Review ｜ Banter & Jive ★★★★★
Banter & Jive in Makati might possible be the best bar in Manila, if not The Philippines. A bold statement, I know. I will concede a little and say that maybe this place might not be everyone’s jam. If you’re looking for a sports bar vibe, this isn’t it. This is a bar for spirit aficionado. It’s for the patroon that understands and appreciates the finer details in what goes into a supreme cocktail experience. Things like ice. If that lost you, this may not be the place for you.
Ok, if you’re still onboard, this is the place for you!
Located just slightly outside of the P. Burgos Street red light district, slightly north of the Z Hostel, it’s easy to walk right by. We were in fact leaving the Z Hostel after a disappointing cocktail when I noticed this place. I stopped and said; this place looks like it has amazing cocktails. Some places just have that vibe. so, we climbed up the stairs to find a quaint lounge with no empty seats. They agreed to let us stand at the bar, but it actually didn’t take long for some seats to open up.
The menu has some standards, but you want to skip past that and see the unique cocktails they are mixing up currently. The menu looks to change weekly, giving this place a lot of revisitability. The bar tenders were more than happy spending time talking to us about our tastes and then making recommendations. After settling on a drink order, which wasn’t easy because we wanted to try everything, the staff went to work on creating. They put a lot of time and effort into the drinks being made, right down to garnishing the glass in a perfect way. All that love pays off when you sip that cocktail and get lost in the complex flavors.
I cannot stress how good the quality of the drinks are here. Words simply will not do. This is the place you go when you want to really enjoy what you’re drinking.
Like most every place in the Philippines, the staff is super friendly. We felt it more so here. There were some free welcome drinks and a few time we got samples from the overflows of mixes. The staff also made off menu recommendations, which was cool. They even recommenced other cocktail bars around the area, which is how we learned about The Spirits Library.
Need more information about the Philippines?
Mill over our full write up on Manila HERE.
Read our full write up on Angeles City HERE.
Check out our full write up on Cebu HERE.
Look at our full write up on Laoag HERE.
View our full write up on Vigan HERE.
Peruse our tips on Palawan HERE. (Coming soon)
Contact & General Information
Price: Above Average
Hours: Wednesday to Monday 4pm – 3am
Website: Banter & Jive (official website)
Location: Google
