Three showbiz-themed restos in the Metro: The Pop Talk Review

''A restaurant is a fantasy, a kind of living theater in which diners are the most important members of the cast,'' Warner Leroy, a prominent restaurant businessman, once said.
Taking this philosophy to heart, more and more dining places invest not only in providing good food but also in creating a unique overall experience for their customers.

For a one-of-a-kind dining experience, "Pop Talk" searched for three showbiz-themed restaurants within Metro Manila. This time, host Tonipet Gaba was joined by food blogger Richie Zamora, cosplayer Yna Bisda, and Kapuso actress LJ Reyes. They will evaluate each restaurant based on the quality of its food, "showbiz factor" and price.



Sci-Fi Cafe
4th Floor, West Wing, Robinsons Galleria, Ortigas Avenue, Mandaluyong City
Price: P250 to P420

Pop culture meets American and Italian cuisine at Sci-Fi Cafe, where burgers, pizza, and pasta are served in a room decorated with action figures of fictional characters.

"The concept is to basically showcase yung collection of action figures, statues, and replicas to our customers then offer good food," explained Sci-Fi Cafe owner Richard Chua.



To complete the theme of the restaurant, the menu was also named after famous movies and movie characters. For example, they named the Nacho Libre, a dish made of nachos, beef, cheese and salsa, after a movie of the same title. Similarly, the names of the Iron Ham carbonara, the Grinch pesto, Hellboyurger chilli con carne burger, the Godfather meatball pasta, and the Planet of the Shrimps pizza are all inspired by popular movies.


"Yung taste masarap, presentation maganda tsaka 'di mo makakalimutan," LJ said about the restaurant's food.

"I think ‘yung market nila is pamilya rin aside from the office people," Tonipet observed. "Kasi imagine the kids nagwawala siguro sa tuwa rito."

Final Verdict: 7 pop points



KPub BBQ
Unit D, The Fort Entertainment Complex Center, 28th St. cor. 5th Avenue, Bonifacio Global City
Price: P899 (meat-all-you-can) P499 (1 hour Korean BBQ challenge)

KPub BBQ was opened to the public only this June 2013 but a lot of people have started to patronize it. Aside from the restaurant design that is patterned after trendy Korean places, KPub BBQ also plays K-Pop music videos and offers authentic Korean dishes served by their Korean staff.



Customers can enjoy eating Korean food favorites like kimchi fried rice, salads, noodles, and pancakes. Their meat-all-you-can package also offers different marinated versions of pork, beef, and chicken.

"What's nice about it is how the natural flavor of the meat is really the star," Richie pointed out. Yna agreed: "Yung meat nila kasi super lasang-lasa. Kahit yung meat lang, feel na feel ko yung pagiging K-Pop ko dito."

"'Di lang siya ‘yung food eh. May entertainment din na kasama," said Yna.

"It's a good place for friends to eat and hang out together because there's an activity while eating," LJ commented. Tonipet added: "You're able to watch your favorite music videos, your K-Pop music videos there… Pwede kang mag-concert. You can dance here after eating. It's like a big party waiting to happen every time."

Final Verdict: 9 pop points



Movie Stars Cafe
By the Bay, Seaside Blvd., SM Mall of Asia, Pasay City
Price: P300 (à la carte), P699 to P799 (dinner buffet)

See stars literally at the Movie Stars Cafe in Pasay. This restaurant offers an all-out showbiz experience to its customers through the use of movie posters, life-sized statues of popular movie characters, celebrity autographs, and a crew that is dressed to look like movie characters. Live presentations of movie-inspired performances also serve as one of the restaurant’s form of entertainment.

Customers can also order food from either the restaurant's dinner buffet or choose from their à la carte dishes. Hot clam chowder, salads, thin crust pizzas, pastas, and barbecue pork ribs are just some of the food that can be enjoyed here.

"Yung Pier 21 na clam chowder, masarap. The creaminess, the chunkiness, masarap," said Richie. "Masarap rin ‘yung pizza pero sana medyo mas crispy pa nang kaunti."

Yna, on the other hand, loved Movie Star Cafe's pork ribs: "Hindi siya nakakaumay." As for the food, she has this to say: "Hindi lang yung food yung binili mo pati yung entertainment na nakuha mo… Okay sa akin na every 30 minutes may iba't ibang shows na ginagawa. Para kang umattend ng isang convention tapos kakain ka din doon."

"Pang-evening place talaga siya. Kung gusto mo ng quiet place, hindi ka pwede dito," observed Lj, "Pero fun kasi siya eh. Very fun. 'Di ka mabo-bore. Habang kumakain ka, pwede ka talagang manood."

Final Verdict: 4 pop points

–Lara Gonzales/CM, GMA News