Earlier this month, we were invited to try out some new dishes at MG Marina Grill at the Araneta Center in Cubao.
I didn’t know that there was an area in Araneta Center that was slowly being gentrified. MG Marina Grill is located on the ground floor of the Manhattan Parkway condominium building, right across the big parking building. It is just a short walk from the Cubao LRT station, and is located in the “inside” part, not on the outer part facing the main Aurora Blvd.
It is less than 5 minutes’ walk from Gateway along Gen. Malvar St., past the Kia Theatre, and just after Giovanni’s Bar.
The place is safe, with many condominium security guards nearby. There are several condominium buildings on that strip.
MG MARINA GRILL
MG Marina Grill is an offshoot of Ross & Marina IloIlo. This is their quick-service restaurant that they divided up into stations – the lechon station, the variety store selling Ilonggo delicacies, and Halo-Halo sa Jaro selling desserts and cold refreshments.
Dining is al fresco, but they have an air-conditioned section, too. There’s a second floor, balcony-type dining area. The design of the place is not typical, and it’s one you’re not likely to forget.
The theme is to bring Iloilo to you! They set up these little shops to bring the Iloilo town feeling to diners – there’s Litsonan sa Molo where all the grilling happens, there’s Pavia Variety Store where they sell snacks & delicacies from Iloilo, and there’s Halo-Halo sa Jaro where all the iced snacks are made.
On the second floor, they also have a barber shop and a bakery (decor only), that will make it feel like you’re dining street side in Iloilo:
THE FOOD
We were surprised at the really affordable prices at MG Marina Grill.
Breakfast
We started with breakfast. Their bestseller is the Beef Taparapsarap – thinly-sliced, flavorful, sweet and salty beef. Malasa. I found it a little bit fatty because I like my beef tapa on the leaner side, but some people love to eat the fat, so I guess that’s a personal preference.
My favorite is the longganisa-stuffed fried squid, which they call the Howlongganisa. They got this right! Sweet and full of flavor. Some of my table companions even said that it was delicious enough on its own that there’s no need for the mayo! I can’t wait to go back for this! 
There were other breakfast dishes like tinapa, baconsilog, etc… but I just concentrated on these two.
The blue rice is colored with the blue ternate flower that is only found in Iloilo, and it’s a reputed aphrodisiac. It is topped with kalkag, an Ilonggo delicacy made from tiny shrimps.
The breakfast meals are perfect if you are craving for a comforting Pinoy breakfast. They are delicious, will meet all your Pinoy comfort food cravings, but are amazingly affordable. The quality of the food served to us was so much better than I expected for a P99 meal. I didn’t feel like I was eating “sa tabi-tabi lang“. The food is good quality and bang for the buck.
Breakfast is available from 5am – 10am. And all the breakfast plates are P99 and already includes blue rice, drink, and kropek! Add P19 for egg.
After breakfast, we were given a “break” from eating by palate cleansing with their Halo-Halo. This Halo-Halo is only P49!
They also have a good Bibingka that is only 2 for P99! I do think it would be better if they added some salted egg topping.
UNLI-LECHON FOR ONLY P149!
And now, the reason why we’re all here! UNLI-LECHON!
From February 1-28, 2017, MG Marina Grill is having an UNLI-LECHON PROMO! The promo is from 10 AM – 4 PM.
The Unli-Lechon is P149! You have a choice of pork belly or lechon manok.
The MG Lechon Pork Belly and the MG Lechon Manok are also available as regular orders for only P99 per order. But just add P50, and you can “Go-UNLI”.
The way the unli-lechon goes is they give you a regular order first – this is a plate with a serving of lechon, rice and kropek. After you’re finished eating that, you can ask for another order of lechon, and so on. CLEAN PLATE POLICY. No leftovers.
This also includes 1 round of iced tea.
ROSS & MARINA FAVORITES
MG Marina Grill also serves up some Ross & Marina favorites like Blue Marlin and Tuna Belly!
But that’s not all! Our insanely funny host Ms. Beth also served us some of these super fresh oysters!
Here are some more oysters, baked with cheese!
These were awesome and we had some truly fun times with all of Ms. Beth’s crazy quips. I forgot her joke, I think it was about the best dish or best Filipino food… but her punchline was unforgettable! F**kbeth daw (pakbet). That was the only thing I remembered about her joke, but there were so much more. She must have had too many oysters, hahaha. 
According to her, the price is P99 for 3-4 pieces!
SUMMARY
MG Marina Grill is a very casual, quick service restaurant with affordable pricing. In my opinion, they also got a lot of the food right – kuhang-kuha talaga nila yung panlasang pinoy. That’s all I can say. The food is not fancy, but it’s just good – delicious, comforting, perfect.
I am already planning many returns to this branch of MG Marina Grill, and that’s quite a rare thing for me! It’s for those days when you just don’t feel like eating fancy food, but just want hang out with someone over some simple, comforting, but delicious Pinoy fare.
GIVEAWAY TIME!
I have P1,000 worth of Marina Grill GCs to give away to one of my loyal readers!
Giveaway Mechanics:
- You should be following @BaratAko and @MARINAIloiloOystersSeafood on Facebook.
- Follow @thebaratqueen on Instagram.
- Share anything about MG Marina Grill’s Unli-Lechon Promo on Facebook or Instagram:
- Tag 3 friends
- Use the hashtags #MGMarinaxBaratAko #MGMarinaUnliLechon
- Don’t forget to share something about the promo like how excited you are to try it, what dishes you are looking forward to, who you want to go with, etc…
- Leave a comment below with your FB or IG account names to let me know you joined the giveaway!
Giveaway starts today, Feb. 8, until Feb. 19. I will announce the winner on Feb. 20.
I will be reading your shares and picking the best comment from your shares! Please use the hashtags! #MGMarinaxBaratAko #MGMarinaUnliLechon
Giveaway is open to those with a Metro Manila address only since I will be sending the GCs by courier. Make sure that I can contact you on your Facebook or Instagram accounts in case you win!
MG Marina Grill
Ground Floor, Manhattan Parkway, Araneta Center, Cubao, Quezon City
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MARINAIloiloOystersSeafood/
2 responses to “MG Marina Grill: UNLI-LECHON for P149 + P1,000 GC Giveaway!!!”
Baw, ka namit guid sang mga pagkaon ba!
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