YES PLEASE IS READY TO BE YOUR SAFE HANGOUT
Oil-poached Salmon
I’ve never really been a nightlife person and I’m definitely not the clubbing type. And while I do enjoy bars that don’t require me to dress to the nines and where I can have conversations over drinks without having to shout over loud music, I used to spend most of my prepandemic nights at home, cuddling with my dog, reading, listening to podcasts and binge-watching shows.
But living in a city that’s been under some form of quarantine for almost a year now, even I had been missing going out at night. And so when Alex Habaluyas, The Palace Manila’s VP for marketing, invited me to Yes Please, all I could say was, “Yes, please!”
Yes Please is just one of The Palace Manila’s nightlife spots. This entertainment complex in Uptown Bonifacio The Fort also includes the nightclub XYLO, the luxury lounge Revel, the college bar B.A.D. and the pool club The Island.
After being closed for so long because of the pandemic, The Island reopened over a month ago and has been transformed into The Island Outdoor Bistro, one of Manila’s biggest outdoor restaurants. The Island serves crowd pleasers like Wagyu Burger, BBQ Chicken Salad, Truffle and Honey Pizza, Tamarind Glazed Salmon and more, along with refreshing cocktails.
Cool and quirky
Weeks later, Yes Please followed by reopening as well. This popular cocktail bar is now also a restaurant. It’s a great place for dinner. Yes Please has kept the cool and quirky interiors its regulars know and love while adapting to the changes necessary in the “new normal”: Its terrace has been turned into an area for al fresco dining.
They want to create the perfect dining condition for guests while making safety their No. 1 priority, said Habaluyas.
“We want everyone to know that The Palace is a safe and compliant environment. We made sure we added protocols to keep it safe while making sure everybody enjoys as well. It’s a big enough venue for people to social distance,” she added. (In fact, you can view the safety protocol videos on Yes Please’s and The Island’s Instagram accounts: @yespleaseph and @theislandph.)
The Palace Manila’s head chef Mikko Reyes updated Yes Please’s menu for the reopening and he has created some gems. Reyes said that during the lockdown, “I continued cooking at home and continued to get inspiration and try new recipes. When we reopened, I had a lot of ideas and I applied them here.”
Still available of course are classic hits like the Foie Katsu Sando, Menchi Katsu Curry and everyone’s favorite Garlic Steak Rice. “This is our hero dish and people and different establishments often try to copy it,” Habaluyas said about the steak rice. “Now you can enjoy it again.”
You can also order Yes Please’s Garlic Steak Rice at The Island. It’s definitely a must-try.
Another dish that shouldn’t be missed is the Foie Katsu Sando. “I like presenting foie gras in a more approachable manner,” Reyes told Super. And he’s right. What could be more approachable than a sandwich?
New menu additions that Reyes is excited about include the Crispy Duck Confit, Oysters Motoyaki, Pompano Meuniere. Other new menu items are the Wagyu Smashburger and Oil-poached Salmon.
I really loved the Ginger Garlic Squid and Fritto Misto, too. Habaluyas said the Pares Pancit is another dish that’s quickly become a favorite.
The cocktails list is a delight: The drinks are inspired by different movies like “Clueless,” “Jurassic Park,” “Pretty Woman,” “Blair Witch Project” and more. The “Free Willy” cocktail comes in a whale-shaped glass.
And if you still don’t feel like going out but you want to enjoy Yes Please’s and The Island’s food? You can order for pickup. In fact, I think I’ll get an order of Garlic Steak Rice delivered now.
Yes Please is open from Wednesdays to Saturdays, 5 p.m. to midnight, while The Island Outdoor Bistro is open from Mondays to Saturdays, also from 5 p.m. to midnight. Reservations are recommended since both establishments are operating at a limited capacity following IATF and Taguig Safe City guidelines. For Yes Please dinner reservations, tel. 09171407777, 0917-5509999. For The Island, tel. 0917-6898888.