(As featured in 10 Most Awesome New Homegrown Restaurants That Matter in Manila 2016!)
ANOTHER STORY is a casual fine dining restaurant in Evia Mall, Alabang that can be considered as the next evolution of Ica Manalo Sebastian’s Cafe Voila in Crosswinds, Tagaytay. Here, Ica brings to life her passion for cooking high quality home-style comfort food, with each dish having their own story to tell.
The place has an eclectic and fun ambiance, serving the finest home-cooked meals you’ll find in a mall setting. I heard good things about their food, but we had mixed feelings about them during our visit because of the pricing and service. It’s still one of the happiest places to eat in and have a good time with the family.
Check out our Another Story experience…
ANOTHER STORY by Ica Manalo Sebastian
2nd Floor, Evia Mall, Alabang (near MCX exit)
Operating Hours: Monday to Sunday: 10:00 am – 10:00 pm
Facebook: Another Story 2016
Telephone: +63 995 267-7163
Another Story is quite packed during peak hours and weekends, so it’s best that you call ahead to reserve.
You’ll be mesmerized by the chic mix of colors, shapes, and textures softened by flowers, quotes, and southern charm.
Another Story Menu: The story of Ica • Soups from our Kitchen, Salads from our Pantry, Pass the time, Fish be with you! • What’s Cooking from our Grill and Oven • Family and Group Meals • Pizza Delight • Desserts and Cocktails • Drinks
It’s priced on the premium side with portions good to share. The menu reminds me of Cafe Voila but more on the French style of cooking.
Their soft rolls are best with the tomato salsa! Savor these because they charge P5/roll for a second serving.
French Onion Gratinee (P325). A hearty soup of caramelized onions in a beef broth and topped with a slice of French baguette and Gruyere cheese baked to perfection. I learned mine from Balthazar of NYC.
The soup is served in a big bowl that you can share, but it cools down quite quickly. It’s good but not worth its price.
3 Kinds of Mushroom Soup (P325). I fell in love with Provence as we spent one summer there with the kids and I brought home this recipe from a tiny town in Luberone, France. Enjoy!
This soup is quite creamy but we prefer ours to have a more mushroom taste. A bit expensive considering the portion and taste.
(Tip: Best to skip the soup course; you won’t miss much.)
✮ Another Story Salad (P395). Our favorite house salad and what our boss looks for, with grilled prawns, shiitake mushrooms, and Parmesan cheese on a bed of romaine and our special house dressing. Walnuts too if you want.
This was gone in minutes and even the kids were enjoying every bit of the romaine because of their special sauce. You can ask them to put the shiitake on the side.
They don’t have a private room but at the back corner of the resto in the veranda area is this private nook that you can reserve for a family of 10-12 people.
✮ Vongole Manila Clams (P395). Vongole Manila Clams and garlic in olive oil simmered in broth and white wine on a bed of linguine and drizzled with parsley and basil & parmesan cheese. I remember my friend Joel and I ordered this in London and the Maitre’D frowned at me and raised his eyebrow when I asked for parmesan cheese.
The clams are so tasty that you’ll lick every bit of the flavor and the sauce off the shell. So good!
Grilled Salmon (P495). Grilled salmon on a bed of mashed potatoes or buttered pasta if you wish and mesclun salad, so simple.
A good portion of salmon smothered with mushroom sauce. Recommended for healthy eaters. You can ask to serve the sauce on the side.
✮ Hanger Steak (P595). Hanger Steak and Fries bearnaise sauce of cafe de Paris butter, mushroom sauce or Cream Poivre sauce with mesclun salad and garden vegetables.
The meat is tender and full of flavor by itself but further enhanced with the creamy bearnaise sauce. Request for medium-cooked and two steak rice.
✮ Baby Back Ribs with BBQ Sauce (P595). Taught to me by my dearest friend, my Amiga! Fried plantains and corn on the cob.
We’ve been on a Baby Back Ribs frenzy lately and so far, this is one of the best we’ve tasted. The meat is tender and flavorful with a well-balanced BBQ flavor.
✮ Seafood Paella (P395)
We loved their paella with generous seafood toppings and eggs. This is a steal for the price (hope they don’t increase it).
Our boys were satisfied with the food and there were no complaints for the first time. Thank you, Ica for making such delicious home-cooked meals!
✮ Salted Caramel Cheesecake (P215/ slice)
We thought the desserts would be so-so, but we were blown away by this tasty and super smooth cheesecake!
✮ Mango Float (P195)
This is easy to make but the presentation is superb, with the graham coating the inside of the bowl and a good portion of mangoes topped with cream art.
Overall, this is one of the best home-style comfort food restaurants we’ve tried located inside a mall. Congrats to Evia for securing this hit resto and beating the other malls to it!
The menu pricing is just a bit off–sometimes expensive like the soup, or quite affordable like the paella. I believe this is because they’re trying to have a fine-dining comfort food concept, which is actually contradicting. The service needs improvement; you really have to be patient and specific with your requests. Plus the staff doesn’t seem to know the menu, so it’s best to know what to order before hand.
Start with the Another Story Salad and Vongole pasta as your first course. Then order the Hanging Tender, Baby Back Ribs, and the Paella for your mains. End with the Salted Caramel Cheesecake and the Mango float, which are hits with the kids.
Budget about P800/head for a full course meal, which is a bit expensive for a mall resto. But the food quality is superb and way better than the other commercialized restos in the mall. I do hope they keep the quality consistent and step up the service to justify their pricing.
Congratulations to Ica for Another Story! I have to say, I love this concept more than Cafe Voila. Can’t wait for what’s next in your culinary journey.
ANOTHER STORY by Ica Manalo Sebastian
2nd Floor, Evia Mall, Alabang (near MCX exit)
Operating Hours: Monday to Sunday: 10:00 am – 10:00 pm
Facebook: Another Story 2016
Telephone: +63 995 267-7163
Live an Awesome Life,
Founder, www.OurAwesomePlanet.com
Disclosure: We paid for our meal. I wrote this article with my biases, opinions, and insights.
P.S. Our bill was P4,200, which is almost twice the average cost of a satisfying meal for us in a resto (i.e. P2,500).
Great place! Delicious food!