Cabalen Restaurant is probably one of the most easily recognizable Filipino buffet restaurants in the Philippines. It provides a good balance of delicious food with numerous selections, pocket-friendly prices, and a laidback ambiance. I’ve already had several experiences eating with friends and family in different Cabalen branches and I’d say the experience, menu, and quality of food are fairly consistent. I like the general feeling of eating in a dining room with your loved ones. Looking back though, I realized that I’d mostly enjoyed dinner buffets in Cabalen. It was only fairly recently, after our trip to Philippine General Hospital (PGH), when I got to try having breakfast with my family in Cabalen in Robinsons Manila and I was surprised that the food was even better in the morning; they were freshly prepared, the items are still warm, and they tasted better (I guess it was because they were from a batch that wasn’t prepared in a rush). It was a totally different experience.

We went early to PGH for Miguel’s blood exam, which meant that we didn’t have time to eat breakfast. It’s a good thing we finished at around 10AM, just when Robinsons Manila had opened so we went there to look for a place to eat. When we passed by Cabalen Restaurant, we saw the staff preparing the food and it looked very inviting. It still hasn’t opened yet at that time, as such, we thought how nice the food might be since we will be the first to try it.

When the food and the tables were ready, the diners were let in. We were initially just a few people inside the restaurant, thus, it wasn’t chaotic yet as compared during peak hours. With that, we were on a leisurely pace and checked the food before getting the items that we liked.

We started with rice, bulalo soup, lechon kawali, sisig, tokwa’t baboy, hotdogs (for Rafa), pork adobo (for Miguel), juice, and coffee. I also took pieces of mustard leaves, slices of boiled bitter melon, fermented rice with shrimp (burong hipon), and kare-kare with bagoong. We went back for seconds, of course, and when we had our fill, we enjoyed Filipino desserts like kakanin and sweetened banana.

As the minutes passed, the number of diners was increasing. They were also people having breakfast; some looked like they came from their morning walk, there were families with small kids, and there was a group of old folks who seemed like that meal was part of their regular breakfast sessions.

All in all, we had an amazing family breakfast at Cabalen. We never imagined it to be such an enjoyable meal because our usual dinner buffets at Cabalen were good but not extraordinary. I’d recommend that you also try eating at Cabalen during breakfast.

You can find the complete list of Cabalen branches here so that you won’t have to google “Cabalen branch near me” anymore.

LEVEL 3, CITY CENTER

(+63) 976 200 2654

LOWER GROUND FLOOR

(+63) 976 200 2653

GROUND FLOOR

(+63) 976 200 2658

GROUND FLOOR

(+63) 976 362 2728

2ND FLOOR

(+63) 976 149 4761

LOWER GROUND LEVEL

(+63) 917 812 9584

2ND LEVEL

(+63) 917 622 3826

2ND LEVEL

(+63) 949 906 1838

GROUND FLOOR

(+63) 976 182 5227

GROUND FLOOR. FIESTA MARKET

(+63) 976 182 5204

CITYWALK 1, 2ND FLOOR

(+63) 995 834 7724

2ND FLOOR, COMMERCE AVE.

(+63) 976 563 6607

LOWER GROUND FLOOR, ANNEX ATRIUM

(+63) 976 200 2661

3RD FLOOR

(+63) 976 180 4627

2ND FLOOR

(+63) 995 834 7724

GROUND FLOOR

(+63) 927 046 8319

GROUND FLOOR, ACTIVITY CENTER

(+63) 976 182 5226

LEVEL 2

(+63) 976 150 0623

GROUND FLOOR, PROMENADE AREA

(+63) 915 097 3476

2ND LEVEL

(+63) 976 149 4763

2ND FLOOR

(+63) 966 982 2265

UPPER GROUND LEVEL, NORTHWING

(+63) 906 414 2335

LOWER GROUND FLOOR

(+63) 917 677 0159

GROUND FLOOR, NORTHWING

(+63) 945 204 8050

LEVEL 1

(+63) 917 120 7966

GROUND FLOOR

(+63) 917 147 7204

GROUND LEVEL

(+63) 917 157 9237

LEVEL 1

(+63) 905 144 5217

2ND LEVEL

(+63) 977 334 0148

GROUND FLOOR, EASTWING

(+63) 955 994 0524

SECOND LEVEL, ALFRESCO

(+63) 966 478 4371

LEVEL 1

(+63) 995 397 7669

RIVER GROVE LIFESTYLE CENTER

(+63) 991 333 9714

2ND LEVEL, SUNSET TERRACE

(+63) 966 870 6485

2ND LEVEL

(+63) 930 847 4928

2ND LEVEL

#67 WEST AVENUE,

BRGY. PALTOK, Q.C

(+63) 976 200 2656

3RD FLOOR, MEGA ATRIUM

(+63) 991 812 5691

3RD FLOOR

(+63) 917 893 6945

2ND FLOOR

(+63) 976 200 2663

GROUND FLOOR ENTERTAINMENT MALL

(+63) 976 200 2660

2ND FLOOR

(+63) 999 351 9393

LEVEL 1

(+63) 976 182 5228

(+63) 975 405 1443

Cabalen’s menu is composed mainly of Filipino food choices, particularly Kapampangan cuisine. With that, it’s usual menu is composed of the following dishes:

• Kare-kare
• Beef Caldereta
• Beef Pares
• Pork dinuguan
• Pork binagoongan
• Bopis
• Pork sisig
• Lechon Paksiw
• Lechon Kawali
• Crispy Pata
• Chicken Pork adobo
• Crispy Crablets
• Adobong Pusit
• Lumpiang Gulay
• Pakbet
• Pancit
• Leche Flan
• Halo-Halo
• Minatamis na Saging

I once tried adobong balut in a Cabalen outlet in Makati but I don’t think this dish is present in all branches.

In terms of payment, Cabalen accepts for cash and credit cards.

All in all, our dining experience has always been enjoyable. There are hits and misses in some branches but overall they were not anything annoying to ruin our experience. Our recent meal at Cabalen in Robinsons Manila, however, was memorable because it was our first time to have breakfast in this restaurant and it was a completely pleasant dining experience.

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