raging bull chophouse & bar - shangri-la the fort

ragingbullcould slide easily into any slot in new york city. the decor was chic, top class, knowledgeable staff, exquisite wine selection and service first class. the steaks match (better) any of my steak places in new york city if not better. it's just a fun place to dine. it is an oasis in makati. see you soon, raging bull. dennis tedder

ragingbullwill be one of my favorite steak place in the metro. it is served with different dipping sauce, so you can go to whatever your palette wants. also, i super duper love the oysters too! 💗 (not in the photo)

i am stuck at home but i guess we all are. well i ordered the hamburger and i wasn't sure how it would be seasoned or if i would like how it was prepared. well probably the best hamburger i've had in the philippines (i've been here 7 years) and i will be back ordering again this weekend. the personalized note they sent with my delivery saying thank you for ordering. well that says it all about their care. the food itself was hot and fresh - simply delicious! ragingbullyou have a customer for life.

we were at ragingbullduring our last stay in manila (april 2019). we had a wagyu tomahawk; it was really excellent, cooked to perfection in a jasper heated with charcoal. we had the chance to visit the kitchen and meet maurice, the guy who cooked our meat. we loved it! service was great and entertaining; our waiter (manu) has been competent and friendly contributing to our great experience. idem for mico, the manager. always enquiring about our satisfaction and making sure everything ran smoothly. we then had a few cocktails at the bar. raffy, the mixologist, is an artist! all cocktails we tried were simply outstanding! i definitely recommend this place to all meat lovers and epicurians! great products expertly prepared in a fantastic atmosphere! thanks again to the team for this delicious moment, look forward to visiting again!

[late post.]

i was so curious about ragingbullever since a mentioned it during our lunch at canton road. as a steak lover, i just have to pay the restaurant a visit. 

hello, raging bull. 

just like its chinese restaurant neighbor, the facade of this restaurant is fancy with its touches of dark browns and gold.

i come to the shangri-la at the fort since it opened, and have a really nice lunch at ragingbullonce a month, and the occasional drink. the staff are wonderful and always remember me. tonite for dinner i had the ribeye, which was nice and tender, my partner had the new kobe sirloin which was absolutely delicious. our server was very helpful with selections! pricey? of course! but well worth it.

ragingbullchophouse certainly lived up to my expectations in terms of both the food and the service. this restaurant’s ambiance managed to be comfortable yet elegant, without ever feeling like your regular stuffy old steakhouse. a big part of this is the due to their service at the restaurant. their waitstaff is always friendly and approachable, and ready to answer your questions about their menu as well as their wine list. i would like to commend our server, manu, who gave us outstanding service when we dined here last month. first class service all around.

we ordered a 350g dry aged steak with truffle mashed potato and their salmon dish. they served their mains on one large plate which was great for sharing for the two of us. they cooked our steak perfectly medium rare and seasoned it perfectly as well. the steak comes with a variety of salts, mustards and sauces that you can try, although to be honest the flavor of the steak that we tried didn’t need anything else as it was already perfect. their salmon, although tasty enough and not dry at all, was a little too well-done for my liking. i prefer my salmon cooked medium rare to medium. i would suggest that they also ask their customers their doneness preference for this dish. we received a free dessert during the time we dined here during the holiday season, but we did order another dessert. the dessert that we ordered was the pavlova/passion fruit sorbet topped with cotton candy. the tartness of the sorbet perfectly complemented the sweetness of the pavlova and the cotton candy. the dessert we received for free was the chocolate peanut butter ice cream bar with caramel candy scattered on the plate. this was probably my favorite dessert of the two because of the great combination of the chocolate, peanut butter and caramel flavors all around.

we had such a great time that night that we actually returned for my birthday just 2 days ago. again, we received excellent service and excellent food even though we had 2 large tables for a party of 15. ragingbullchophouse is probably my favorite steak house in manila right now. we will definitely be back and we hope they keep up the great work.

where do i begin with this review? i honestly wanted to give this restaurant a higher rating, but i quite couldnt because of my experience dining at raging bull. i can compare it to the late jake lamotta (the boxing legend deniro played in the movie raging bull) who comes out with guns blazing but eventually gasses out in the later rounds, ragingbullblows you away with the undercard but disappoints in the main event. let me further elaborate on this.

upon entering the restaurant our eyes were treated with a visual fest of luxurious interiors of ambient lighting and of fascinating expensive cutlery (they make you choose from and array of expensive knives). however little did we expect that this was the main highlight of the meal becuause we were a little disappointed with what the main event offered.

the cape grim grass-fed steak was a little dry and tasted like grilled pork barbecuez. for me there wasnt anything special with the steak to justify the size and the steep price tag (perhaps the fact it was at the shang, i dont know). the wagyu was a ok and it had that marbled salty taste to it (though for the price wasnt enough) but the marbling was just concentrated in one are and not within the muscle striations. it was a little tender (not as tender as i expected) and moist but i have had better wagyu at a much reasonable price.

service was quite slow as well, considering the price you pay for what you order. it was slow ight after the cutlery display until we eventually got our bill.

overall if you just want to try the ragingbullexperience, i would recommend you try it just for the sake of it, but if you value your money there are better places to splurge your hard earned dollar on.

a delayed review but we went here as a family and had the best time.

the ambiance is really wonderful and their staff is definitely accommodating. the selection of knives was really an interesting touch and helped you buy into the theme even more. 

we ordered their crab cakes and the chophouse salad for starters. both were good, but i particularly enjoyed the crab cakes.

we then had the grain-fed table smoked tenderloin which was absolutely delicious and the whirl of smoke from the dish just added to its presentation value. the wagyu ribeye was delicious and you could really taste the quality of the beef. what i enjoyed the most, though, was the dry-aged striploin with its distinct flavors. 

if you're into the sides, the truffle mashed potatoes were a hit, and we loved the lobster bisque as well. 

didn't get to try the bar but i've heard their selection is what they're known for. 

definitely on the pricier side when it comes to dining, but if you're looking to splurge, ragingbullis a solid option.

ideal for power lunch. make sure to order from the lunch menu to get best value. service is top notch and food is good. beef cheek was tender while the fried calamari was fresh and cooked right. ragingbullwill always be my restaurant of choice for lunch when i’m in the area.

excellent dining experience

the ambience (lighting, furniture, decor and music) was very soothing. the service was great. the food was excellent. upon finding out that my wife and i were having our anniversary dinner there, the dessert was complimentary. what more could one ask for? ragingbullchophouse really made our anniversary dinner special and we can't wait to visit again.

ambiance: classy but cozy interiors

food: i ordered a tajima wagyu steak and it’s a little on the salty side but personally i appreciate the flavour. it comes with a choice of sauce (i got peppercorn) but no sides.

tip: the double fried fries are lack lustre and are not recommended for their 200+ price tag

service: (edited) i came back today and the service was excellent. there was staff constantly checking up on us and asking about the meals. ragingbulldefinitely improved on this front.

(original: at the beginning of the meal servers were very attentive and even brought stools for our bags, but towards the end of the meal it took longer to call a waiter.)

wait time: it takes a while for the food to come so you might want to order appetisers.

overall: would come back here again but am hoping for consistent service

steaks: wagyu ms 5 tenderloin (medium), darling downs ribeye (medium) were perfect. meat was tender, tasty, serving was just right. their steaks come with different kinds of sauces and for me, the best is the tomato hollandaise (honestly though, their steaks don't need the sauce)

sidings: japanese pumpkin, fries, truffle mashed potato. we ordered too many sidings but they all tasted great.

salad: caesar salad with 63 deg egg, anchovies, bacon. perfect starter, light and delicious.

dessert: ragingbullchocolate treat. looks like your ordinary chocolate pinipig ice cream on a popsicle stick but it has a marshmallow surprise inside. strawberries are a bit sour though.

ambiance is 5/5

service is 5/5

wine selection is 5/5 countries are well represented

skipped meals in prep for a nice 4 course meal of a dinner with the hubs celebrating his bday in advance. worth the “fasting”! we started with soups - lobster bisque and caramelised onion soup, it was ok. the best lobster bisque is still the one from fireplace of the old hyatt hotel manila now new world. for the best onion soup, it’s still twg. so the soup portion of ragingbullis 2nd from the best. then the crab cakes as appetizer. not a big fan of crabs to begin with since i have allergies from it, but the crab cakes were fresh, not “fishy” tasting. this is the 2nd time i had a crab cake, and this one is really good. can’t remember what resto i had my 1st crab cake. thankfully, my rashes did not show up tonight. we had tenderloin for our main course and the portion and the cost, it’s just right. the meat was tender and doneness perfect! the chef knew really what a medium vs. medium well. lastly, the dessert. we had a courtesy new york cheesecake since it’s hubby’s bday and we were regretting why we had to order desserts since the cheesecake was the best among the rest. reminded us of our fave cheesecake from balducci’s when it was still open. the additional desserts we had were the ragingbulltrio ice cream and pistachio creme brûlée, they were so so. we also capped the night off with a cafe latte which was creamy and right, just like from larry’s bar. anyway, ragingbullchophouse and bar is a highly recommended fine dining restaurant. will go back there for special occasions just like today.

this has become our default place for celebrations or whenever we’re craving for worth-the-money steaks.

over the past year, i have tried two steaks from the tenderloin selection, two steaks from the rib-eye selection and one steak from the striploin selection on different visits. all were very good, but i would suggest selecting the australian wagyu ones. and no more than medium rare please!

the steaks can be shared, but the 350g steaks can be finished by one hungry person. we have not tried the other non-steak selections such as the lamb and lobster and will probably never will since the steaks are already pure bliss!

worth mentioning that the bar serves a great selection of wines and cocktails. kudos to ragingbullchophouse & bar!