7 Happy Hours Worth The Hangover, According To The Naked Foodie

Four o’clock is fast-approaching and it has been quite a long day. You text your friends to see if they’re free, and one hour later, you’re at your favorite spot for a sunset tipple for a few laughs and palatable cocktail and wine prices. You may make it home in time to watch Netflix and chill in your PJ’s or you may be in for a rowdy night. Either way, Happy Hour is one of my favorite pastimes when the mood strikes and the dance floor is calling my name thereafter. Let’s break down seven of Manila’s hottest Happy Hours:

 

1. Bank Bar

G/F RCBC Corporate Center (inside 7/11), 25th and 26th Street, Bonifacio Global City

 

Manila's top-shelf drinking den claims to serve the most extensive range of liquors, spirits, and cocktails in the city—any and every day of the week. But to make the work week a little brighter (or cloudier), they have prepared a great way to start the day’s end. From 5 to 8 pm every Monday to Friday, for P695++ per person, cocktails are free-flowing. Mixes include amaretto and red bourbon sours, mojitos, cosmopolitans, shochu highballs, and Earl Grey martinis. Selected spirits are also available like Absolut Citron vodka, Bombay Sapphire gin, Evan Williams whiskey, among others.

The Happy Hour bar chow menu is another reason to swing by. At P99+ each, you can get Crisp Wonton Chips, Chicken Skin Chicharron, 8Cuts Onion Rings, and Kung Pao Noodles, among others. And for the first time at Bank Bar, everyone’s favorite House Crispy Sisig by Manam makes an appearance on the bar chow menu as a rice bowl. Sounds like they want you tipsy and stuffed by the time you leave, which is not a bad state to be in as you head home to snuggle with your stuffed teddy.

 

2. Barcino

For a complete list of branches, visit Barcino on Facebook

 

It’s the perfect, chill hangout for a wide range of wines (I particularly love their rosé selections which are perfect for summer). Barcino is also known for having one of the best sangrias in town, and this drink is the first thing some of my friends talk about when Barcino is mentioned.

Happy Hour is from 5 to 9 pm daily with 20% off on all cocktails and bottles of wine. The Barcino Sangria Glass is just P219 during Happy Hour (from its original price of P320).

A trip to Barcino would not be complete without some pica pica like Chorizo Frito and Gambas. It’s the perfect Happy Hour pairing that has me salivating and changing my plans for the evening just at the mere thought of it.

 

3. Wild Poppy

2/F 5666 Don Pedro Street, Poblacion, Makati City

My friends over at Wild Poppy get that you like options and as such, they’ve curated a different Happy Hour special for every day of the week, Monday to Thursday, 5 to 8 pm and 11 pm to 1 am. You can get any of the following two (drinks or food) and you’ll get the same item for FREE!

 

Monday: Any Signature Cocktail or Any Starter

Tuesday: Any Classic Cocktail or Any Rice Bowl

Wednesday: Local Beer, Usual Suspects, Shooters or Baos and Big Bites

Thursday: Wine by the Glass or Small Bites

 

For the record, If you’re out on a weekday until 1 am, and I see you, I am ringing your boss! And you may need a second (or third) cup of coffee the next day before work for self-preservation.

 

4. Salon de Ning

The Peninsula Manila, Ayala Avenue and Makati Avenue, Makati City

If you’re feeling classy, you may want to head over to The Peninsula Manila which recently received a five-star rating from Forbes Travel Guide, making The Peninsula the first hotel group to receive five-star ratings for all of its locations worldwide. The iconic Salon de Ning has been a favorite hangout spot for years, and these Happy Hour specials are one reason among many to make a pit stop.

Since Happy Hour offerings are from 9 am to 6 pm daily, this may be one of the best places to bring a visiting jet-lagged friend hankering for a drink in the morning because it’s 5 o’clock back in America or Europe (or somewhere). Cocktails, beer, wines, gin and tonics, and double shots of house are priced at P300++ from Monday to Sunday.

 

5. Wildflour

G/F 8 Rockwell, Rockwell Center, Makati City

G/F The Podium, ADB Avenue, Ortigas Center, Mandaluyong City

 

Wildflour has long been my go-to brunch stop, my grab-and-go pastry indulgence supplier, and a picture-perfect restaurant to celebrate special occasions. But make no mistake, while I enjoy stopping in for dinner with friends or for business meetings, I like that they have a Happy Hour that’s worth looking into as well. The Happy Hour Special includes Buy One Get the 2nd drink at 50% for beer, and Buy 2 for P600++ for wine and cocktails. This promo is available from Mondays to Fridays, 5 pm to 10 pm, at the Rockwell and Podium branches.

 

6. Rambla

G/F Joya Lofts and Towers, Joya Drive, Rockwell Center, Makati City

129 Unit G12, Tordesillas corner Bautista Streets, Salcedo Village, Makati City

This Spanish spot never disappoints when it comes to tapas like the Bikini Sandwich (jamón Iberico, mozzarella cheese, and truffle oil) or Wagyu Meatballs in a Traditional Catalan Style Sauce, but I have never thought of Rambla as a go-to Happy Hour spot. Admittedly, I may be a convert after hearing about their specials (as I flip through my calendar to clear some space for a visit this week). “A Balanced Diet is a Drink in Each Hand,” reads the cocktail menu. If you wish to build your Happy Hour paradigm on this philosophy, then I see two Rambla cocktails in your near future.

Rambla’s Happy Hour includes Buy 1 Cocktail and get 50% off Your Second Glass as well as 20% off wine bottles daily from 3 to 6:30 pm. If the Chiringuito (Don Julio Tequila, Yellow Chartreuse, Lime Juice, Pineapple Jam Paprika, Agave Nectar, Apple Cider Vinegar, Celery Bitter, Pineapple & Sugar Cube, Angostura) peaks your curiosity, then you know where you are headed next to say “cheers” after a long work week.

 

7. Long Bar

Raffles Hotel Makati, 1 Raffles Drive, Ayala Center, Makati City

 

 

I have often indulged in a drink or two during Happy Hour at Raffles Makati’s Long Bar. Having lived in Singapore for 4 years, this Manila outpost of the original Singapore bar is a nostalgic place for me to gather after work hours, thanks to its warm and lively ambiance. From 5 to 8 pm, guests can have their fill of free-flowing local and imported beer, unlimited rounds of cocktail drinks, and endless pourings of red and white house wine and house pour liquors at P840++ per person. Or they can revel with a drink of choice with a 50% discount on all cocktails, wines, and spirits by the glass. A complimentary chef’s snack platter featuring pub favorites is also served to indulge in. Not to mention that you can shell the peanuts and throw them on the floor for a quirky added effect that seems to be more enjoyable (and memorable) than one would think it would be.  

                                               

Lead images from Long Bar and Rambla