Where to Eat in Marikina: La Barra Manila
Hola, foodies! We finally made it to our third and final stop (Part 1 here and Part 2 here) of our Marikina Food Crawl: La Barra Manila, House of Paella.
LOCATION OF LA BARRA MANILA HOUSE OF PAELLA
Located inside the new Tableria Food Park, La Barra Manila is Marikina’s bet for authentic Spanish cuisine at pocket-friendly price points. If you’re not familiar with Marikina, Tableria is conveniently located at the heart of city, that’s just a stone’s throw away from Our Lady of the Abandoned Parish Church (OLA) and just beside the famous Marikina Shoe Museum.
So while waiting to dine al fresco and sample La Barra’s best selling paellas, you may opt to visit the museum and marvel at the large collection of shoes of famous personalities, celebrities, and cultures (Php 50 per pax) just like what we did. Too bad some of the shelves were empty for that weekend but we enjoyed the quick visit nonetheless.
APPETIZERS: LA BARRA MANILA’S TAPAS
Gambas ala La Barra Manila
First on our Spanish fiesta: TAPAS! Perfect with wine or an ice-cold bottle of your favorite cerveza, we had La Barra Manila’s Gambas (Php 180.00) and Beef Salpicao (Php 180.00).
We loved how the Gambas was well-seasoned and just had the right amount of garlicky/peppery flavor in it while the Beef Salpicao was sliced into small bite-sized pieces making the marinate seep in better and the meat even more tender.
MAINS
And now for the moment of truth, PAELLA! We Filipinos love rice and what better way to explore other cuisines than to sample their own version of rice-inspired dishes.
Since it was close to dinner, the La Barra Manila team were gracious enough to make us feast on two (2) whole skillets of their paella: the Paella Valenciana (Priced at Php 180.00 for the Solo, Php 350.00 for the Medio, and Php 530.00 for the Grupo) and the Paella Negra (Priced at Php 190.00 for the Solo, Php 370.00 for the Medio, and Php 560.00 for the Grupo).
Normally I’d go for the Valenciana as I’m really not keen into anything with ink squid but I’m glad I decided otherwise.
While the Paella Valenciana was a good mix of seafood, pork, and chicken; I found the seafood flavor in the Paella Negra more pronounced and savory. It was so good that I asked if they actually deliver (they can only cater pick-ups for now). 🙂 Overall, I think it was a good foodie experience and I would definitely recommend #LaBarraMNL to family and friends. Till the next foodcrawl!
CONTACT
La Barra Manila: House of Paella
Location: Tableria Food Park, 313 J. P. Rizal St., Marikina City.
Store Hours: Mondays-Sundays 4:00PM to 1:00AM.
Follow La Barra Manila: Facebook | Instagram
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