Mabuhay Restop

Tucked away in a little corner of the Rizal Park in Manila is a small nondescript restaurant that offers inexpensive Filipino food from 7:00 a.m. till 10:00 p.m. daily seven days a week.You can't miss the Mabuhay Restop! It's situated right across the Museum of Manila a stone's throw away from the Quirino Grandstand and the Manila Ocean Park.

Spearheaded by the charming Ms Rose Cabrera, Mabuhay Restop is one of the projects of Gawad Kalinga which is a non profit organization that is geared towards empowering the underprivileged. A noble program indeed! Ms. Billie de Jesus is in charge of Marketing and Promotions.  Both ladies  are working out ways to promote the resto the best way they can. 

On the ground level is a small coffee shop with a few tables and a corner curio store of Gawad Kalinga products made from their livelihood projects. There are recycled bags made from recycled doy packs, native woven baskets, silk-screened t-shirts, canvass tote bags, and organic beauty products from Human Nature. There's also a bar that serves refreshments as well as cakes and pastries and local "kakanin".

The upper level is where some of the other activities are held. There is an afternoon story-telling for kids with Tita Beauty. For the evening activity, they have a musical review entitled Manila Vanilla directed by no less than Nestor U. Torre and geared for an adult audience. The show comes with a buffet dinner. They also have tours of Rizal Park and other destinations where Gawad Kalinga's settlements are located. This particular evening that the show was launched, we happened to be in the company of some tour guides, a travel magazine editor and some foreign guests who sampled the delicious food.

If you're bored in the Metro and have no idea where to go, try the Manila Restop. You're striking two birds with one stone: enjoying good food and providing Gawad Kalinga with more funds to empower the less fortunate. Now that's helping out!