UPDATE: This restaurant is now closed and replaced by Le Bistro d’Agathe.
I got a sudden urge to check out Fat Michael’s Place again and I missed the ambiance more than anything. This used to be an Intel secret years back, but after 5 years, I’m sure this is not a secret anymore because of the thousand dinner dates it hosted and the word-of-mouth raves/ rants. Carlos also uses this as his starting point for his Evangelista tour. The food is better than the usual restaurant, they offer intercontinental cuisine not filipino surprisingly. My only issue about this place is the cocky service embodied in their motto “We cook slow, live with it!” Also, by now Fat Michael is already Fit Michael who is all grown up already (Michael is the son of the owner). In a nutshell, it is a cool homey place to have an intimate dinner with a special someone or your barkada or office teammates.
I visited here last saturday night, and peaking inside this is the ambiance waiting for you. It still did not lose its magical touch. It is like you are transported into a different world when eating here.
The menu is mostly presented in the black board hanging on the walls. Every weekday, there is a Fat Michael’s special dish. But since this is Saturday, all you get is the standard menu offering.
We got this small table for two beside the wall with my wife. In the background, is one of the hostess of the place and don’t be surprised that waiters/ waitresses in this place are actually family members. They dressed in their home attire and sometimes a short mini-skirt 🙂
If you are a party of 4-5 this is the place to reserve which is beside the entrance. This is the round table beside the green window in the corner of the place. The place has a definite weird but at the same time magical feel to it, that I keep coming back even if the people are cocky.
Fruit n’ Walnut Salad (P105)… Bravo! Bravo! the dressing is a winner and my wife and I were surprised that it tasted this good. Btw, I regretted ordeing the P70 house red wine, because it is so expensive with the serving you can see above.
Scampi Pasta (P205) — this is OK as well, not bad for a pasta, although the serving size is smaller than I expect.
This is the special place located on the second floor. This room could sit 15 people comfortably and you can use this for a minimum P5,000 consumable. This is a perfect place actually for team dinners or that special birthday celebration. Budget for Fat Michael’s would be P300/head at minimum, P500/head at max.
Better reserve at this place, since there are only a few seats. I’m surprised that after all these years, it is still full and I realized not all people have been to this.
FAT MICHAEL’S PLACE
Telephone # +632 843-1953 (Call for reservations– it is a must!)
This place is near Evangelista in Pasay and you need to pass by South Super Hi-way going South. Once you are past Pasay Road intersection with SSH, you need to start driving on the right side because you need to turn right in Makati View Apartelle. This is right before the Magallanes overpass but you need to make sure you are on the rightmost side of SSH because you need to be in the side street before turning right in Makati View Apartelle. You can see Fat Michael’s by now, and it sits on the first corner.
hi! i’ve been reading your blogs and i really find it very informative esp for those who love to travel and to EAT!
may i know where i can find this fat michael’s place?
many thanks,
lala
Like you said Bro: “cocky service”… I still remember our bad experience with the owner, Micheal’s Mom most probably. The Mom’s attitude towards the customers is definitely “Cocky”. We never went back to this place because of the maltreatment that my friends and I got from the old Lady.
I’d rather eat in MCDO and experience basic but excellent customer service. The owner should know that this should come first over good cooking. (I noticed – you never said their food was great.)
Oh, that was painful experience bro!
I really do hope they change… sana may hope, but after 5 years, it is still the same type of service unfortunately 🙁
NICE WORK YOU HAVE HERE!
my friends who’ll be balikbayan would just be interested to come over by summer rather than Christmas 2006.
Your travel-eat guide are far more better than those being publish in mags.
Keep it up and i have bookmarked all these. Thanks Anton.
so is the food great? can you rate it? it seems the ambience is ok…
Cocky…yeah, they are. Slow in cooking, yes they are. Did you guys see their kitchen yet? Well, its horrible! They should consider to have clean kitchen and serve clean foods having people pay more than usual prices.
hey anton . . . googled FAT MICHAEL’S, clicked on the first one (which happened to be yours) . . . read your blog and when i looked at the pictures — i recognized your wife =) rachelle was my former classmate in ICA, do send my regards to her and it was nice seeing her (even sa picture lang hehehehehe)
your blog is really informative and there’s a ring of truth to it — and i see that many agree on your comment that some of the staff are COCKY, i can also attest to this . . . celebrated my bday there 2 years ago, had a misunderstanding on the order that was never served but when the bill came, it was on the tab, when we spoke to the cashier, the lady was so indignant and COCKY — siyempre i didn’t pay for it (it really never came!) but the lady sure made me feel as if i was just trying to get out of paying for the dish HAHAHAHAHAHAAHAH
oh well . . . . =)
comments on the place are mostly negative. di na ko punta dun. tama, mcdo ka na lang. nagbabayad ka naman sungitan ka pa
Quote: I’d rather eat in MCDO and experience basic but excellent customer service. The owner should know that this should come first over good cooking. (I noticed – you never said their food was great.)
While I do agree to a certain extent that service is indeed an important facet of the public dining experience, “it” is not the point. The food is.
You obviously haven’t gone too far out of your little American franchise box and expanded your palette to recognize real food and real world service.
I bet you’ll love those wanker garçons in France.
I haven’t visited Fat Michaels in about two years but I always remember having a great time there. The owner was very hospitable and we never had any problems. I love the Fruit and Walnut Salad and thier Salpicao and Gindara steak is also great. It has been two years so things might have changed. That would be sad.
Id just like to say that i thought Fat michaels food was great! it was certainly more than what i expected considering how cheap it is! Im a swedish lady living in Manila and my job takes me around the world visiting many restaurants. I didnt find the staff rude at all, however they were very busy so yes the food took slightly longer than usual. I passed the kitchen to use the bathroom and i did not find it dirty to be honest it looked like a typical filipino village kitchen and very small. I would certainly go back and i would say to everyone on here you should always try places for your self at least once! Jenna
I dont agree with everyone saying the owners are rude and cocky. I have visited this place several times (everytime I go to Manila) and never had I experience such unpleasant description people mentioned. You should try eating in Hongkong and you’ll see the difference. The word Rude is not even close to what you’ll experience.
Want to hear a rude story? Well, my husband and I ate at this Japanese restaurant in SF and boy did we get a rude awakening! I was just asking for water and the waitress was passing by giving me side glances and ignoring my pleas so she can go to other customers. I finally got sick of it so I stood up and went to the counter to ask for water and to tell them that I have been waiting for so long just to get a glass of water. The same waitress came up to me and told me to sit down! I went back to our table and when my husband realized what happened we both headed towards the door but before we left, my husband yelled at the waitress stating POOR SERVICE! and almost broke the glass entry door as he slammed it so hard before we left the place.
The food there is delicious but we will not go back again because of the very poor service.
Customer service is one of the most important aspects of a food business. You can keep some customers happy with mediocre food but great service!!! Some people actually go to simple joints just to share some laughter with the people working there.
Been there several times already. It’s actually one of our havens. Me and my girl friends love this place because its cozy. Food is great. We spedifically love seafood pasta, rosemary salad and the iced tea… To-die-for!!! hehehehe Best thing to do is order your food as you make reservations so that the motto “we cook slow, live with it” should not bother you that much. Also the old lady i think just looks cocky but she’s nice naman. Never had a bad experience at Fat Michael’s!
The place is magical date or no date. It’s unique and humble and very interesting.The food is very good,notable ones are the Pastas, the fruit and walnut salad and yes the iced tea is to die for.Its always a homey hideaway. Never had a rude/cocky encounter from the mom or anybody who served us.Yes,food is slow to cook, that’s why you have to call for reservations to avoid waiting too long.
Try cafe juanita! It’s located in kapitolyo, pasig. Very similar to fat michael’s.
i fancied fat michael’s for a time but that was when it was still in its early years of opening… i wouldn’t dare go to fat michael’s now … it’s uber-shabby minus the chic in terms of interiors and my friend says it’s got the same hair-raising sanitation levels that he likens to ratatouille. tumatayo ang balahibo ko just remembering his story of mighty mouse scampering across the floor in broad daylight… last time i was there was my birthday and the owner folks who were there 1) told us to wrap things up because they were closing pronto, zip, asap and 2) when my friend brought another friend and we exceeded our 6-pax reservation by one more warm body, the nerve of the old guy server kung bakit daw sumobra ang tao sa table ko.
i dunno if i’ll get such treatment from an el bulli and even if i do, el bulli naman yun! eat at night if you really must try fat michael’s and not during the day. bring some claritin too because it’s one dusty affair.
is it really that bad?
hey.. we eat at ONGPIN and enjoy the noodles.. and dont tell me you dont find the china town waiters just as rude and un accomodating..
GOOD SERVICE is great.if you can get it… but GOOD FOOD will keep you comin back..
I dont think so that’s the mom of Michael. Coz i know the mom already past away like years ago. That’s the aunt probably that you are referring to. Oldest sis of Mike’s dad :).. the one in the picture…just sharing
we had our lunch at fat michael last sat. A bit disappointed with their mushroom soup because they just use campbell soup and you can still see the campbell!
My friend has been raving about Fat Michael’s since last year, telling us how great the food is. Anyway, for her birthday (and another of our friend) they decided to celebrate their birthdays at this place. I was really excited to try this place out. I even told a few friends about this place.
I called up this restaurant on that day to get specific directions to their place. I spoke to the owner and he gave the directions. But he made a mistake of telling to make a right turn on a one-way street. So when I got there, he asked me if I was the one who called for the directions. I said “yes” and I informed him that the street where he wants me to turn was a one way street. I said this, so that the next time someone asked for the direction, he will give the correct one already. I presumed he might have overlooked it only. The guy did not even apologized; he just asked me if I got caught. Well that was a sign of the experience of what we are about to have that night.
For starters, we got two salads. One came out and the second one came out after 15 to 20 minutes. My friends were getting hungry already, so I asked this same guy if he could possibly have the food served already. Then he said something that I did not hear but by looking at his face, he was not very happy with my request. By the way, those people who came after us have food on their tables already by this time. Later on, after we left the place my friends said his answer is something short of saying, “kaya nga me salad”.
Let me tell you how bad the service is. There is only one waitress, who does not smile (I would probably be not smiling too if I were in her shoes working for this guys). Nobody, of these three owners (we presume these are the owners by the way they treated us) never bothered asked us if we need anything else. We could not even bother to call any of them without feeling awkward because they do seem to be so engrossed talking with their respective friends or patrons.
When we left the place, we saw a placard hanging that says, “we cook slow, so deal with it”. Hmmm, had I seen this earlier I would have second thoughts eating there. The surrounding area of the restaurant is dark hence I did not see their sign earlier. Coming from someone who got pointed a gun at inside a restaurant, the place can be a bit scary to go to at night.
The food was not that great. The steak we ordered medium-rare was served well-done and cold. Right, we had to deal with it. The fillet fish served was bitter. I asked this other guy (presumably another owner) to taste it. I asked him in such a super nice way if he could possible have a bite. He went to the kitchen with the plate and a minute or so the waitress came out holding the same dish and said, “ganyan daw talaga ang lasa nito kasi baka sa garlic”. Oh well…… he could not even come out to say it to us. Talk about service. My friends were so afraid to complain or to make any comments because they were afraid that they might put something in our food.
The food was not so much of a problem; though there is still a lot of room for improvement (I am puzzled with all the hype regarding the food in this establishment). It was the bad service that they really need to improve on. They should have turned this place into a self-service type of restaurant. You just line up, point what food you want, pay and go.
I only have one word for the people running the place that nite….. arrogant. They ruined not only my night but the birthday dinner of two of my best buddies.
The owners are arrogant and there is nothing great about their food. They should open a self-service restaurant instead.
I am so disappointed! They ruined my friends’ birthday celebration!
I remember it used to offer good value. When they raised their prices a few years back together with the not so excellent service… kinda makes you think it’s not worth it. Food is not bad, but it’s not fantastic either.
Why I will never eat here again:
The food is not that great.
The place is dusty and stuffy.
The service is horrible.
I could tolerate the food not being spectacular, but pair it with snooty and arrogant staff and you can bet my dining experience here was disastrous. “Cocky” is an understatement.
It’s not as if the food was free, we are paying customers after all. It’s confounding that they think this “cocky” attitude is charming, when almost all the negative comments focused on their poor service.
Also, the way they treat customers is not justified with the quality of food that they serve–the food is okay, at best.
i was excited to go fat michael’s after reading your blog but after i read the comments, i better not… sayang… the place looks cozy p nmn and great ambiance… but talking about sanitation, that’s another thing…
i just came from Fat Michaels. its still the same how i remembered it. this is actually the 3rd time i ate there but the last time was ?? years ago. I still like their food. their pizza is still great.
But for those people who had bad experience, i dont know what to say. But i remember before that you can call ahead of time if you want to pre-order your food. Yes, it takes sometime before they serve your order but at least you are sure that its really fresh and hot from the oven.
I guess this is not a place for those people who wants ‘fine dining’ service and ambiance. Since its a quaint and rustic ambiance that has its own character.
I too am very well-traveled and have stayed in too many hotels, been as well to “hole-in-the-wall” joints, sandwich places, chic au-courant restaurants to fine dining like both Ritz’s in Madrid and Paris.
I am currently in the Philippines.
While surfing the net for travel and food, I came across this very nice food blog.
Although the place looks like any place in Greenwich Village, in the last century, or Les Halles – in the last century or even souks in Marrakech, Fes, …sorry to say but no cuisine, fine or otherwise is worth any negative attitude of its owners or its cook in this kitchen (not chef – he says in his blog that he’s not an expert, giving himself away after pricing mediocre French wine).
In my global experience, there is nothing worse for any business endeavor to treat the customers, who financially supports them) than to show that they hate having to work for money.
These people simply resent their work.
Rule No. 1 – Food is a multi-sensorial experience.
Enough said.
Thanks Anton, whoever you are…for saving me the effort.
Keep on blogging – your work is to be admired.
You're welcome 🙂 Thanks for the comprehensive comment!
hi, the number you put here is for makati medical center.
we made reservations, made advanced orders, asked if pets were allowed.. they just agreed… but when we arrived last night around 7 PM, it was closed. how stupid.
The owner of this place was very rude so I didn’t bother coming back eventhough food was okay. A few weeks ago, I saw him again at The Frazzled Chef and he was again so rude! Whoever you are, you must treat customers right!
it sad to hear comments like this.
as for those who receive rude treatment (am sure they are Jude & Boy Mancuyas) ingrates, yes you will find them at Frazzled what? a copy cat of what is good about Fat Michaels.
so dont go to that place.
Fat Michaels GastroPub, is now at Ruby rd, cor J Vargas, Ortigas.
Just across texas roadhouse grille
faster service, same great food, great people.
The place to be in that area.
With a dedicated pub area for smoking and watching games.
Ask for the real owner Michael.
He is pleasant and accommodating.
I know that reading this comment is weird since it’s already 2013 and Fat Michael’s Place is already closed but I can’t help but comment on the negative comments. I don’t know if it’s only because we were patrons of the place but I always had a pleasant experience in that place. Actually, I miss it now. The ambiance was perfect and the food that we ordered was always good. The staff were kind to us. We became friends with them easily and they would always ask us how we’re doing. I’ll always love their salad and their paella. When I would talk to the grandmother or to Micheal himself, they were always so accomodating and kind to us. I didn’t think that their motto ‘We cook slow. Deal with it!’ was cocky. I liked that they were honest and that it really did provide a great time for me and my family to spend the minutes talking away.
I loved the original place and i’m so happy with them. I just wish they were back.
It’s 2023…