Where to Get the Best Bibingka and Puto Bumbong in Metro Manila

If there are two foods always associated with Filipino Christmas, they’re bibingka and puto bumbong. Bibingka (rice cake) and puto bumbong (steamed glutinous rice) are classic Filipino kakanin (native delicacies) that are favorite snacks of Filipinos after attending simbang gabi or misa de gallo (rooster’s mass). In fact, bibingka and puto bumbong vendors abound outside Catholic churches every December to fill the tummy of hungry church-goers.

But if you are craving for these delicacies now, you don’t have to wait until December! We’ve gathered restaurants in Manila that serve the best versions of these two kakanin so you can have your fill anytime.

Café Via Mare

Pair Café Via Mare’s bibingka and puto bumbong with their hot chocolate for a cold afternoon. (Images: Via Mare’s Facebook Page)

If there’s one restaurant synonymous to bibingka, it would be Café Via Mare. Since 1975, Café Via Mare has been serving Filipino dishes and has become a favorite by both locals and foreigners. Despite its wide array of savory viands, it’s always the restaurant’s bibingka that draws the crowd.

Café Via Mare’s fluffy bibingka (PhP130/PhP160) served with salted egg, Laguna cheese (kesong puti or native white cheese) or queso de bola, and melted butter has become a menu staple. The puto bumbong (PhP80) is also not to be missed. Served piping hot with a side of muscovado (a type of unrefined sugar) sugar and shredded coconuts, it goes well with Spanish hot chocolate(PhP80).

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