After driving down a pot hole ridden, dirt road off the national highway... you will arrive at Mangrove on the left. There is a minor amount of convenient parking but you can get the guard to direct you to additional parking. Yes, it is well worth the drive down the ratty road.
(Update, the ratty road has been paved... supposedly by the owner of Mangrove... so I have upgraded the 4 stars to 5 stars. Well done Mangrove!)
The long stylish restaurant starts in the lobby and continues into a large veranda with a fantastic overlook of Subic Bay and the beaches of Barretto. The establishment is tastefully decorated and clearly the most elegant restaurant in the Baloy Beach area... we live here, so we know.
The friendly helpful waitress took our order of "Baked Cream Dory"with double mixed veggies, no potatoes and a side of rice. We are both light eaters and shared the main course. The food was served in a reasonable amount of time.
As you can see, the food was appealingly presented. The sauce was sickeningly sweet but otherwise very tasty... the waitress said that next time we can request no sugar since the chef individually prepares each order. (Update, we have been back several times and the chef will indeed make the sauce without sugar.) We will definitely return to try other items on the menu.
As you can see from the menu pic, the prices were very reasonable. The portion on our order was ample.
Note to CHEF: Put those tasty little bits of shrimp and mushrooms on top of the Dory instead of in the sauce bowl. Ask the customer if they want (sickenly) sweet or savory sauce.
Next time we come (and there will be many), we will sit on the veranda instead of the lobby so we can watch the world go by as we eat expertly prepared meals by the Mangrove chef.
Stayed here in Nov 2022. Just OK overall, some good some not great. Stayed in standard room, maybe a mistake. First the computer was down at checkin so the checkin was clumsy and I had to go eat at the restaurant while waiting. Food was decent, but no real bar to sit at. OK if you're in a group, but traveling solo, not ideal for me. It's nice to look over the bay while eating.
Room was at the top of the stairs and staff would stomp around, singing, yelling to each other, right outside my room starting around 8 am. My shower dribbled out cold/room temperature water, which they were unable to repair...reported the issue and they said maintenance guy was unavailable at the moment, delaying several times, until they finally told me without maintenance guy looking at it that they cannot repair. The suggestion was to move to one of the other smaller standard rooms. Preferring the bigger room, I took cold showers for 5 days.
The hotel was mostly empty making it feel odd. The staff was mostly friendly and efficient although it's clear they haven't spent much to maintain the place during the pandemic...
Good location, glad they are open. I liked going to Harley's right next door. With no bar, no pool, and systems in need of repair, I will be looking to stay elsewhere next time.
My favorite place in either barretto or Baloy beaches , the location need to walk down about 5 minutes from the main street , however the atmosphere is just great .
The restaurant decoration was elegant , the view is great and staffs are friendly , will definitely come here once again !
Not accepting walk-in customers, you need to check-in. With that policy, don't even check-in to this hotel. Checkout Wild Orchid instead, they have more parking.
