough milk so this was another low point.