Hooters of Manila Bay Philippines

Hooters.

It's a restaurant I've seen in Hollywood movies, characterized by busty and bubbly blondes in tank tops and short shorts. Although I've been to the US many times in the past I've never really gotten around to going to Hooters.

One night hubby, a friend, and I decided to pay Hooters over at Manila Bay a visit. The place was big, but since it was a slow night it wasn't exactly packed. There's a dining area and a separate bar area, and the first question you'll be asked when you set foot in it is "Smoking or Non-smoking?"

With all the beer promos on the posters and the table standees, yes I'd say that Hooters is primarily a place for drinking with your buddies while getting to ogle skimpily clad waitresses. However, it's actually not as raunchy as it sounds. It's like a cross between a TGIFriday's type of family restaurant and a bar. It's brightly lit and cheery, and there were actually families with kids dining the night we went there.

To get us started, we ordered Buffalo Platter (P750, pictured above left), Hooters Cobb Salad (P450, pictured above right), and Lots-a-Tots (P250, pictured below).

The Buffalo Platter consisted of buffalo shrimp, chicken strips, and wings served with carrot and celery sticks on the side. It was nothing like I expected, since I expected buffalo wings and things to be spicy. The batter was sweet but nothing really special. The shrimps were gross, they were big -- oh yes -- but so big that you could see through the batter that they had not been de-veined. Armed with the knowledge that the black stripe on a shrimp's back is actually feces (shrimp poo, eew), I was grossed out. The Hooters Cobb Salad was okay, the problem was the vinaigrette. It was so bland it tasted like heavily diluted olive oil with just a tiny bit of balsamic vinegar. Lots-a-Tots was basically hash brown nuggets topped with cheese sauce, bacon bits, green onion, and sour cream. An average appetizer at best.

For our main course, we settled for BBQ Baby Back Ribs (pictured above, P495) and their latest dish at the time of this posting -- Grilled Pork Belly (P375, pictured below).

The BBQ Baby Back Ribs was very dry and quite actually the farthest thing from tender and fall-off-the-bone. I could tell in a glance that I was not going to enjoy it, and I didn't. Grilled Pork Belly was slightly better, but really, for a something like this I think I'm better off having some liempo at a cheaper place like Dencio's or Gerry's Grill.

I guess some of you would like to hear what I thought of the skimpily-clad servers. Well, they were the farthest thing from the perky cheerleader types Hooters prides itself on hiring. The server who attended to us was about as lively as a corpse and couldn't even manage a smile. I didn't bother taking a photo because it just wasn't worth it.

Did I even like anything about Hooters? Well, I liked that the place was bright and spacious. But overall, I felt it was a waste paying a great deal of money (our bill was around P2.5k and we were just 3 people!) for such bland and tasteless food. Just about the best part of my meal was the celery sticks and ranch dip that came with the Buffalo Platter.

Hooters of Manila Bay Philippines

Building D Units 1-6,

San Miguel by the Bay,

Mall of Asia, Pasay City

556-4946 or 48

http://www.hootersphilippines.com

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