As featured in 10 Best Restaurants/Cafes of One Bonifacio High Street!
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First, La Pícara, pronounced as la pí-cara (with emphasis on the pi), means the mischievious or naughty.
It’s a Spanish restaurant with Tropical Cuban/Central American-inspired design that transports you from the city into an oasis in the center of the Philippine Stock Exchange.
The food was surprisingly very good, Spanish food with a naughty playful twist of Filipino ingredients or Asian interpretation but still classy elegant Spanish food.
We tried it three times in the last few weeks before their grand opening. Here’s what we loved that you should try:
LA PICARA MANILA
High Street corner 5th Avenue, 2Floor, Exchange Stock Market Mall, BGC, Taguig
Mobile: +63 927 172 4480
Email: info@lapicara.ph
Facebook: La Picara Manila
Instagram: La Picara PH
Website: http://lapicara.ph
First Things First
They are popular for their Sangria and drinks program which starts with a happy hour from 3.00pm to 7.00pm daily plus 9pm to 3am on weekends (Thursday – Saturday).
La Pícara was successfully conceptualized by first-time restaurateurs Isabel Calvo and Architect Felipe (long name: Felipe Antonio Díaz de Miranda Fernández de Molina).
On a cold day, my favorite place is the terrace where you can hangout as the sun sets and you can see the colors of the center of BGC—5th St. and Bonifacio High Street.
La Picara Menu: Tapas 1 | Tapas 2 | Fresh & Cheeky | Las Chacinas | Caliente! Caliente! | Thug Paellas | Desserts
Drinks Menu: Happy Hour Cocktails | Cocktails | Gin & Tonic & Granizados | Beer | Juices & Soda | Coffee & Tea | Spirits: Gin | Spirits: Tequila & Rum | Spirits: Vodka, Brandi, Cognac, Vermouth, Cachaca | Liqueurs & Others
Essentially, you go here for the tapas and drinks to start your bar hopping, but you can also stay for their Spanish food for dinner.
Tapas
One of the best sangrias we’ve tasted in the metro, it’s properly made with sweet red wine and fruit juices finished with a fragrant aroma from star anise.
(Tip: it’s good to start but it can ruin your appetite if you drink a lot.)
Loved the hint of kimchi to spice up this croqueta topped with salmon. So good!
Yes, this is 100% Jamon Croquetas served takoyaki-style.
(It would be nice to have a bit of pulpo inside to complete the adaptation.)
You’d find this sisig, done Spanish style but served Mexican style in a taco on a bamboo container, on every table.
What makes this burrata different from those of other restos is that it matches perfectly with the caramelized juicy tomatoes served on a bed of pesto.
This is a good pica pica that you can eat steadily with the homemade crackers.
Thinly-sliced pulpo cooked well and served Spanish style with pimenton spinkles and potato mousse. I wished they had bigger or more slices of octopus.
Order the fresca to refresh your palate if you decide to have your main meal here.
Main Dish
The paella is done Spanish style with a thin layer of rice mixed with the chili crab flavor and topped with battered soft shell crab.
What makes this awesome is the soccarat which is the caramelized rice sauce with chili crab flavor (we call this tutong but this one is not burnt).
If you are looking for something different, try their fideua made from toasted noodles.
Our favorite was the beef cheeks topped with saba skin on a bed of mashed potato with flavors of saba—a nice La Picara innovation.
Dessert
Save yourself from gaining more calories from the dessert, which needs improvement, but if you insist…
This is like mango and suman but served Spanish style like rice in condensed milk.
If you were to choose one, order this leche flan cheesecake to end on a sweet note.
Sweet yogurt with a ball of passion fruit which you can mix to add flavor and cut through the sweetness.
Final Thoughts
Honestly, we initially thought this was just-another-resto-riding-the-Spanish-wave in Manila, but it turned out to be one of the best restaurant concepts at One Bonifacio High Street Stock Exchange Mall.
We recommend starting with the Sangria Picara and tapas of Kimchi Croquettas plus Sisig Tacos and the Burrata Salad, ordering the Chili Crab Paella and Beef Cheeks for the main course and ending with Puto Flan de Queso for dessert. Budget about ₱1,000/head for a full meal + drinks.
Best to go with a group of 4-6 so that you can really enjoy the paella. Best to reserve the round or group tables inside because this area is where you get transported into a tropical oasis with a relaxing view after a hard day’s work.
Congratulations to Isabel and Felipe for the awesome Spanish restaurant concept. Welcome to the vibrant restaurant dining scene of Manila!
LA PICARA MANILA
High Street corner 5th Avenue, 2Floor, Exchange Stock Market Mall, BGC, Taguig
Mobile: +63 927 172 4480
Email: info@lapicara.ph
Facebook: La Picara Manila
Instagram: La Picara PH
Website: http://lapicara.ph
Live an Awesome Life,
Founder, www.OurAwesomePlanet.com
Disclosure: We conducted a food tour of One Bonifacio High Street and we were media guests during the grand opening. I wrote this article with my biases, opinions and insights.
P.S. La Picara was voted as the best restaurant during our recent #OneBHSEats food crawl.
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This is great post, during my travel I always looking for the best place to eat food. Because without delicious food I think that our journey is incomplete. Thanks mate for making this great info about this beautiful restaurant and about it’s delicious food, really appreciate.
This restaurant doesnt issue an official receipt. Ate here 2x and they said they ran out of OR. How can you operate your business without this?! Paging BIR!!!!
been calling them and sending messages no reply from the phone you posted and thru their Ig and FB