Manila Social Club - An Amazing & Relaxing Brunch

Manila Social Club
2 Hope Street Brooklyn, NY 11211
718.384.4396

Will and I had brunch with our friends Sam & Alex just before the holidays at Manila Social Club. We made reservations for noon on a Sunday and surprisingly, it wasn't crowded at all. The restaurant is very clean, simple, cozy, and just feels relaxing. The staff are very friendly, super nice, and laid back. It wasn't crazy busy here and it was a nice, calm, and relaxing brunch experience. I almost didn't want to leave.

Biscuits with Ube Butter

We were given complimentary biscuits and ube butter. These were probably the best biscuits I've had because they were fluffy and had a little sweetness to it. The ube butter complimented the biscuits very well. The ube butter was unlike anything I've ever had. It had a smooth and melt-in-your-mouth texture, not too sweet. I really liked it!  I could eat a container of ube butter and still be happy.

Tres Leches & Ube latte

Will ordered the Tres Leches (espresso, milk, Dulce de Leche, whipped cream). This drink can be served iced or hot, but Will got hot. This was an interesting concoction, definitely different in terms of taste. I think it would taste way better if it was iced. 

I got the Ube Latte (ube infused with simple syrup) and it can be served iced or hot. I got it iced and it was interesting. I never had a drink like this before. It was a little too sweet with me even when I mixed it. I liked that Manila serves most of their drinks in cute mason jars!

Appetizers

We ordered three appetizers. The Lumpia Shanghai are Filipino eggrolls filled with duck and longanisa (sausage/chorizo). It came with two types of sauce - one was spicy and the other tasted like a fish sauce. The Lumpia Shangai were crunchy, fresh, and yummy! It's almost always a must have in a Filipino restaurant.

We also had the Longanisa Sliders which are sliders with daikon pickles and lotus chips. The Longanisa Sliders were adorable, moist, and just really delicious. Who would ever though lotus chips would or could taste so so so good? These were perfectly crunchy and taste slightly like sweet potato chips. 

The Spam Fries is listed as a side dish under Manila's menu, but we treated it like an appetizer. I almost always order Spam Fries at a Filipino restaurant. First off, love love love the presentation and creativity behind it. The Spam Fries weren't salty at all. I wonder what was their secret to making some of the sodium diminish. They were crisp and moist. Possibly one of the best Spam Fries I've had so far!

Mango Souffle Pancakes

I urged Will to order this because he loves mango and he's a pancake type of guy. The Mango Souffle pancakes is also one of the popular menu items at Manila. The Mango Souffle pancakes looked like a giant,fluffy cookie with chunks of mango embedded inside. I tried it and loved every bite of the pancake and there's that Ube again, extremely yummy!

Garlic Rice

Will and Alex ordered the Garlic Rice as a side dish. We all felt it was a little bland, definitely not enough garlic flavor in the rice.

Roasted Vegetable Paella

Alex ordered the Roasted Vegetable Paella which looked absolutely vibrant and hearty. The paella tasted yummy, good vegetarian option if you like.

Longanisa Hash

We also ordered the Longanisa Hashb as a side order too. Now this was another dish I was crazy about after I ate it. Everything was cut into perfect bite size. The Longanisa Hash was delicious and just full of flavor.

French Toast Espesyal

Sam and I ordered the French Toast Espesyal. The French Toast is deep-fried with black & blue jam, mango syrup, and macapuno ice cream (coconut). I don't typically order sweet dishes like pancakes, waffles, or French toast for brunch, but this sounded really good. In my own opinion, I kind of regret ordering this dish because it was just too sweet for me and pretty damn filling. 

Overall, we really enjoyed our time and experience at Manila Social Club. I definitely want to come back for dinner some time and try their dinner menu. I would most definitely come back to Manila Social Club again. There's something just different and genuine about Manila Social Club compared to two other Filipino restaurants I've been to so far.