Manam at SM City Cebu: The Menu, The Prices and Why You Should Always Size Up

Four words are set into the wall by the door, in letters the colour of the plaster, so you only catch them when the light is right. Umagahan. Tanghalian. Merienda. Hapunan. Breakfast, lunch, the afternoon thing that is not quite a meal, dinner. It is a statement of intent dressed up as a decoration, and it tells you what Manam thinks it is for: not a place you visit, a place you eat at four times a day.

The Cebu branch sits on the Upper Ground of the North Wing at SM City Cebu, in the row The Moment Group opened across a few days in the middle of 2025. It is the Filipino one, and it is the one whose pricing rewards you for bringing people.

A Bib Gourmand brand, and a correction worth making early

On 31 October 2025 the MICHELIN Guide published its first Philippine selection, covering Manila and Environs and Cebu, and named 25 Bib Gourmand restaurants: 19 in Manila and Environs, 6 in Cebu. Manam is on that list.

The entry reads Manam at the Triangle, which is the Quezon City branch. The award attaches to that address, not to this one, and not to the brand as a whole. What you can fairly say about the Cebu branch is that it belongs to a group whose Filipino restaurant earned a Bib in the guide’s opening year, and that the menu here is the same menu. What you cannot say is that you are eating in a Bib Gourmand restaurant. Anyone who tells you otherwise has read the headline and not the listing.

Where the name comes from

Printed inside the front of the menu: Manam takes its cue from malinamnam, heartily tasty. The restaurant opened in Manila in 2013 and has since thrown off two siblings, Manam Express and a neighbourhood ihawan called Mama Nams. The sign-off on that page is kain na, and the whole menu is built to make you do it in a group.

The structure is two columns on every page. Classics on the left, the dish as your family makes it. Twists on the right, the same idea pulled somewhere else. Sinigang na Baboy sa Sampaloc sits opposite Sinigang na Beef Short Rib and Watermelon, which the menu describes as a Namnam favourite and an original family recipe. That pairing is the restaurant in one line.

The crowd favourites, and what each size costs

Every main comes in Small, Medium and Large. These are the printed dine-in prices off the menu, photographed at the table.

Classics	Small	Medium	Large
Gising gising	₱155	₱275	₱445
House crispy sisig	₱195	₱365	₱595
Braised then fried chicken and pork adobo with flakes	₱205	₱360	₱605
Sinigang na baboy sa sampaloc	₱235	₱430	₱795
Kare-kare with oxtail	₱360	₱650	₱1,175
Crispy pata with garlic chili bits	₱395	₱685	₱1,280

Twists	Small	Medium	Large
House squid sisig	₱215	₱345	₱625
Overloaded garlicky chicken and pork belly adobo	₱230	₱410	₱790
Sinigang na beef short rib and watermelon	₱295	₱530	₱925
Shiitake and tokwa kare-kare, vegan friendly	₱345	₱630	₱1,150

The menu states that prices include VAT and that a service charge is added on top. That second line runs off the edge of the page in the frame, so the percentage is not legible here. Assume it is there and ask at the table if it matters to your budget. It is worth knowing that this is the opposite of how 8Cuts four doors down does it, where the board price is the bill.

Size up. It works on every dish on the board.

Run the arithmetic across all ten dishes and the same answer comes back every time, without a single exception.

One Medium always beats two Smalls. Gising gising is ₱155 small, so two of them is ₱310, against ₱275 for the medium. You save ₱35 and you get a bigger bowl. On crispy pata the gap is ₱105. On squid sisig it is ₱85.

One Large always beats two Mediums. Two medium sisigs are ₱730 against ₱595 for the large, a difference of ₱135. Two medium beef short rib sinigangs are ₱1,060 against ₱925. Ten dishes, ten times the same result.

Dish	Two smalls	One medium	You keep
Crispy pata	₱790	₱685	₱105
House squid sisig	₱430	₱345	₱85
Kare-kare with oxtail	₱720	₱650	₱70
Shiitake and tokwa kare-kare	₱690	₱630	₱60
Sinigang na beef short rib	₱590	₱530	₱60
Gising gising	₱310	₱275	₱35

Which is a pricing policy pretending to be a menu. Manam is built on the idea of a table with people around it, and the numbers quietly punish anyone who turns up alone and orders one small bowl. Published guidance on how many each size feeds is inconsistent, ranging from a medium being enough for two up to enough for three, so ask your server rather than trusting a number off the internet. The direction of travel is not in doubt either way: order one size larger than you think you need and share it.

What to order

House crispy sisig, medium, ₱365. Pork jowl and cheek chopped fine and sent out on a sizzling plate, and it is the dish the menu builds a whole page around under the line think of caB when you think of sisig. It is the one to order first because it is the one everything else is measured against.

Then gising gising at ₱275 for the medium, which is the cheapest thing on the crowd favourites list and the one that stops the table being entirely brown. Winged beans and kangkong in coconut cream with pork, chillies and bagoong, and it is hotter than it looks.

If you are ordering a third and you want the argument rather than the safe answer, take the sinigang na beef short rib and watermelon at ₱530. Watermelon in sinigang sounds like a stunt and is not. It is doing the job the tamarind does, from a different direction, and it is the clearest example on the menu of what the Twists column is actually for.

Skip the crispy pata unless there are six of you. At ₱1,280 for the large it is the most expensive thing on the page and it is the dish most likely to defeat a table of four.

The rest of the menu

Past the crowd favourites the menu opens out further than most people get to. There is a pang merienda section of pica-pica and pancit, a pang almusal breakfast page with the usual silogs and their twists, a fruit bar and shakes under pampalamig at pampalasing, beers and wines on the same spread, and a minatamis page of kakanin and ice creams before the coffee list.

The breakfast page is the underused one. A Filipino restaurant inside a mall that opens at ten and serves silog all day is a useful thing to know about on a morning when you have a flight later and no plan.

The room

Arched openings, terrazzo, deep blue banquettes, globe pendants and a long counter down one side. It is bright and it is loud in the way a full Filipino dining room is loud, which is the correct amount. There is none of the dim-lit heritage styling that Filipino restaurants often reach for, and the room is better for it.

Expect a wait at weekend lunch. Not the two hours Din Tai Fung can run to at the other end of the row, but a real one.

Getting there and the hours

Where. Upper Ground Level, North Wing, SM City Cebu, Juan Luna Avenue corner Cabahug and Kaohsiung Streets, North Reclamation Area, Mabolo, Cebu City 6000. The Kaohsiung Street entrance is the shortest walk.

Hours. The mall publishes 10:00 AM to 9:00 PM daily and the delivery listing for this branch matches it exactly, which makes Manam the one restaurant in this row that keeps mall hours rather than trading past them. Checked August 2026.

Delivery costs more. As with every other kitchen in the row, the platform prices sit above the printed board. Order in and you pay the markup before the delivery fee. Sit down and you pay what is on the page, plus the service charge.

Frequently asked questions

Where is Manam in Cebu?

Upper Ground Level of the North Wing at SM City Cebu, in the same restaurant row as Din Tai Fung, 8Cuts, Ooma and Mo’ Cookies.

How much is Manam in Cebu?

Mains run ₱155 to ₱395 small, ₱275 to ₱685 medium, and ₱445 to ₱1,280 large off the printed dine-in menu. Gising gising is the cheapest crowd favourite and crispy pata the dearest. Prices include VAT and a service charge is added.

What size should you order at Manam?

One larger than feels obvious. On all ten crowd favourites a single medium costs less than two smalls, and a single large costs less than two mediums. Ask your server how many each size feeds, because published guidance disagrees.

Does Manam have a Michelin Bib Gourmand?

Manam at the Triangle in Quezon City received a Bib Gourmand in the inaugural MICHELIN Guide Manila and Environs and Cebu, announced 31 October 2025. The award is attached to that branch. The Cebu branch is not the listed restaurant.

What does Manam mean?

It comes from malinamnam, meaning heartily tasty. The menu states it directly on its opening page.

What is the difference between Classics and Twists?

Classics are the standard versions, Twists are the reworked ones, and they sit side by side on every page. Sinigang na baboy sa sampaloc is a Classic. Sinigang na beef short rib and watermelon is its Twist.

Does Manam have vegetarian options?

The shiitake and tokwa kare-kare is marked vegan friendly on the menu, at ₱345 small to ₱1,150 large. Gising gising contains pork and bagoong despite being a vegetable dish.

Does Manam serve breakfast?

Yes. There is a pang almusal page of breakfast plates, and it is available through the day rather than only in the morning, since the branch opens at ten with the mall.

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Photographed at Manam Comfort Filipino, Upper Ground Level, North Wing, SM City Cebu. Prices taken off the printed dine-in menu. Michelin listing, opening hours and delivery listings checked August 2026.