Kusina Merced

Kusina Merced is the restaurant of Villa Merced Boutique Hotel, in the hotel compound at the corner of Mabini and Bonifacio streets in Barangay Central, a short walk up from the Baywalk. It is one of the newer kitchens in the city centre, a small, bright dining room with woven placemats, plants and a coffee counter, and its menu mixes Filipino home cooking with Spanish plates.

Start with patatas bravas, ham and cheese croquetas, calamares or gambas al ajillo with bread. For mains, the kawali kare-kare comes with bagoong on the side, the pork pochero is cooked with saba, and the mariscos negra puts squid, shrimp and mussels in squid ink. The coffee list goes past the usual with a dirty ube latte and a churro latte, there are agua frescas named after the amihan and habagat winds, and tres leches is the dessert.

Open daily from 11:00 AM, closing at 8:00 PM Monday to Thursday and 9:00 PM Friday to Sunday. On the printed menu, starters and mains run ₱170 to ₱320, rice is ₱30, garlic rice ₱40 and coffees ₱110 to ₱180. It is new, so online reviews are still few. Order the mariscos negra with garlic rice and a basket of bread to soak up the ink.