Back in August, I invited three of my blogger friends to dine with me at Lola Maria Restaurant at The Legend Villas at Pioneer Street in Mandaluyong City. I had four (4) vouchers I bought from Mega Deals (oh, don’t you just love these group-buying sites!) that we decided to use. We agreed they’d be tagging along their families and I’ll be with Ken, like always. 🙂
It was easy to locate The Legend Villas. Lola Maria is right at the entrance so you’d immediately see it. The outside of the restaurant reminds me of old Spanish homes. And when we entered, even the interior setup gives you a somewhat nostalgic feeling, like you’re inside the house of a family of mestizos back in the days.
There were paintings up on the wall, wooden tables, and a couple of popular board games we used to play decades ago. I was checking if there were any coin or stamp collections, but found none. Here are some photos I took at the lobby area:
Ken enjoyed the dama board game and sungka, which made me reminisce of the times when I would stay with my grandmother and cousins (paternal) and we’d play this game like no tomorrow. I remember eating atis (sugar-apple or sweetsop) and saving all the seeds so we can wash them all up in case we’d need them for our next game of sungka. Fun times, really. 🙂
Going back to Lola Maria (I almost got carried away there :D), once we entered the restaurant, we were welcomed by the aroma of familiar dishes. They pride themselves in a straightforward menu that offers Filipino dishes with their own modern twists so I was really looking forward to what they have to offer.
You can enjoy their lunch buffet everyday, from 11am to 2pm. Their weekday rate is Php 580, and Php 480 for weekends. Luckily, they had a promo when we were there so we only paid Php 380 per head for those who weren’t covered by my vouchers. If you decide to try this, make sure you call them to reserve a table because the whole place gets packed quite quickly.
There were about 10 main dishes that were served, including the following, which we all raved about:
Baked Fish with Aioli (garlic mayonnaise) – our favorite!
That’s a whole tray of baked fish! Whoa! 😀 If you’ve read our past posts, we’re totally addicted to Cream Dory. This was easily our favorite. The citrus and salty flavors kept us mouthing words of enjoyment. 🙂
Escabecheng Isda
The seasoning on this one was spot on. We’ve had a lot of this in the past years and Lola Maria’s version is on top of my list.
Calamansi-glazed Chicken Barbecue
A couple of the parts we got were a little dry, but the slightly sour glaze added an interesting touch to the smokiness of this chicken barbecue.
Pata Tim – another favorite! 🙂
Another dish our nanay loves preparing at home. The sweet and salty were at the right level, and the meat were succulently good.
Pork Binagoongan
If only I knew I’d enjoy their Pork Binagoongan the most, I would’ve eaten less of the other main dishes. 😀 I was too full to take on a second serving of this, but it was definitely my favorite among everything they served when we were there. My second favorite was the Baked Fish, which was Ken’s top dish.
I was actually hoping to find Kare-kare among their buffet dishes, but there was none. So, I went straight to desserts after tasting all the main dishes.
I prepared my own Halo-halo. You can stock up on ingredients ‘cause there are just a lot of them available. 🙂
As always, Ken almost hogged the chocolate fondue / fountain, along with Joy’s youngest son Yahmir. 🙂
There were also fruits available and a couple of kakanin. Photo above is me with Eihdra, Divine and Joy, the lovely ladies who I had lunch with. 🙂
Divine with her husband and daughter, Joy with her husband Noi.
All in all, we were very satisfied with the quality of the food, the 
flavors of all the dishes, and the accommodation of their staff at Lola Maria Restaurant. If you want to share a fulfilling lunch with your family or loved ones, I highly recommend you bring them here and avail of the buffet. 🙂 I give them a Recommended rating (4 stars out of 5).
Lola Maria Restaurant
at The Legend Villas
60 Pioneer corner Madison Streets, Mandaluyong City
Telephone #: (02) 633-1501 to 10
Website: http://www.legendvillas.com.ph/
Love their food. Kung hindi lang ako diyeta, malamang makaka-apat na balik ako…tatlong balik lang eh! Hehehehe! Thank you for posting this. 😀
Hala, diet ka pa nun?!?! Wag na diet! January 1st na lang ulit 😛
The place has a unique ambiance. Â The food looks delicious too. Â Want to try that out but have to find someone who loves Filipino food to go with me though =(
The food is delish, I bet any foodie would enjoy them. 🙂
which reminds me i have not posted this food adventure yet ahaha, maghahalungkat pa ako ng pics in which sd card was it saved lol
anyway, it was Yahmir who most enjoyed the food, he has been going back and forth to the chocolate fountain with Ken ahaha. i am not into dieting so i really splurge, lol. Â Noi was also satisfied and the price is so affordable.
Hahahahahahaha I thought you ladies beat me on posting about this, naunahan pa pala kita lokah kaaa!! :))
Yeah, I can see Ken and Yahmir enjoying the food the most, especially yung choco fountain. And for Php 480 – 580, it’s a deal nga talaga. 🙂
Sayang I missed that groupon deal. Perfect for family get together sana. I want to try that baked fish and how I miss Binagoongan. I’ll tempt hubby with their food. I think he’ll go crazy with the chocolate fountain. Hahaha!
I always check like weekly for deals sa mga group-buying sites so we can discover new restaurants at a cheaper price. Hehehe.
The Binagoongan was love!! Funny ha, mga lalake pa ang mahilig sa chocolate fountain. 🙂
I’ve been following your blog, You are such a reliable food blogger.. i drool over your food shots! I’ve been waiting for you too blog about the Unlimited Treats of Cravings Restaurant, Hope you could blog about it! I wanted to know your say about it, i’ll wait for it! Good luck and more power to you. 🙂
Aww… We’ll be posting about our visit at C2 restaurant in Cravings, Katipunan. We’ve only tried the unlimited coffee and cakes from Cravings, which we’ll be posting very soon. 🙂
Yey! Thank you.. 🙂
C2’s Crispy Kare-Kare! 🙂
C2’s Crispy Kare Kare. 🙂
Mhel, this looks like a nice restaurant. Perfect to bring the Balikbayan relatives and perfect for us who are craving for authentic Filipino food. Now I want to make my own halo-halo too. I am such an addict na. Been reading all the past entries including the dimsum in Binondo! Thanks for visiting my blog too. Trust me, you’ll see me here often na. 🙂
And it’s super sulit! We’re a sucker for sulit places to eat talaga. 🙂
Ohhh you reminded me of Wai Ying!! Nagutom ako tuloy. We’ve been meaning to go back for months! LOL
And thank you for leaving thoughtful comments and visiting, you wicked you (I can’t get over your blog’s title). 🙂
Are they only available for lunch?
@kitmontenegro:disqus They only offer buffets for breakfast and lunch eh. A la carte na from 2pm onwards.