Located at the fifth floor of Century City Mall in Makati, 12 Monkeys Music Hall & Pub has already gained a following with its solid lineup of evening events, live music, and wicked pub food.
From pica-pica to picha pie, cocktails and live music, go bananas with these 12 must-tries should you find yourself hungry and thirsty at Century City Mall.
1. Crispy killer bar chow.
It's a no-brainer to serve crispy pork and chicken skin at a pub, they always make an excellent beer match, most especially when dipped in spicy vinegar. 12 Monkeys' Killer Chicharones (P220) is a bowl of mixed crunchy and crispy bite-sized treats: crispy hog skin, chicken skin, fried chicken tail poppers, served with spiced vinegar (pinakurat).
2. SPAM served as seriously good finger food.
Enjoy a canned meat pantry staple in a different, but delicious way. Have your assorted Spam sliced into thick finger-like pieces, then deep-fried the tempura way. Their mealy and addicting Spam Fries (P325) comes stacked similar to Jenga pieces, and served with three dipping sauces: honey mustard, cumin ketchup, and kimchi mayo.
3. That famous Parokya 'Picha Pie' comes to life.
Parokya ni Edgar's Chito Miranda is one of the partners in 12 Monkeys, and it is just proper that the pub has a 'Picha Pie' menu, a lineup of thin crust pizzas available in several fun flavors. And of course, the vocalist showcases a very Filipino-style pizza: Chito's Street Corner Picha Pie (P300). Imagine your childhood favorite 3M pizza, but on steroids–that's what this pizza is all about. Sweet and cheesy, and drizzled with ketchup. Truly Pinoy!
4. A fun and playful take on that best-selling pizza flavor.
We're all very familiar with that pizza joint offering a thin-crust pizza topped with ham, beef, sausages, green bell pepper, and onions. It's a best-seller, so a take on this pizza, 12 Monkeys style, would easily draw in pizza lovers who prefer familiar, classic toppings. Order the Assistant Manager's Choice (P400), which has Italian sausage, ham, beef, green and red bell peppers, mozzarella and pomodoro.
5. Palabok you can slice, and eat with your hands.
It's wonderful how a place named 12 Monkeys is evidently very playful with their food–and acing it. Doing hybrid food is no monkey business, so learning about their pizza version of my absolute favorite noodle dish made me raise my eyebrow. Several times. I honestly was ready to hate Ivan's Palabok Pizza (P350), just reading it on the menu—palabok pizza?! What madness?! But I ate my words, and slices upon slices of this little rebel hybrid, and found myself asking for calamansi to sprinkle on top (it's amazing with calamansi, request for some). It's everything I love about palabok — saucy, generously topped with seafood and green onions and the crackle of chicharon bits — minus the noodles, and with the addition of a snappy thin crust. Great job, 12 Monkeys. I hope you serve it in bigger bilaos in the future, and offer delivery. I'll probably be your very first customer for that.
6. A saucy serving of pares to keep you company (and sober) late at night.
The cheekily named Midnight in Pares (P365) will be your late night date that feeds you the goodness of Pinoy comfort food that's notches high from the typical pares you've had elsewhere. The tender braised beef comes wading on a puddle of flavorful sauce, and in the middle, a mound of garlic rice topped with shredded tamago, and served with homemade chili sauce. You might be tempted to order extra rice for this one!
7. A hearty Oriental rice bowl to soothe the weary, sobering soul.
If you're seeking to hunker down a healthier rice bowl, the 12 Treasures Claypot Rice (P350) will fill you up quick, with its black rice combined with bits of chicken, Chinese sausage, pork ribs, shiitake mushrooms, and bok choi. It's a hearty bowl to perk up your evening, but if you need further assistance sobering up, their go-to is definitely the goto.
8. Here it is, a glorious bowl of goto.
Their After Hours Goto Special (P285) is a sight to behold, served on a wooden plank with its toppings placed neatly beside the pristine bowl. The rice porridge itself is very hearty and savory, each spoonful is a punch of flavor in your mouth. So once you've topped it with the beef tripe, garlic flakes, sliced century egg, pork floss, green onions, tofu — it just hits the spot.
9. Oh yeah, salads if you're avoiding anything too indulgent.
If you're shying away from deep-fried, oily, and fatty (which are tried and tested elements to sobering up, right?), there's Fried Chicken Caesar and Thai Beef Salad, healthier eats for a pub menu, but without depriving you of flavors, texture, and meaty protein. It may be quite silly to order salad to go with your beer and while watching a gig, but the salads are available for your requisite greens and diet needs.
10. Banana desserts for the sugarholic monkeys.
Try their Sticky Pudding served a la mode–the banana walnut bread pudding made extra luscious with butter toffee sauce and slices of bananas. Their Chunky Monkey Pie (P345) is a take on the classic banana cream pie, filled with cream and topped with whipped cream, peanut butter, and crushed choc-nut.
11. A round of cocktails for a nightcap (or to jumpstart the party).
Aside from your staple of local, imported, and draft beers, and usual buzzy suspects in the pub, 12 Monkeys offers signature cocktails like the Sweet Monkeys (P230) which mixes mangoes and bananas, and the sweet but strong Rockstar (P230) topped with lychee. They also offer traditional cocktails like Classic Mojito (P200) and Classic Margarita (P200) that also come in Mango and Strawberry flavors. Their Amaretto Sour (P200) was a hit in our table and was served frequently during the evening we got to catch The Dawn perform on stage.
12. Awesome live music curated by people from the local music industry.
Champ Lui Po and Chito Miranda are co-managing partners for musical programming at 12 Monkeys. With these vocalists at the helm of curating the lineup for their music events, expect a fun and solid selection of artists (both well-known and up and coming acts) at the pub. For the DJ linuep, partner Keith Haw oversees the selection, while Jerico Fernando of JB Music makes sure the customers and artists get top quality sound system.
The lineup is as diverse and varied as all the partners themselves at 12 Monkeys, so everyone can have a taste of different genres and music every time they visit the pub. Previous acts that have graced the stage of 12 Monkeys are a motley of top local bands that include Urbandub, Franco, Kamikazee, Parokya ni Edgar, Up Dharma Down, Wolfgang, Razorback, Side A, Freestyle, True Faith, Aegis, and South Border. It was also host to the Philippine International Jazz Blues Guitar Festival in September, and the home to the Independent Stage of Fete dela Musique last June. They regularly update their upcoming events on their social media pages, so link up with them to plan your night out at 12 Monkeys in advance.
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12 Monkeys Music Hall & Pub is located at the 5th floor of Century City Mall, Makati Avenue corner Kalayaan Avenue. Open Monday to Saturday from 5pm onwards. For reservations & event inquiries, contact 0917-570-3222. Like 12 Monkeys on Facebook (/12MonkeysPH), follow 12 Monkeys on Twitter and Instagram (@12MonkeysPH).
