I was tired and hungry after our overnight stay at Nacpan Beach and a quick visit to the Mangrove Eco Park. Usually, I would always go to a karinderya because I do not have a budget for trying out higher level restaurants in El Nido. Luckily, my former officemates visited me here in Palawan and therefore we could all share the financial burden on trying out different restaurants.
With our powers combined we were able to afford one of the recently opened, highly recommended restaurants in El Nido – Mezzanine Restobar.
Entrance to Mezzanine Restobar
The grey building is Mezzanine Restobar
When we got to the vicinity we were actually deciding whether to go into Art Cafe or Mezzanine. We checked both menus that were placed on both restaurants the price range were almost the same.
Why did we choose Mezzanine? I’m not a fan of live bands in restaurants as I like to really get to talk to and know the people I am with. Art Cafe had a live band. I told my friends about it and that’s when we decided to dine at Mezzanine.
Entering, we passed through the small pathway on the side of the building and at the end a lot of slippers and shoes were on the floor. To enter one must remove their footwear.
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Then it would be this.
First floor of Mezzanine
The stairs and the bar.
Going up.
The second floor.
We dined during night time but I went back to Mezzanine during night time to take the pictures above.
Let’s start of with why we chose this restaurant over the other – the sound. The sound was as I liked it to be. The right amount of decibels for me to appreciate the music and still converse with the people I am with. And there’s minimal echo inside which would not drown your voice among the many other voices inside.
I liked that the floor and tables are made of hardwood and that the chairs are designed with weaved rattan.
For me during night time is actually the best time to dine here. From my experience dining on a beach front location during daytime, especially lunch time, the glare hurts my eyes.
Lights were perfect for the eyes during night time too. But not really good for food photography.
The only thing that I did not like about the place is that it’s located at the beachfront. I’m an advocate of having beachfronts to look as natural as possible. Unfortunately, in the town proper of El Nido the beachfront is no longer natural as it’s lined with lots of buildings.
But hey, don’t let that stop you from having good food in El Nido.
The staff were kind and helpful. They were properly and comfortably dressed. When we entered they guided us where to be seated and helped us assemble the tables so that it could accommodate all 6 of us. I’ve dined there twice and on both occasions the service of the staff are consistent.
The owner would also go up once in a while and talk their guests on how was the food and the service was.
I do have a comment on the amount of water given to us as they only gave us a single bottle of water at a time for 6 persons. Given that we were tired, hungry and been under the sun for a whole day, we were really thirsty. The water bottle would always get empty after a short time and I would frequently call on the attention of the staff to refill us the water. Everytime I was really hesitant to call their attention because I know how annoying it is when a single group would call your attention frequently and they have a lot of customers to attend to. But every time I called them they were really helpful and still refilled us a new cold bottle of water.
After ordering our food it took about around 45 minutes to serve the food. But having eaten on a lot of restaurants in El Nido, 45 minutes is actually already fast. Yes, you should have a lot of patience when eating at restaurants in El Nido.
But the wait was actually worth it. The food was well presented and the taste was really good.
I would not go into details on how it tasted as I’m not really good at that. But here are pictures for your gastronomic viewing pleasure.
Carbonara
Seafood Pasta
Lasagna. Does not really look good in the picture but this was one of my favorites.
Four Cheese Pizza. All pizzas are 15 inches in diameter.
The size of the plate was generous too. For every plate it would be enough for 2 persons who did nothing all day. But since we were 6 hungry, tired and sun dried people we devoured the food really quickly. The above we ordered were enough to fill our stomach but there were still room for more.
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We actually ordered another pizza (seafood) upon arrival of the food because we were afraid that it would not be enough. Unfortunately, from the time that we ordered to the time they served the food, a lot of people came in the restaurant that made the wait for the Seafood Pizza too long so we had to cancel it.
All in all it was good food, good taste and good amount per plate.
Next time I’ll try their seafood.
| 500 Pesos | 1 Four Cheese Pizza |
| 320 Pesos | 1 Seafood Pasta |
| 300 Pesos | 1 Carbonara |
| 380 Pesos | 1 Lasagna |
| 1,500 Pesos | TOTAL |
250 Pesos/person – divided to 6 persons.
Plus tip of course.
Restaurant Details
According to the staff that I talked to they open at 12:00 NN and closes at 12:00 MN. Last call for orders is at 10:30 PM.*
According to their Facebook Page status you can have your pizzas delivered if you are staying in El Nido Town Proper, Caalan or Corong-Corong area. But if you ask me the dining experience is better at the restaurant itself.*
Mobile Number: +63-926-706-3263
Facebook: Mezzanine El Nido
Instagram: @mezzanine_el_nido
If you are planning to contact Mezzenine Restobar, kindly mention that you got to know them from this blog (Lakas.com.ph). You will not get a discount but you would really help out this humble travel blog.
On a side note, I was really amazed to see for the very first time a banana tree planted on a pot which can be seen around the restaurant.
Potted banana tree
In conclusion, if you’re in El Nido and you’re looking for good pasta and pizza, I suggest that you try out Mezzanine Restobar.
* Prices and schedules may change with prior notice.
Update:
- May 2, 2015 – corrected the error on the computation of how much we spent. Previously it was 1,180 Pesos. I’ve changed it to 1,500 Pesos. Thanks to Steven for pointing this out.
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That banana in a pot is awesome! 😀
I agree!!!
How come
500 Pesos 1 Four Cheese Pizza
320 Pesos 1 Seafood Pasta
300 Pesos 1 Carbonara
380 Pesos 1 Lasagna
add up will become 1,180 Pesos?!?!?! Isn’t it 1,600?
Thanks for pointing this out Steven. I’ve change it to 1,500 Pesos which is the correct computation. I needed to use a spreadsheet to get the correct amount. 🙂
Your blogs are informative and truly amazing. I am visiting this March and your blogs have helped me in planning. 🙂 Thank you.
Thanks Kavi! I hope you would enjoy your travel to Palawan. ^_^