Review ｜ L.A. Cafe ★★★★★
L.A. Cafe, Manila’s sleaziest meat market since 1999. You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy in Manila, or so I’ve been told. Naturally I decided to check out this infamous bar to see what was hype and what was real.
I arrived a little before 5pm to find the bar almost empty. In fact, the second floor was entirely devoid of people. As I later discovered, there is a cover charge to go up there, but when there’s few people around it’s closed. There is a band that plays up there nightly, after the crowds roll in. Since it was early, I was able to walk up there freely and take photos (they don’t like people taking photos there, so don’t try this if you go there).
On the first floor there are pool tables in the back. I think there are some dart boards as well. The bar itself is spacious, with plenty of tables around the perimeter. However, when the place starts to fill up around 8pm, getting a seat can be really hard. This is around the time when the bar gets flooded with scores of freelance hookers. It’s impressive, albeit very skivvy.
The women don’t official work for the bar, but there is a system in place where the bar charges more for their drinks and shares a tiny bit of the profit with them. If you decide to buy a woman a drink there, be prepared for an up-charge. There is typical bar food available to order. Don’t expect anything mind blowing, just average eats.
One final note; the neighborhood around the L.A. Cafe looks a little rough, so be careful, especially if you come out of there stumbling around.
Need more information about the Philippines?
Check out 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.
Contact & General Information
Price: Average to Above Average
Hours: 24h
Website: L.A. Cafe (facebook) Their page is incredibly out of date, with the last post in October 2019.
Location: Google
