Cockatoo Restaurant

Cockatoo is a steak and seafood restaurant and bar on the Circumferential Road in Tambisan, on the quieter west side of San Juan, a ride north of the Solangon strip. It looks plain from the road, but inside the floor is soft sand and the room is wrapped in jungle greenery, which gives it a relaxed, barefoot feel that suits a long dinner.

Steak is the reason people make the trip. It comes with chimichurri, as steak frites, or with mashed potato, and reviewers describe local beef aged on the premises. The fish and chips gets nearly as many mentions, and the fish steak loin, tuna tataki, kinilaw and ceviche cover the seafood side. Bangers and mash, a surf and turf and a well-reviewed burger with homemade fries round out a short menu, and the chicken rice puff starter is worth adding. At the bar, the frozen passion fruit margarita is the drink to order, with kombucha and fresh shakes too.

It is open daily from 11am to 9:30pm, and Google puts spend at ₱500 to ₱1,000 a head, with steak dinners often running higher. Ask for your steak a shade rarer than you want it, since a few diners found it came out more cooked. Call ahead on +63 956 583 6796 to book a dinner table.