Bob’s, Bacolod’s favorite restaurant, is now in Manila. It is a restaurant institution — similar to Aristocrat here in Manila — started by Dr. Homero Sicangco in 1965 in Bacolod. It is popular for its American menu: BBQ, Baby Back Ribs and Cheeseburger. The restaurant in Magallanes is now managed by the 3rd generation. They were able to bring the authentic taste of Bob’s in Bacolod to Manila (but I find it overpriced).
If you are looking for a place to celebrate Masskara festival in Manila, this is the right place to go.
Bob’s Manila Menu:
Salads, Noodles, Pasta, Sizzlers, and Grilled
Soup, Appetizers & on the Side, Sandwiches & Burgers
Family Wagon, Hits From Home
Family Fiesta Tray, and Breakfast and Beverages
This is the opening menu; they don’t have any dessert offering yet. If you don’t find your favorite Bob’s dish/ meal in the menu, you can request them to bring it here in Manila. (Ex. I heard someone asking for their bread…)
Bob’s Famous Sate Babe with Sate Rice (P145). Tender pork barbecue grilled with peanut butter sauce a.k.a. “Sate Sauce”. Served with sate rice and atchara on the side.
This is Bob’s claim to fame. The Sate sauce tastes like BBQ with peanuts. It is similar to Aristocrat’s sauce but this one has a maasim twist in the end and a more peanut-y taste.
Bob’s Famous Sate Babe with Sate Rice (P95). In Bob’s Bacolod
This is the same dish except that I took the photo above in Bob’s in Bacolod. As you can see, it is exactly the same serving except that the Manila dish is 50% more expensive. You can also check out the original menu in Bob’s Bacolod below to compare the prices and the menu.
Bob’s Bacolod Menu
Barbecue, Pastas, Salads, Hot Starters, Dinner Specials, Steaks
Sandwiches, Burgers, Panini, On the Side, Pizza Pies, In Between Meals
Chicken and Pork, Hits from Home, Family Fiesta Tray, Good Mornings, Waffles
Rice Ring and Tinanglao Soup
Fish & Chips, Fountain Treats, and Drink & Beverages
Baby Back Ribs with Onion Rings (P370). Tender pork ribs marinated in homemade bbq sauce and grilled to perfection. Served with crispy onion rings and veggies on the side.
I personally love this! The BBQ taste penetrates every single strand of meat that falls off the bones easily. It is overpriced, though, considering it is only P215 in Bacolod and it only has 4 ribs.
Bob’s Big Boy Cheeseburger (P170). Grilled double patty with Bob’s thousand island dressing, onion, tomato and lettuce in a burger bun.
It is not as big as I thought it would be. The taste is just similar to a double patty cheeseburger in McDonald’s. I was expecting a better burger bun. In Bacolod, this is only P110, so apparently, they priced the Manila dishes +50% or higher.
It is NOT the best Kare Kare I’ve tasted — the meat is full of fat, skin, and bones, and the sauce is as bland as it can be. Not sure if this is how Bacolod Kare Kare should be. It is priced P250 in Bacolod so at P295, it is already OK. Still, I don’t recommend ordering this…
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Fruit Punch (P95).
This is one of the famous drinks in Bob’s. What makes it unique is the presence of Ubod bits (used in Fresh Lumpia) and chunks of fresh fruits. Rache, Aidan and Joshua do not like it.
It is refreshing to see a bill with the price all inclusive of VAT and service charge already.
The only thing is that the Sate Rice (which is just a half-rice serving) sells for P48, and the Plain Rice (half-serving) is already at P35. We had to order two servings of rice per person because it was just too small. Next time, we will bring our own rice. 🙂
Overall, we would recommend it because of its authentic Bacolod taste.
What’s your favorite dish at Bob’s?
Bob’s (since 1965)
Magallanes, Makati
Marian Magalona
Mobile: +639209046401
Bob’s in Bacolod City
Live an Awesome Life,
Anton Diaz
Founder, OurAwesomePlanet.com
Mobile: +63917-LOVEOAP (5683627)
Email: anton@diaz.ph
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P.S. Ingat sa lahat ng pupunta ng Masskara Festival in Bacolod!
Wow! I’ve eaten at Bob’s in Bacolod 🙂 And nakakatuwa ung waiters nila who all look the same. If i remember correctly, may second generation na waiters na nga e. the sons of the original waiters work for bob’s also 🙂
do they have the same set of waiters in manila? hehehe. it’s part of the bob’s charm e 🙂
anton,
mas mahal talaga kailangan.
just take into account the salaries and rent in BACOLOD
versus Manila, no choice ang BOB’s but to increase prices.
and this 1st branch in mmla is in Magallanes!
Awesome! I didn’t get to eat in Bob’s when I was in Bacolod last month.
Manila Boy I agree with what you said
I love.. love.. love their cakes. Hope they can bring those to Manila, too!
Bob! I’m happy their in Manila! Loveett!
Yes!!! I have been anticipating this one. I saw their big banner in SM-Bacolod branch announcing a new store in Manila last August. Finally it’s here. This resto brings a lot of childhood memories. Who’s next? Calea Pastries?
This post made me hungry!
i love bob’s! love the sate babi! fact is, i wrote about it after my trip to Bacolod early this year. You may read about it here:
http://www.maversmostwanted.com/2009/01/bobs-bobs-baby.html
thanks anton for the head’s up. we will try bob’s in magallanes for sure.
the burger is a steal ha.. big one for that price.. definitely other restos offer burgers of that size at a higher price! 🙂 wanna try this!!
“It is NOT the best Kare Kare I’ve tasted — the meat is full of fat, skin, and bones, and the sauce is as bland as it can be. Not sure if this is how Bacolod Kare Kare should be.”
My folks who are from Binalbagan and Silay have extremely maka-ilonggo, regionalistic palates. They have this aversion to non-ilonggo dishes and as a result I grew up not eating kare-kare as it was never served in our kitchen. Neither was it served in other ilonggo kitchens I had access to.
Judging from their prices, it seems that they have resorted to overprice because of costs in building the restaurant and the employee salaries… they should have taken into account that they already have a following and just added a measly amount which would probably go around 20%… but to charge it that high… that is extremely expensive.. there are more brands in Manila; and if they plan to only battle it out with that signature bbq of theirs, they are mistaken…. I’m not going to be surprised if they close shop after a few months because of that…
they definitely must bring down their prices a bit. stiff competitin here in manila vs bacolod. there are a LOT of bbq/grill/burger/pinoyfood restos here. would like from-the-province restaurants to stay and expand 😉
Thanks for blogging this, Anton. I love Bob’s, especially Bob’s Cafe. I used to hang out at the cafe along Lacson St for hours eating their food, drinking lots of coffee and enjoying free wi-fi in ’05-’06. And I went out of my way to meet the Magalona family who runs these restaurants.
looks good! wonder if the bbq is as good as aristocrat’s.
just noticed that the side vegetables and onion rings in the baby back ribs dish are actually just three pieces of limp, kawawa-looking string veggies and two lonely onion rings. not even a scoop of rice to accompany them?
That’s a puny looking ribs dish at so high a price! I think you can eat better somewhere with the same budget.
I went there on their opening day. My dad enjoyed their potato cheese appetizer. The buffalo wings was not so exciting. My tapa with rice was good too. That day, the bill came to us very very slow… hope my next visit is a better one. Want to try the ribs you recommended!!! Im excited to try the other dishes!!!
tried the sansrival and strawberry shortcake at Bob’s here in Bacolod yesterday. It was just okay for me. Will try the meals next time 🙂
So that’s Bob’s. I saw the sign while passing SLEX, and noticed that Bob’s replaced El Comedor (how I will miss their Sunday Lunch Buffet).
Just like Bigby’s from CDO, Bob’s will not last long if their prices are the same as Manila’s prices. Though I always make it a point to dine at Bob’s everytime I’m in Bacolod, I never thought of trying it out in Magallanes… It’s not the same…
Yes, all these provincial players should target Contis prices or even below it. Sayang naman kasi they have a good concept that they overprice 🙁
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I agree, Calea should be here na rin. But I heard they don’t want to do that since they would be sacrificing the tastes of their cakes with the prices here. The prices for raw materials in Bacolod is just TOO different compared to Manila rates. I’ve been begging my mom’s friend (owner of Calea) to bring the pastry shop here. But they don’t have any plans yet. Every time I’m in Bacolod, I make it a point to go to Calea and beg them to move. 🙂
Cab Cafe in Kapitolyo Pasig claims they are the same as Bob’s. They serve grilled ensaymada but the version in .Cafe Bob at Bacolod is much much better.
what about bob’s big boy siopao?