I booked The Fireplace at the New World Manila Bay Hotel for my birthday dinner. I have super fond memories of the steak when we ate there years ago, and it was only because of the distance and traffic that we could not really make a repeat visit.

For the longest time, I held on to the belief that it had the best steak in town.

Sure, it was not cheap, but heck, it was worth it. We waited for a proper occasion to go and visit, and it’s only now for my birthday that we made the trip.

The lobby of the New World Manila Bay Hotel smelled of cigarette smoke and now had more Mainland Chinese guests as evidenced by the Chinese club in promoted on the ground floor.

The Fireplace restaurant was as intimate as I remembered it. There was a big fireplace in front and you can see a handful of chefs preparing your meal.

The menu was a bit pricey. Aside from the sauce and cherry tomato, everything was an add on. But it was ok since a dinner in The Fireplace is an awesome treat.

The server informed us that the cheaper USDA was out of stock. Hence, we had to resort ordering the more expensive steaks which was fine with us.

The complimentary bread was nice. We loved even the green pesto sauce. Yum!

Baby devoured the brown bed and it was cool that you can ask for seconds.

The Caesar salad (php850) can be halved and it was your typical caesar albeit pricey.

We also ordered the lobster bisque (php600) which can also be split and enjoyed by two. The flavor is strong in this one and is a good starter for the main course.

Everyone enjoyed the squash risotto (Php850), which we shared and set in the middle of the table.

For the main course, I ordered the Australian Stockyard 6″ Wagyu Ribeye 400-Day Grain Fed.

I got the 5-oz one at 140 gram worth php2,700.

My brother got the 10 oz or 280 gram worth php4,400. His steak was obviously double the size of mine.

Honestly, I was very disappointed with the steak. Sure, it was soft and all, but oh my gosh, was it small!!!!

That’s my fist for scale.

When I think of a good rib-eye, this is what I know it should look like — seared on the outside, but soft on the inside. The juice comes out when you slice it.

Instead, I got this puny rib-eye. Which is most likely just half an inch thick or smaller!!!!

What happened to the Fireplace steaks?

I remember them to be the best steak in town. But the Fireplace Steak looks like it’s been bought at the Meat Depot. It is NOT worth the php2,700 or php 4,400 tag price no matter how you cut it.

The sides were great though. The creamed corn (php350) was a favorite, and the potato gratin (php450) serving was large and good to share:

For dessert, we had their famous chocolate soup, which had a lovely vanilla scoop on top.

The team also sang a happy birthday and gave me a nice chocolate cake. However, despite the cozy romantic setting, nice side dishes and the cute birthday cake, it was not enough to compensate for the steak travesty.

The service was a tad lacking too and we had to look for the lovely waitress to refill our water. Understandable though since we were one of the last guests to go there.

IN SUMMARY

The birthday dinner was great due to the company. It was awesome to revisit The Fireplace after so many years.

However, the steaks themselves were complete disappointments and were not worth the hefty tag price.

We spent php20,000 for a meal of 5, taking advantage of a BDO Platinum promo which gave us 25% off the total bill. The entire meal was good except for the steak, which defeats the purpose of going, right?

Unless they improve their steaks, The Fireplace will be a legend of the past, which is a pity since it USED TO BE one of the best steak places in town.

Food Taste: ⭐️⭐️