barbara's

barbara’s is abuffetheritage restaurant showcasing a variety of filipino food. moreover, the ambiance of the entire area is very historic. the place will surely put you back in the spanish era. as you get inside, you will notice round tables and chairs, crystal chandeliers, and wooden furniture. in line with these, you will feel like you are in a filipino traditional house.

a spanish influenced city in the heart of manila is called intramuros.
intramuros is a historic city walled area that all visitors to the philippines should not miss, even for a day.
it is the only district of manila where old spanish-era influences are still plentiful.
the houses, parks, activities and even culture are still rich up until now.
aside from sightseeing though, there's also another way to appreciate the philippine culture and that is to try local food.
a perfect place within the walls of intramuros to try is barbara's which is a spanish-filipino restaurant.
a place that not only serves filipino food but has nightly cultural presentations as well.
as we visit the place, we notice that there's a lot of foreigners interested to dine and watch the show.
thebuffetfood was ok though there's a limited option.
as a filipino guest who knows the authentic cuisine might not be satisfied with what they serve.
it cost p783 or $16 for dinnerbuffetand p615 or $12 for a lunchbuffetwhich i think is kinda pricey.
when it comes to location, it can be easily found via waze or you can walk right to it from san agustin church.
the interior was cozy and warm that reminds me of old spanish homes with wooden floors and sliding capiz windows.
the staff are not that accommodating and sometimes forget your requests.
what i am amazed is the night show that represents the culture of filipino.
they gracefully dance and performed while wearing the colorful and traditional costume all over the philippines.

food: 3/5
ambiance: 4/5
location: 4/5
price: 3/5
service: 3/5

a classic filipinobuffetrestaurant in the heart of intramuros.

this was my 3rd time to dine in this restaurant and still it didn't satisfy me due to limited choices of food that they served and the taste.
i brought 3 friends here from different countries and they were not satisfied with the food as well.
food - too salty/too oily/ pricey/ordinary

hopefully, they will change their mind and include drinks to thebuffetpackage 😊

it was mother's day so my family decided to celebrate it here at barbara's . the moment that i stepped in barbara its a travel back in time feeling . we arrived at barbara's around 5:30 pm , early birds for the dinnerbuffetso we are able to choose a table that is in front of the stage . the dinnerbuffetcost php895.00 all in the drinks is not included but it comes with a cultural show , i find the cultural show very entertaining . the show features most of the filipino dance from luzon to mindanao culture dance at the end of the show they will ask if you want to join them for their tinikling dance hehehehe. the food i can say  is mostly  filipino and healthy food , they serve a lot of vegetables and fruits . they also have lechon yummy. over all the food is good service is good the cultural show is very entertaining and the ambiance is very nice. clap clap for barbara's.

the restaurant's interiors brought us here, one of the best ambiance for dining. the food is actually fine but pricey (ala carte). food choices forbuffetare not that wide.
the restaurant also feature musical performances which are very entertaining. would recommend for those planning to tour in intramuros.

the food was great the service was excellent and the atmosphere it great. it's a quiet restaurant with piano playing. this place is great for a romantic meal or with a family. they have abuffetand a regular menu. our food and drinks cost ₱1300

very tito/ tita place but i wasn't that impressed with their buffet. it was a bit limited and i really hope they continue to improve their service. we experienced problems with the bill 😡

what i'd like...
➡️ cultural dinner show- featuring different filipino dances and at the end they will call those who are celebrating their birthday/anniversary and some of the guests who would like to do the "tinikling"
➡️ i was impressed with some of their desserts. i like the pilipit with coco jam, palitaw, toron and their fruits 👍🏻
➡️ their beef adobo was amazing!
➡️ very ancestral feels haha
➡️ and this is the restaurant in toni and piolo's movie last night ❤️❤️❤️

buffet last night consists of the following:
- molo soup
- ensalada surtidas
- sald bar
- tanigue, beef adobo, pork spare ribs
- beef caldereta, kare kare, vegetable lumpia, liempo, kare kare and fried chicken macao
- lumpiang shanghai, pancit, porchetta
- desserts- cream puffs, banana sesame, camote fritters, etc

price: 795 without drinks- i still prefer dads orbuffet101 ✌🏻

we availed of their lunchbuffetwhich was composed of all filipino food. food was great. ambiance was perfect. if you’re looking for romantic places, barbara’s is definitely what you’re searching for.

mia and i came from divisoria for her school needs. since it is near intramuros, we decided to take a much needed late lunch here. barbara’s was our pick, and i have mixed reviews to share.

i knew for a fact they use to be a fine dining place. now with more options around, and with competition hitting them, they have turned it into abuffetplace. this move, i believe will hurt them more.

eat all you can is a move that is always a quantity over quality issue. this is what i felt as i tried most of their offerings. generally, the servings were either cold, greasy and messy to look at. hey, i even saw a little cockroach crawling around.

i did appreciate some effort they extended to make us feel at home. like when they volunteered to hand out a plate of hot and savory plate of roast beef and a cup of their sweet ginataang halo halo.

i find their chicken adobo, liempo and spiced up kaldereta worth having. the paella and inasal, on the other hand, were forgettable. both were served without much interest, dry and plain.

intramuros got a lot to offer not just for tourist. me and mia are planning to go back soon despite its distance from where we stay.

it is located in the heart of intramuros. around the area is very spanish era time, the kalesa thing, the gwardiya sibil in character and the churches were beautiful. the restaurant decorated in spanish-filipino way, the interior of this place were great. i never had a chance to take a picture of food since i'm too busy to choose which to eat. well they servedbuffetfilipino food and most of it were delicious. specially the filipino dessert, i like the most the "minatamis na saba". the highlight of staying inside the restaurant there is a band singing for the guest and you can request a song as well. 🇵🇭

we arrived here around 8pm, galing kaming bgc. so patapos na yungbuffetng 9pm and the show (traditional filipino music) as we arrived, almost uwian na dahil magsasara na nga sila. we did not enjoy so much the food ans the ambiance, but the good at thebuffetwas great!!

buffet start at 6:30, next time will be here around 6pm para naabutan lahat ng shows. well be back here, kasi were not satisfied sa nangyari samin gawa ng late kami nakadating

overall- 4.5/5

well be back here.

had dinner in this place for the first time last night. customers here are mostly foreigners so expect the "tourist price" kind of rate. their buffet, in line with their resto's theme, caters filipino food (tho not all of it, but most of it). drinks are sold separately. just ask for the menu. they offer delicious fruit shakes and a variety of alcoholic drinks for a reasonable price. however, they serve a pitcher of water for free. don't expect the kind ofbuffetyou usually get similar to its price bcos their selection is limited. but you will definitely love how preserved and classy the ambiance is. servers are very warm and efficient. they also have a cultural show which is really enjoyable for the tourists. all in all, the experience was great and we went home with a happy stomach.

had abuffetdinner with my boyfriend. the ambiance was okay. the cultural dances was very entertaining as well. my only concern is when my boyfriend asked for the bill. the waiter handed us the receipt, then my boyfriend asked how come our bill ended up with 3,000 pesos? thebuffetdinner only costs 699. we did not get any answer from the waiter. he just took the receipt back and went back inside. be careful everyone. always check your receipt before handing your cc or cash.

going old school:

the joy of going over to intramuros to have a feel of the old walled city is always a thrill. stepping out of the car and being greeted by guardia sibil and lady's in their filipiniana adds delight to what the customers want to experience.

today is father's day and we decided to head over to barbaras for dinner. i first glanced at thebuffetoffer which cost around php783.00 per head, got the feeling that the value of thebuffetdoes not match the price as the main course offering is too few; so we decided to have an a la carte menu to start off our dinner.

my siblings ordered barbaras special salad, while i ordered the chicken and pork adobo. the salad cost around php215.00 and as described on the menu its mesclun greens with caramelized walnuts and shaved parmesan topped with fresh fruits in season. salad arrived with just the mesclun greens and shaved parmesan (hardly any) there were some fruits coming from a fruit salad can... that's how fresh it was. we requested for the salad to be replaced but unfortunately the description on the menu is inaccurate.

the chicken & pork adobo taste good, but priced at php315.00 the portion size is too few...

we don't mind the old carpet nor the smell of old furnitures, we loved the service of the seasoned staff because it gives you a feeling of the traditional restaurant service that is lost now with all the hipsterish restos who does not know what service is all about.

i hope the management improves the serving sizes & accuracy in menu descriptions. would love to go back here when that happens, but as it is... no reason for going back.

nice ambiance, an old fashioned spanish motif, good food and well-trained waiters.

just that if you do a la carte serving it has additional show fee of 350 and thebuffetis 699(package wth show).buffethas more or less 10 choices as i remember? anyway i'd rate it 8/10. so far, it's good. :)